In Only Murders In The Building season 5 episode 9, viewers are led to believe that Sofia Caccimelio’s mother, Nonna, murdered Nicky; we just don’t have a clear motive yet. Scuff marks from her scooter were found on the floor at Charles apartment, indicating that she had been the one to steal the finger evidence that Charles was hiding. Why we should need the finger, unless she was the murderer!
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS about the Only Murders in the Building season 5 finale.
In Only Murders in the Building season 5 episode 9, we also find out that Sofia was having an affair, which is likely what pushed Nicky to engage in the greedy bet with the billionaires. We know that Lester was Nicky’s killer, but was whoever killed Lester trying to get revenge on Nicky’s behalf? The Only Murders in the Building season 5 finale clears everything up for us.
Nicky's mobster behavior leads to his demise in the Only Murders in the Building season 5 finale
At the onset of the finale episode, we see Sofia confront Nicky for a divorce, for his neglect and frivolous behavior. Nicky begs her to stay, promising he’ll pay more attention to her, but when she refuses, he threatens to kill her paramour. The podcasters learn this information after confronting their new murder suspect, Nonna. They also pry to find out who Sofia was having an affair with, because they still haven’t solved the mystery of the severed finger.
Then, the truth of the night of the murders comes out. The billionaires were in the middle of placing their bets for the casino, joined by Nicky and Mayor Tillman. It looks like the Mayor wasn’t so innocent after all when it came to shady business deals (no shocker that this was part of the storyline!). The Mayor greenlit the bet in return for some of the profit.
Lester's killer tries to point the finger
That same evening, Nicky finds out through photo evidence from his private investigator that the Mayor was up to more shady business: he was the one having an affair with Sofia. In a fit of rage, Nicky attacks the mayor, chopping off his finger with a cleaver (ding, ding ding!). The fate of the evening spirals from this moment on: Lester attacks Nicky, partially to stop him from harming the Mayor further, but also with the hopes of shutting down this casino deal—without Nicky, the billionaires have no deal.
In a struggle to fight off Lester, Nicky falls to the ground, but lands on the cleaver that he used to chop off the Mayor’s finger. So really, Lester didn’t kill Nicky as the podcasters expected, but his death was the result of his own actions. The next phase of Lester’s plan involved stealing Mayor’s finger to use as evidence for his involvement with the billionaires. Lester acts quick, making sure the finger made it to Oliver’s shrimp cocktail, trusting that the podcasters would expose everything in their own investigation.
The killer gets caught in the Only Murders in the Building season 5 finale
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver confront the Mayor about his involvement with the casino, after discovering his affair with Sofia, and he doesn’t deny it. He confesses to killing Lester in an attempt to get his finger back. All along, Lester was planning his own murder, and setting up clues along the way for the podcasters to find.
After the Mayor’s confession, he sends crooked cops to kidnap the podcasters and chain them up in another room. It doesn’t take long for them to find a way out of the room, just in time to expose the Mayor in front of dozens of cameras. It turns out that the podcasters hid a recording device in one of the casino tables, so they caught the mayor’s entire confession on tape.
Did I mention that The saved the investigation by attracting cameras in cops in the underground casino where the Mayor was giving his confession? Boss move! Also, in a final act of redemption, Jay Pflug makes a confession that exposes the culpability of he and his billionaire friends. He does this hoping to earn the respect of his love interest, Mabel.
Thus, the CEOs finally get arrested for helping to cover up the murders, and that’s how the Arconia gets saved! No more casino! Fear not, my previous predictions about season 5 ending the series were wrong! It looks like the show will be back for a sixth season, and we know this because season 5 ends with another murder.
A young woman, named Cinda, is found dead just outside of the Arconia. Viewers learn that she was also the subject of a true crime podcast based in London. Tina Fey plays this new character, so we can expect Only Murders in the Building season 6 to have even more humor! What a way to keep fans guessing!
Only Murders in the Building is available to stream on Hulu.
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