"The world was a different place when Only Murders in the Building first came on the scene in 2021. Back then, true-crime podcasts were all the rage, Steve Martin was much more of a household name than Martin Short, and Selena Gomez was still mostly known for being a pop star. But in the five years since the beloved Hulu murder-mystery series became a cozy fixture of our fall TV slates, the pop culture landscape has changed a lot."
"So it's no wonder that with its fifth season, Only Murders in the Building is going back to basics. After last season's glossy, cameo-filled meta marvel, Season 5 (for which critics received 9 of the 10 episodes) feels pleasantly low-stakes - a return to good old-fashioned investigating. It's the closest the show has felt to being a noir, though, for once, Only Murders doesn't feel the need to prove that it can take wild, experimental swings."
Only Murders in the Building debuted in 2021 amid a true-crime boom, when Steve Martin held greater household recognition than Martin Short and Selena Gomez remained primarily a pop star. Over five years, the true-crime genre waned into streaming B-movies and forgettable miniseries, podcasts shifted toward influencers and political interviews, and murder-mystery trends favored Agatha Christie-style whodunits. Season 5 returns to basics with a low-stakes, noir-adjacent approach focused on traditional investigating rather than experimental gimmicks. The season continues directly after the discovery of the Arconia doorman Lester bleeding in the fountain and follows the trio as they pursue leads ignored by police.
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