When a series has been on the air for a long time, it runs the risk of running out of ideas. Losing what made it unique or ending up repeating the same thing over and over again to avoid losing what makes it unique. When that happens, when it does something too crazy for its own good, we say it has jumped the shark, something that many series suffer from when they extend beyond their limits. But a series that doesn’t even seem to be suffering from this is Only Murders in the Building, a series surprisingly comfortable with its premise and, also, in how to make it evolve.
Only Murders in the Building is a series about three neighbors in a building on the Upper West Side, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, who share one thing in common and it’s only one thing: they love true crime. When a neighbor dies in the building, they decide to team up to try to solve the murder, even if they have absolutely nothing in common and, to be fair, they don’t even like each other.
A series that has known how to evolve over time
This premise that worked perfectly in its first season has extended over four seasons by increasingly entangling its characters with each other and with the building. Giving more and more weight to their relationship, making them have more feelings for each other and always looking for a reason to keep seeing each other even beyond the murders that populate the building, even when they don’t always want to admit it, the series has thrived on the charisma of its characters and the ingenuity of the deaths. Even if the fourth season was starting to stretch the situation a bit too much.
Except for one thing. The fourth season followed the tradition of each season ending with the next murder, leaving us intrigued about how it would be resolved, how they would come together again to solve it, and above all, how it happened. But this time, the murder is much more mundane and much more complex. Because the last crime in the Arconia building has been the doorman Lester, in the garden, everything points to an accident, but Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are convinced that it is not.
Of course, it wouldn’t be serious if it were. So the synopsis already gives us an idea of what to expect from this new season: the three diving into the darkest corners of New York and the building’s connection to powerful millionaires and old-school mobsters. A premise that sounds interesting. But also dangerously fantastical.
Are we at risk of jumping the shark?
Part of the interest in Only Murders in the Building has always been the bizarre nature of the deaths, the ups and downs of the relationships between its characters, and the peculiar revelations about the building, but this time it seems they are going to take it a step further. And that makes us wonder if we are already close to jumping the shark with such a crazy premise, with a fourth season that has already been considered the weakest of those aired so far. Even if, let’s not kid ourselves, it is also a fascinating premise that could very well lead to the best season yet.
To find out, we will have to wait, or not. Not exactly. Today, Tuesday, September 9, the first three episodes of the fifth season premiere on Disney+. To watch the next seven, until we reach the ten episodes of the season, we will have to be in front of the screen every Tuesday until October 28 to see how everything is resolved.
Whether they will jump the shark or give us another brilliant season, like the first two seasons of the series, is something that remains to be seen. But what is clear is that this season has the ingredients to achieve either of the two. And it promises not to leave any fan of the series indifferent.