Only Murders in the Building Season 5 finally solved the murder of the beloved doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca). It also shed new light on what actually happened between Lester and Nicky (Bobby Cannavale) before his death. It seemed there was a bit of misdirection and a lot of moving parts that played into how the whole story came together.
Some fans might have guessed who the killer was, but it wasn’t anyone at the top of the suspect’s list. Further, the way it all came together is yet another brilliantly masterful story. Meanwhile, the new murder victim suggests that Season 6 will bring a personal case that will see them travel across the pond.
How Nicky Really Died in ‘Only Murders’ Season 5
In Episode 9, “LESTR,” the video footage captured by L.E.S.T.R. (voiced by Paul Rudd) heavily implies that Lester hit Nicky in the head with his elevator crank after growing sick of keeping quiet about all the misdeeds. This seems the only logical explanation when Lester frantically approaches Randall (Jermaine Fowler), begging him to put a severed finger into Oliver’s (Martin Short) wedding shrimp while holding the bloody crank. But this isn’t what happened at all.
While dealing during a game, Nicky was looking at his phone, displaying compromising images of his wife, Sofia (Téa Leoni), with the mysterious man she was having an affair with. Angered by this, it didn’t help that the man in question walked into the casino at this very moment. He asks Nicky for a drink — two fingers of whiskey. After snorting drugs, Nicky angrily muttered that he’d give the man two fingers alright. He then grabbed a large knife and chopped off the man’s finger right on the table as they played cards.
Lester tries to defuse the situation. He grabs the finger and finally, for the first time in his life, stands up to Nicky. But the mob boss is feeling the effects of the illicit drugs he has been taking. He’s stumbling around with a knife and is irrational. Lester shows him the ledger he has been keeping notes in on all the illegal activities and threatens to turn it over to the police. He has had enough. Nicky grabs a page out of the book and stuffs it in his mouth to say that’s what he thinks of the stupid book.
As the two tousle, Nicky falls into Lester while still holding the knife, and it plunges into his chest. Lester pushes him off, and Nicky is dead on the ground, the others present looking on in disbelief. Lester didn’t kill Nicky in cold blood as was initially believed: his death was arguably an accident. In the fracas, Lester disappears, but he has the finger with him. And the owner of the finger wants it back.
Lester Died Because of the Finger
Bringing the story full circle, Lester died because of the very finger that popped up in Oliver’s shrimp in the first episode. He grabbed it as leverage, believing he could use it to take down a powerful person who was just as corrupt as Nicky, if not more. This man also played a role in the illegal activities at the Arconia. Who was it? Mayor Beau Tillman (Keegan-Michael Key).
As it turns out, whenever the three billionaires wanted something done — like a permit or license for something in the city — they invited Mayor Tillman to a game, purposely lost loads of money to him, and their wish would mysteriously be granted. On this particular night, he was invited to the game as they wanted to play for the casino permit. Like always, Nicky was there. But now, he knew about the affair.
After Nicky died and Lester ran off with the finger, Mayor Tillman chased after him. He knew that the single incriminating appendage would tarnish his entire legacy and ruin his career. “You want to stop me, you’re going to have to kill me right here in front of all these security cameras,” Lester goaded. But Mayor Tillman reminded Lester that Bash (Christoph Waltz) owned those security cameras, so he could easily doctor the footage or lose it entirely.
This gave Lester the idea to grab his bird whistle. He frantically tried to text Lorraine (Dianne Wiest) from his phone, knowing that he was probably about to be murdered. He tries to type “It’s Beau Tillman,” but the phone autocorrects it to “It’s Beautiful.” A text from Howard (Michael Cyril Cleighton), with the same accidental autocorrect, advising the trio that Mayor Tillman is on his way down to the casino, clues Mabel (Selena Gomez) into who the killer is. She smashes the cleaver down on Tillman’s finger, revealing it’s a prosthetic. He has been caught.
In a flashback, we see Mayor Tillman continue to chase Lester all the way to the fountain. Lester accidentally drops the bird whistle in the fountain and goes to get it. Mayor Tillman pushes him back, and his head smashes against the fountain. As he’s lying there dying, Lester grabs the whistle and blows it in the final moments that are captured on camera, triggering the bird camera so Lorraine and Vince (Richard Kind) will see the footage after his death.
Captures and Confessions in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 5
Despite admitting to killing Lester, Mayor Tillman isn’t worried. He has crooked cops arrive right on time to take away the trio’s phones and have them chained up in a secret stairwell. The building is about to be demolished for Camila (Renée Zellweger) to rebuild her casino, and they will go down with it, as no one realizes they’re inside.
With Charles’ (Steve Martin) knowledge of magic and escape tricks (and dextrously climbing up and sliding down a pole to get a coat hanger to pick a chain lock), the trio is working to break free. In the meantime, Althea (Beanie Feldstein) buys time with an impromptu performance of her hit song after the sanitation worker finds the phones that were thrown down the chute and alerts Howard that something is wrong. Like magic, the trio emerges, and they tell everyone that Mayor Tillman is guilty. They unlock the hidden recorder to prove it because his confession is on tape. While Mayor Tillman tries to run, Vince “releases the kraken” — a flock of birds that attack him — a fitting punishment for the bird-loving Lester.
But that’s not the only confession delivered. Jay Pflug (Logan Lerman) tells Mabel the truth in hopes that she’ll finally view him as a good person. While the billionaires who were among the most likely suspects didn’t kill Lester, they did play a role in covering up both murders. After Nicky’s murder, for which they were all present, Mayor Tillman told them that whoever got the finger back would get the permit for the casino. Their deep desire to get the casino and their love of playing games led them to try to do just that. Jay’s first move was to fake a missing finger in hopes that whoever had the finger would believe it was his.
Mayor Tillman also told them to take care of the body. They got it out of the casino using one of Camila’s paint tarps, which explains the white paint found on his suit. Bash held the body in his cryochamber for a week because it would look suspicious if both bodies were found at the same time. This explains the freezer burn behind his ear. From there, Jay hoisted Nicky’s body up onto the dry-cleaning line, and they presumably called the crooked cops to ensure the body was found, and the murder was blamed on a rival mob. Jay didn’t just confess this to Mabel; he told the cops as well. That led to Jay, Bash, and Camila all getting arrested. With Camila gone, there’s no casino. The Arconia has been saved.
Loose Ends and a New Murder Victim
With the case solved and everyone finally able to properly mourn Lester’s death, it was time to move on. Sofia used the money she got from the billionaires for selling the finger (which she had her mother-in-law and sons procure for her from Charles’ fridge) to finally take that trip to Positano that Nicky had promised her decades ago. She declared her feelings for Charles, but for the first time in his life, he finally “said no to a dangerous woman.” She also sent a bundle of cash to Lorraine to help her get by, a gift from “one widow to another.”
Three months later, new people are moving into the building, and Howard is relishing in his role as the building’s self-appointed guest services rep. He has also started a new romance with one of the Caccimelio brothers. The trio, meanwhile, is celebrating five years of friendship by doing what they first did together: sitting down to listen to a Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) podcast.
This one is about a young woman with curly red hair in the U.K. who is the prime suspect in the murder of a royal descendant. Cinda is convinced that she’s innocent and feels the need to protect her and send her to America, where she can be safe. As audio from the podcast plays, we see the back of a woman with such hair running through the streets of New York. She arrives at the gate of the Arconia and collapses. Howard finds her and calls the police. The others arrive and are shocked by what they see.
Rather than worry about the woman, Howard is concerned that technically she has died outside the building, not in it, and thus her case will be out of the purview of the podcast. While debating semantics, the woman comes to for a moment and manages to move one hand to the gate, wrapping her fingers around it. This means she’s now officially in the building. The woman turns over, and it appears to be Cinda herself. Or is it?
Based on the story being told in the podcast, could this be Cinda’s twin? A European doppelgänger? Nothing was off the table. For now, however, it seems the trio still has work to do, whether it’s at home or in London. The Arconia isn’t going anywhere, and it seems the building has become not one that people fear but one they seek out when they know their lives are in danger. If anyone can help solve their murder and make sure their killer doesn’t go free, it’s the podcasters. Stream Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
- Release Date
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August 31, 2021
- Network
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Hulu
- Showrunner
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John Hoffman
