Did Kimber kill Ben Glenroy? That’s certainly how things seemed at the end of the 3rd episode of Only Murders in the Building. But in the fourth episode, “The White Room,” the lead suspect has changed. Do you think Mabel, Oliver, and Charles are on the right track? Let’s recap.
Episode 4: “The White Room” – Written by JJ Philbin
This episode’s narration comes from the one and only Cinda Canning (Tina Fey), who is now blonde. After falling from grace following the events of last season with her assistant Poppy, Cinda claims to have spent a year in self-care, rebuilding her brand as a source of calm with a line of organic soy candles. As Cinda talks, we see Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) touring a small, white-walled apartment with her realtor (Sas Goldberg). During the tour, we see Mabel get a call from a number not associated with one of her contacts. She declines it, but the same number texts, “We need to talk.” The realtor tells Mabel if she wants the apartment, she will need to act fast and submit her paystubs, tax return, and a letter from her current landlord. “I have nothing to say to you,” she texts back the mystery caller before declining this apartment.
(Patrick Harbron/Hulu)
A giant fish tank now stands in the middle of Charles-Haden Savage’s (Steve Martin) living room. His girlfriend Joy (Andrea Martin) just moved in, introducing Charles to all 62 of her fish. The tank is decorated with lots of unique figures, including an orange Statue of Liberty. Joy asks if it’s too much, but Oliver says no as he looks around his living room, which is now cluttered by her trampoline and exercise balls. She wants to celebrate, but Charles tells her he has to go to Oliver’s to rehearse the patter song for Death Rattle Dazzle. He’s anxious about it, but Joy reminds him he’s a star.
Mabel is trying to talk to Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) about the case when Charles arrives at Oliver’s apartment. Oliver isn’t just distracted by the play but by his plans to ask Loretta Durkin out on a date. Mabel brings up Kimber as a suspect, and Oliver asks to look at less famous members of the cast, pointing out that Kimber has 2 million followers on TikTok. Mabel brings up the fact that Kimber is rumored to have had a secret relationship with Ben, plus the fact that she was bragging on TikTok that the deceased star was obsessed with her anti-aging serum. “Are you guys stalking my serum?”, Kimber (Ashley Park) asks as she and the cast arrive. She offers to put them on a waitlist, saying she’s sold out at the moment.
Oliver starts rehearsal, and Charles is embarrassed that he has to rehearse his patter song in front of the rest of the cast. Tom (Joel Waggoner) begins playing the piano as Charles takes the makeshift stage with three bassinettes, each with a baby doll standing in for the triplets in the play. “Which of the Pickwick triplets did it?” That’s how the patter song begins, but as Charles begins to stumble over the fast-paced tongue-twister lyrics, he mentally goes somewhere else…
…It’s a white room. Calming music is playing. Charles is in a white suit. He grabs a paint roller and begins to paint more white on the walls. But then a chorus of animal sounds breaks him out of the dream…
…Charles is sitting in the center bassinet with his pants down and around his ankles. He holds one of his shoes in his left hand and one of the baby dolls in his right. He doesn’t know how he got there, but his cast mates tell him he went to “The white room,” describing it as an “Actor thing.” Oliver gives the cast a break, and Mabel continues trying to talk about the case when they’re alone. She wants to investigate the Gooseberry Theater, hoping she will find the serum Kimber gave Ben to see if it contains poison. Oliver tells her that his assistant Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton) has the keys. She uses Howard’s obsession with sweaters, in particular her own collection, to get him to let her in. She claims to have left a really cute sweater there that could become moth food if she doesn’t get it back.
Charles goes back to his apartment and tells Joy about his experience in the white room. She tells him he’s probably just hungry and suggests he makes one of his perfect omelets. Charles has done this so many times that his body just takes him through the motions. As he makes the omelet, he practices the patter song, and… he does it! Charles is ecstatic as he calls Joy into the kitchen to share the good news. “You have me now,” Joy tells him. “I’m gonna look out for you, Charlie, just like I did for Ben Glenroy. He knew if he touched one hair on your little head, he would have to deal with me.”
Inside the theater, Mabel and Oliver discover that all of the rotting flowers from the opening night have created a terrible smell. As they progress through the backstage hallways, they open a door and are shocked to find Kimber in her dressing room. She confesses to having made a copy of Howard’s keys to use her dressing room for her beauty business, offering them both a discount in exchange for their silence. Mabel pretends to be interested in the serum for herself, and Kimber tells her that Ben used it all the time, even on opening night. However, the conversation is interrupted by Charles’ arrival. Mabel takes them into the hallway, asking them to go look through Ben’s dressing room while she talks to Kimber. She learns that Kimber wasn’t having a relationship with Ben. His apology to her was because he told her he would endorse her serum but then backed out of that despite having loved it. Out of anger, she sold the handkerchief Ben gave her on eBay. Mabel asks Kimber if she was in Ben’s dressing room on opening night. She says she wasn’t, but she saw Ben panicking before the show because he had a red mark on his face. She said whoever was in his dressing room was talented because nobody could see it when the show began. Mabel gets a text from Charles that they need her.
(Patrick Harbron/Hulu)
Charles picked the lock on Ben’s dressing room door. Inside, he and Oliver found a drawing of a pig and an expletive written in lipstick on Ben’s mirror. Mabel uses tissues to pick up the tube of lipstick and puts it in her pocket. Charles gets a text from Joy with a picture of a piranha. He rushes back to The Arconia to make sure that doesn’t mean she bought one. “You can’t ignore me forever,” reads a text Mabel receives from the same number as before. “Where do you want to meet?”, Mabel replies.
(Patrick Harbron/Hulu)
The text was from Cinda Canning. Her entire rebranding was fake, and she’s dying to get back to solving murders. She offers Mabel her own show – “The Bloody Mabel Show” – offering to be her partner. “What are you going to do when people stop keeling over at The Arconia?”, Cinda asks Mabel when she declines and points out she already has partners. Cinda offers Mabel structure and a paycheck – something she lacked when apartment shopping with her realtor. Cinda learns that Mabel is working on the Ben Glenroy case, and she desperately wants to help. She begins to write Mabel a check, adding zeros to the number. But Mabel holds strong and refuses the offer.
Oliver calls another rehearsal of Charles’ patter song, this one decidedly more intimate. It’s just Charles, Oliver, Tom, and Howard. Charles is successfully getting through the song, but he’s miming making an omelet and Oliver stops him, ordering him to keep his hands behind his back while doing it. Charles starts over. After the first line, his speech slurs and…
…Back in the white room, Charles admires a white portrait on the wall. He looks out the window and sees the Statue of Liberty. It’s orange. He hears animal sounds…
…Charles is holding two of the baby dolls upside down by their ankles. The third is somehow hanging from the ceiling. “My pants are still on, so that’s a good sign,” he comments. But apparently, what came out of his mouth was so profane that Tom needs to go to church. Alone, Oliver tells Charles that he thinks Joy moving into his apartment is causing this problem. “I suppose some people are meant to be alone, and maybe I’m one of them,” Charles admits. Charles isn’t sure how to ask Joy to move out so quickly after she moved in. He brings up that Oliver is overthinking asking Loretta out. “Dinner?”, Oliver quickly texts her.
(Patrick Harbron/Hulu)
Charles returns to his apartment to find Joy holding a decorative treasure chest, a new gift for her fish. She’s about to put it in the tank as Charles begins to approach the subject of having her move out. But before those words come out…
…The windows outside of the white room are full of large fish swimming by. Charles mimics fish movements at them. Animal noises…
… “Whatever I did, I’m sorry,” Charles says. His hair is disheveled, and a string of pearls from the fish tank treasure chest is draped over his shoulder. “I’d be honored,” Joy responds ecstatically. “The answer is yes! I would love to marry you!” Oliver and Mabel stand in the doorway, speechless. Charles looks at his friends in horror. Mabel is holding the lipstick she retrieved from Ben’s dressing room. “You found my lipstick,” Joy exclaims as she takes it from Mabel.
Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building continues on Tuesday, August 29th, only on Hulu. Here’s a description of the 5th episode, titled “Ah, Love!,” written by Tess Morris and Noah Levine.
Date night! New York proves itself both a jewel box and a fish tank of romance as Charles, Mabel & Oliver take their relationships to the next stage. And dating can reveal many hidden secrets, too…