Note: This story contains spoilers from “Only Murders in the Building” Season 5, Episode 4.
In Tuesday’s episode of “Only Murders in the Building,” Charles, Oliver and Mabel go toe-to-toe with billionaire trio Bash Steed (Christoph Waltz), Camila White (Renée Zellweger) and Jay Pflug (Logan Lerman) when the latter group invites themselves over to “clear things up” after being mentioned as suspects in a tease for the podcast’s investigation into Nicky Caccimelio and Lester’s murders.
After the billionaires threaten to sue the trio for libel and reveal to the police that they had Nicky Caccimelio’s body, Charles, Mabel and Oliver devise a plan to split off into groups to get more information out of them. They learn that they billionaires were playing in the gaming parlor under the Arconia the night Lester died, but that they ran out after Nicky cut off of Pflug’s finger while in an angry rage and came back to retrieve it. By the end of the episode though, it’s revealed that the finger they found isn’t Pflug’s.
The billionaires find out through Mabel that the trio is interested in a podcasting deal with Wondify, which leads them take a majority stake in the company. Charles, Mabel and Oliver are subsequently tricked into signing a three-year deal that prevents them from investigating their new owners.
“When we’re talking about power, there’s that ease of ‘Well, then just buy them.’ I think that’s an answer that comes more frequently from those who are not really in the business of navigating more emotional questions for themselves,” showrunner John Hoffman told TheWrap. “When you’re talking about a season that’s built on a doorman who’s there to protect this one building in New York City, it all felt very, very akin to me and right for where we were going.”
“They get so caught up in the interpersonal dynamics with each of our trio in that ‘dinner party’ that you get sucked away from what their intent might be in being there. It’s absurd that all three of them show up, but what’s really going on underneath?” he continued. “Then you realize they were looking for the one thing they got, which was a deal at Wondify. So that’s the way to own them, shut them up and get them out of the way.”
When asked about working with Lerman, Zellweger and Waltz, Martin Short, Steve Martin and Hoffman had nothing but praise.
“Logan is one of the loveliest, most naturalistic actors and is a really, really great talent,” Short told TheWrap.”Christoph Waltz has two Oscars, Renée Zellweger has two Oscars. And then you have Meryl [Streep] with her three and Da’Vine Joy Randolph with her one. Oh and Steve has an honorary Oscar, which is the soccer participation trophy of show business.”
“Christoph Waltz is one of my favorite serious and comic actors. I really liked him as a person,” Martin said. “He’s a European intellectual with a great sense of humor.”
Gomez, who has stated publicly that Lerman was her childhood crush, told Hoffman prior to his casting as Jay Pflug.
“I love the guy, it’s impossible not to,” Hoffman said of Lerman. “When I talked to Selena about Logan before we cast him, she was like, ‘Oh my god. Well, that would be amazing, because I was very open about having a big crush on him when I was younger.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, OK, good’. So once that’s in there, that character was always going to have an intrigue about Mabel from his side.”
“She’s struggled with romance in many entertaining ways throughout all of our seasons,” he continued. “But it’s just impossible to know what it feels like if you’re someone like Mabel who’s struggling with these somewhat older gentleman and you’re in an enterprise with them and you’re trying to create a life and a business and a presence. It’s all unstable and now it’s even more unstable after this dinner party.”
When it came to crafting the billionaire trio, Hoffman said the writers were simply focused simply on coming up with characters that were funny, interesting and unexpected, though they did look to real-life billionaires focused on AI and longevity for inspiration.
“Once it gets cast, then it’s about honing further to certain specifics. Now he feels a little bit more this way or she feels over here and how to do we make it comfortable?” he said. “And then you get million talks with the actors themselves and you find your way with them.”
“[Zellweger, Waltz and Lerman] were absolutely game for everything and created their own universes, as billionaires tend to do themselves,” Hoffman added.
When asked if there were any dream guest stars that they hadn’t worked with yet, the Martin, Gomez and Short declined to reveal who they’d want on the show.
“I feel so fortunate to have worked with every single one of our actors,” Gomez said. “I don’t think I would pick. I’m just so excited every year we get to work with incredible people and we have a great time.”
“They have to fit into the show. It’s not like, ‘Oh, let’s work with so and so’,” Martin added. “Even though we’d want to, there has to be a role for them.”
Short said it’s always exciting to read a script prior to finding out who’s been cast in a specific role, which prompted Martin to joke: “I was surprised at the casting of Oliver this year and that they continued … didn’t jive with what I’d heard.”
Michael Cyril Creighton, who portrays Howard, touted the “embarrassment of riches” for talent in Season 5, from Lerman, Zellweger and Waltz to Dianne Wiest and Keegan Michael Key, adding that its a “dream to be in the room with all of them and watch them work.”
He attributed the show’s success as a long-running show in the streaming era to Martin, Short, Gomez and Hoffman’s ability to create an easy and pleasant working environment for everyone involved.
“It’s just a job that I love going to, and I know everybody that walks on the set feels the same way. They’re attracting more and more incredible actors that want to be part of this world, and the writers reinvent the world every season. So it never gets boring to me, both as an actor and a viewer,” Creighton told TheWrap. “We’re really lucky that we keep getting to move on and on and do it season after season.”
He also didn’t hesitate to offer his own dream guest star lineup, which includes Margo Martindale, Patricia Clarkson, Kate Winslet, Viola Davis and Barbara Streisand.
“The best thing about the show is we do have so many celebrities, and that’s incredible and they’re all giving excellent performances. But we also have some of the best day players and background actors in the business, people who come onto the show and have three lines and they crush it every single time,” he added. “It takes a very confident actor to come on that set and do your job, because it’s filled with so much talent. Our casting directors do a really good job as far as getting the best of the best, no matter how big or small the part is.”
“Only Murders in the Building” releases new episodes Tuesdays on Hulu.
