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\n Loretta is back just in time to join the investigation into Rainey and Sofia, only to have a dagger pulled on her.
\n Photo: Patrick Harbron\/Disney\n <\/p>\n
It took half the season, but Meryl Streep is finally back. Loretta and her Wednesday Addams braids make their grand return to the Arconia for the first time since her wedding, but sadly it\u2019s for an unfortunate reason. Her apartment of 47 years burned down, and she lost everything in the fire. \u201cBut let\u2019s put aside the gloom and doom; let\u2019s talk murder,\u201d she says, which is a phenomenal line.<\/p>\n
As we saw at the end of last week\u2019s episode, Sofia and Rainey appear to be up to no good, which means the trio finally has two suspects that their Wondify contract doesn\u2019t stop them from podcasting about. And in even more good news, Sofia returned Charles\u2019s phone without issue, and he\u2019s put that relationship behind him \u2014 so he\u2019s back to the dating apps to satiate his testosterone-fueled appetite.<\/p>\n
Although he now has his phone, it turns out something else is missing. When Detective Williams arrives to collect the severed finger for testing, they discover that the cup holding it is empty. Based on the mysterious scuff marks near Charles\u2019s freezer, it looks like someone with sticky fingers of their own broke in to steal it. So he and Mabel decide to take on that side mission, sending Oliver and Loretta to check out what the widows are up to.<\/p>\n
As they head out to Oliver\u2019s old stomping grounds in Flatbush, the rest of the gang bumps into Th\u0113 in the elevator, where Charles lets it slip that they\u2019re investigating a potential break-in. As it turns out, the previous night, Th\u0113 spotted a suspicious light coming from one of the apartments on the 14th floor while doing \u2019shrooms with Seth Rogen (likely), and sure enough, it was Charles\u2019s unit. The last thing Mabel wants is Th\u0113 encroaching on her turf even further, but Detective Williams (who can read their entire dynamic right off the bat) tells her she has to essentially grow up and work with her to get more information.<\/p>\n
Mabel doesn\u2019t exactly follow that advice, though, at least not at first. When they all track down the replacement LESTR to watch the security-camera footage of Charles\u2019s door, there\u2019s no sign of anyone, even though Th\u0113 claims she was there. Was she really, though, Mabel asks her, or was she just lying for attention? Naturally, Th\u0113 takes offense and storms out, just before they catch a glitch in the video that proves she was, in fact, there and that the footage had been tampered with. This, of course, creates a nightmare scenario for Mabel, in which she now has to go apologize to her nemesis.<\/p>\n
When she tries to do just that, she\u2019s met with a shoe being hurled at her across Th\u0113\u2019s apartment \u2026 which, fair. The pair\u2019s cold war finally comes to a head, and we get to hear Th\u0113\u2019s perspective on the end of their childhood friendship. Mabel was depressed after losing her friend, but since Th\u0113 didn\u2019t know that, she just thought she was being ghosted, which in turn made her depressed \u2014 a classic Three\u2019s Company\u2013esque misunderstanding when you think about it. She even confesses that she\u2019s always wanted to be like Mabel, even moving into the Arconia to emulate her. After talking this all through, they come to a truce, and Mabel now has a new old friend in the building with her. Beanie Feldstein masterfully changes this character from the almost caricature-like narcissist we first meet into one that\u2019s much more dimensional, grounded, and pleasant, without it ever feeling like a jarring switch. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how she continues to walk that line, what role this friendship plays moving forward, and most importantly, if the show releases Th\u0113\u2019s pop song on Spotify.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Oliver and Loretta (clad in sunglasses, a hat, and a long trench coat to avoid suspicion) arrive at Rainey\u2019s home to discover that she\u2019s conveniently having an open house, meaning they can waltz right in. They split up to investigate, and Loretta finds herself in a room with an \u201coff-limits\u201d sign on the door, because that might as well be a flashing neon arrow that says \u201cEvidence This Way!\u201d But as she begins to poke around the memento-filled room, Rainey bursts in, wielding a dagger. Dianne Wiest should get to hold weapons more often.<\/p>\n
But fear not, we find out that she\u2019s simply an opera fanatic and it was a prop used by Maria Callas in her final performance of Tosca at the Met. But now she\u2019s selling it, along with her home and many of her other belongings from her life with Lester, which is something that Loretta, who is still grieving the loss of everything she owns, can\u2019t wrap her head around. But Rainey tells her that it\u2019s Lester she wants, not the stuff. Isn\u2019t it nice when suspects can offer wisdom that\u2019s so perfectly applicable to whatever struggle the characters investigating them are going through? Ultimately, Rainey wins over Loretta, who buys the dagger just so Rainey can keep it as a memory of Lester.<\/p>\n
But just as she\u2019s telling Oliver that she believes Rainey is innocent, the pair spot her with Sofia making yet another suspicious handoff and decide to trail them. Unfortunately, they almost immediately get distracted and lose them, but Oliver finds himself outside of the old theater that made him fall in love with the medium when he was a kid. In fact, this whole jaunt to Flatbush has been a somewhat haunting trip down memory lane for Oliver, who has been having flashbacks of being bullied and judged for his little purple scarf and penchant for the arts. This all just further supports what we already know: Martin Short is the most culturally gay straight man we have. He and Loretta go inside and recite some of the lines they never got to deliver from their old respective projects, but as they finish, there\u2019s clapping from the audience. Sofia and Rainey are sitting in the balcony, like a gender-bent Statler and Waldorf.<\/p>\n
Despite how sinister that reveal was, and how suspicious they\u2019ve been acting, it turns out they\u2019ve got a pretty good story. They say that the handoff the previous night was just Sofia giving Rainey the money Nicky owed Lester from their business dealings, and today Sofia was lending Rainey a prop gun for a production of Newsies she\u2019s directing at that theater. But wait a minute \u2026 is there a gun in Newsies? I have no memory of there being a gun in Newsies, but Loretta and Oliver seem to just accept this explanation. If you or a loved one were in a production of Newsies that required a gun, please comment below to clear Rainey\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s during this exchange that Rainey informs us that Lester wasn\u2019t even supposed to be working the casino the night he died, and that he had taken off to attend Oliver\u2019s wedding. She also hands over a bird-shaped bird whistle that he had on him when he died to aid the investigation, so at least Oliver and Loretta are walking away with something.<\/p>\n
When they return to the Arconia, Oliver pulls Mabel aside to tell her that he will, in fact, be moving from the building. I feel like we\u2019ve seen this kind of story line play out before, so it feels a little \u201cBoy Who Cried Wolf,\u201d but Oliver says he won\u2019t be leaving the Upper West Side, so we shouldn\u2019t be too impacted by this move in any case.<\/p>\n
And speaking of stories that we\u2019ve seen play out before, Charles is flirting away with someone he shouldn\u2019t be. This time, it\u2019s the mystery woman from his dating app, and he\u2019s being a little too forthcoming about the case to keep the conversation going. Not only that, but as Detective Williams shows them the footage of Lester\u2019s death, which has also clearly been tampered with, Charles realizes there\u2019s a familiar logo in the corner. The dating app he\u2019s using and the security-camera system are owned by the same company, and they quickly find out that that company is owned by \u2026 drumroll \u2026 Bash.<\/p>\n
The billionaire played by Christoph Waltz not only has been able to watch them this whole time, but he\u2019s also been able to edit the security footage to have it show whatever he wants. And, if Charles\u2019s online prospect is in fact a catfish like the others suspect, Bash could be the person he\u2019s chatting to. Right on cue, he gets a haunting message, supposedly from Bash posing as \u201cPriscilla,\u201d that reads, \u201cYou\u2019re such a smarty pants, now I need to come hunt you down.\u201d I know they\u2019re all assuming it\u2019s Bash, but I\u2019m still holding out hope that it\u2019s a real lady who just happens to be flirting very ominously.<\/p>\n
Only Murders in the Building<\/p>\n
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