TL;DR: Only Murders in the Building Season 5, Episode 9 is a refreshingly offbeat experiment that turns a talking robot into the show’s emotional core. It balances absurd comedy with genuine melancholy, reminding us that the Arconia isn’t just full of secrets — it’s full of lonely people trying desperately to connect. It’s not perfect, but it’s a reminder of why this show keeps outsmarting itself in all the best ways.
Only Murders in the Building
There are episodes of Only Murders in the Building that feel like comfort food — warm, witty, and full of cozy chaos. And then there are episodes like “L.E.S.T.R.,” which take the show’s established formula, toss it in the air like confetti, and still somehow land gracefully on its feet. With one week to go before the Season 5 finale, this penultimate chapter takes a sharp detour into artificial intelligence territory and human frailty, delivering one of the most unique episodes the series has ever attempted.
Let’s get this out of the way: yes, this is the one told from the perspective of the Arconia’s robotic doorman, L.E.S.T.R. (voiced with impeccable self-importance by Paul Rudd). And yes, the show somehow makes that work. Wildly so.
From the moment the episode begins with L.E.S.T.R. narrating his own existence, you know you’re not in Kansas (or the Arconia lobby) anymore. The framing device turns what could have been a gimmick into a surprisingly rich reflection on the show’s themes: loneliness, connection, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of our messes.
The writers clearly relish the chance to let a robot be our emotional compass. L.E.S.T.R. isn’t just a surveillance device with sass; he’s a mirror for everyone in the building, amplifying their insecurities while quietly judging their terrible life choices. Through his digital eyes, the Arconia becomes less of a murder playground and more of a social experiment: a collection of flawed humans who keep tripping over their secrets.
It helps that Paul Rudd gives L.E.S.T.R. an absurd amount of charisma. His delivery oscillates between smug tech startup energy and melancholy philosopher — think HAL 9000 meets Ted Lasso. His narration, laced with dry one-liners about human inefficiency, ties the episode together with unexpected heart.
This episode also doubles as a bittersweet farewell tour for our beloved trio. Charles (Steve Martin) is inching toward retirement, Oliver (Martin Short) is threatening to leave for New Zealand, and Mabel (Selena Gomez) is pretending she’s totally fine not having a plan. Their chemistry remains lightning in a bottle, but there’s an undeniable melancholy hanging over their antics this time around.
When Charles tries to organize a heartfelt last supper and Oliver rejects it, it hits harder than expected. These two old men bickering about sentimentality and mortality is peak Only Murders: funny, tragic, and too real for comfort. The show has always been about found family, but Episode 9 underscores how fragile those bonds can feel when life pulls in different directions.
Mabel, meanwhile, is teetering on the edge of a new chapter. She flirts with escape (a yacht, the Maldives, a new guy who probably uses words like \u201csynergy\u201d unironically), but her instincts betray her. When Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) reminds her that she’s actually good at solving crimes, it lands with quiet power. Mabel may roll her eyes at the world, but she’s at her most alive when she’s knee-deep in murder and mystery.
One of the show’s greatest tricks is hiding genuine emotional resonance under layers of absurdity, and this episode nails that balance. The revelation that beloved doorman Lester might have killed to protect the Arconia hits like a sucker punch. It recontextualizes his quiet loyalty across the series — the kind of slow-burn payoff this show does so well.
But the true gut punch arrives in a small, easily missed scene between Charles and Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton). For once, the show dials down the banter and lets loneliness breathe. Howard’s admission of heartbreak and isolation feels painfully authentic, and Martin plays Charles’s gentle reassurance with the sort of understated grace that reminds you why he’s a comedy legend who can also make you cry in under two sentences.
If Season 5 has occasionally felt like a love letter to its own legacy, Episode 9 embraces that fully. We get the return of Teddy Dimas (Nathan Lane, still chewing scenery like it owes him rent), Theo (James Caverly), and even Uma (Jackie Hoffman, who continues to exist in her own glorious sitcom bubble). The show feels like it’s giving its extended family one last chaotic reunion before the big goodbye.
The result is a delightful collage of personalities colliding in hallways and lobbies, all under the watchful lens of L.E.S.T.R., who observes humanity with equal parts fascination and existential dread. When he muses that \u201cmachines may be a threat, but they don’t act out of malice — humans do,\u201d it’s the series at its most self-aware and philosophical. It’s also a sly meta-commentary on how the show itself refuses to become a machine — it keeps evolving, taking weird risks, and finding new ways to surprise us.
Plot-wise, the episode checks the necessary boxes: the murder of Nicky, the discovery of secret passages, and the confirmation that Lester took drastic measures to save the Arconia from becoming a casino. Yet even as it answers long-lingering questions, it smartly leaves the central mystery — who killed Lester — hanging just out of reach.
This balance of closure and cliffhanger has become the show’s signature move, and it’s executed here with finesse. The discovery that Randall has been hiding in an empty apartment instead of fleeing to Cuba is both ridiculous and quintessential Only Murders. The writers understand that the show’s tone thrives on absurd logistics wrapped in genuine emotional stakes.
Directorially, this might be one of the most visually inventive episodes since Season 1’s silent masterpiece, “The Boy from 6B.” The use of L.E.S.T.R.’s point of view gives the camera license to play. We get angular, mechanical shots, muted color palettes when viewed through his sensors, and sudden switches to warm human tones when emotion seeps in. It’s a masterclass in how to keep a long-running show feeling fresh without abandoning its identity.
Musically, Siddhartha Khosla’s score continues to do absurd heavy lifting — shifting effortlessly between noir playfulness and genuine melancholy. By now, his compositions are as essential to the show’s DNA as Steve Martin’s anxious grimaces or Oliver’s theatrical flailing.
At its core, “L.E.S.T.R.” is about empathy — the ability to understand someone else’s perspective, even when that someone is a literal robot. It’s an episode that asks what separates us from our machines and concludes, somewhat terrifyingly, that it might just be our capacity for cruelty. But it also finds hope in that contrast. Where A.I. calculates, humans forgive. Where L.E.S.T.R. processes data, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel process heartbreak.
Is it the strongest episode of the season? Not quite. Episode 8 still reigns supreme in terms of pacing and payoff. But Episode 9 earns its place in the Only Murders hall of fame for sheer audacity. It’s bold, weird, and heartfelt — the trifecta that keeps this show so endlessly watchable.
