In Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 4, the podcasters had a tricky confrontation with their prime suspects, Camila, Bash, and Jay. Just after interrogating the 'mobster' CEOs and nearly eliminating them as suspects for the murders of Nicky Caccimelio and Lester the doorman, the podcasters received an unbelievable offer. Charles, Mabel, and Oliver were offered and signed a contract with a company called Wondify to extend the reach of their podcast.
Caution: this post contains SPOILERS for Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 5
Within seconds of signing the new contract, the Wondify legal team reveals that Camila, Bash, and Jay have stock in the company. This means the podcaster were set up—bamboozled into being owned by their suspects essentially. This would make it impossible for the podcasters to air episodes that discuss the CEOs in a negative light. Investigating the murder of Lester now becomes a conflict of interest for their business, but I have a feeling that Charles, Mabel, and Oliver will find a way to turn things around.
The podcasters share what they know with a trusted detective in Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 5
Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 5 opens with the podcasters trying to share everything they know about the Arconia’s underground casino with the Detective Williams, whom they’ve collaborated with in past seasons. Williams's gut says that someone else in the building must have been privy to the illegal operations going on. She suggests that the podcasters try to get more information from the building staff.
Oliver and Mabel start to ask questions to staff who would have worked closely with Lester. They are able to track down the name of someone else who might have known about the Velvet Room operations: someone by the name of Tommy, or "Tommy the Tongue". They also learn that the new robot doorman, Lestr, might be more useful than it seems- it’s capable of collecting pertinent information about each resident.
Charles gets frisky with a potential suspect
While Oliver and Mabel carry on the investigation within the murder building, Charles pays a visit to Sofia Caccimelio, Nicky’s widow, to see what she knows about Tommy the Tongue. If you remember, at the very end of Only Murders in the Building season 4, Sofia asked the podcasters to help find her missing husband. In Only Murders in the Building season 5 episode 1, they find his corpse. Now, Sofia is widowed and vulnerable, but there is no evidence tying her to either of the murders.
Charles is on a new trial of testosterone, with some noticeable differences in his strength and overall energy—as well as his desire to get back on the dating scene. So it's no surprise that things heat up romantically between the Charles and Sofia, but Charles is still laser focused on getting more intel for the investigation. Sofia claims to know nothing about Nicky’s involvement with the underground casino, so Charles doesn't actually get any useful information from her.
Oliver organizes an important meeting in Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 5
While Charles fraternizes with the mobster's widow, Oliver and Mabel run into Miller, the building garbage worker. He’s a dead end for the investigation, but it seems like he knows something about Tommy that he isn't willing to share. So their next stop is the staff locker room, where they find a carving on a wooden table that says, “die Lester, die”. Randall, the new doorman, confesses to writing it, but he claims he wrote it about LESTR the robot, who is threatening the jobs of all of the Arconia service staff.
Oliver, in the interest of getting the staff to cooperate in his investigation, organizes a community meeting at the Arconia to protest the new inclusion of LESTR the robot. To Oliver's dismay, the tenants seem to prefer the ease of the robot, and vocally express their support. This is bad news for the Arconia staff, who feel that they’re being replaced by technology. During the meeting, some of the staff even openly blame Oliver and the podcasters for the murders that have happened in the building. Amidst the chaotic meeting, LESTR went missing.
It doesn’t take long for viewers to figure out where he went—in the next scene, LESTR falls to its death from one of the upper floors, unto the same fountain where Lester, the human doorman, was found dead (the irony!). This means the podcasters can’t search the robot for information that might help the case, but Miller does come through with Lester’s trash from the night of his death—this could be a break in the case!
In Lester's last bag of trash, the podcasters find a receipt made out to Tommy, who they’ve been trying to find throughout the entire episode. With an address, they ride together to interrogate Tommy about the murders.
The podcasters get two new leads
After Charles moment of passion with Sofia, he notices that his phone is missing. Mabel helps him track the phone to an address, and they head with Oliver on their way to retrieve it. Mabel and Oliver worry that if Sofia has the phone, she will have access to murder pictures that haven’t been shared with the public yet. They also worry that she may have been using Charles to get access to evidence that could potentially incriminate herself.
On the way to the unknown address, Detective Williams calls the trio with an update on Tommy the Tongue. She found out that Tommy is a company, not a person, and the address of the company is the same address where Charles phone is located. Williams advises the podcasters against going in the building, but they pull up anyways to find Sofia and Lester’s wives meeting together. Did they conspire to murder their own husbands? Guess we’ll have to find out in the next episode!
Only Murders in the Building season 5 airs Tuesdays on Hulu.
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