Dead as a Doorman

In the fifth season of this stellar comedy, the most murderous building in New York serves up another victim, one that really hits close to home for the Arconia residents. At the end of the Season 4 finale, the now Hollywood-famous trio of true crime podcasters — Charles (Steve Martin, also a co-creator with John Hoffman), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) — stumbled upon another body: the building’s doorman, Lester (Teddy Coluca), dead in the courtyard fountain.

The bloody demise of Lester “opened up a world of New York that felt very right for the season because it was classical New York,” Hoffman, who serves as Only Murders in the Building‘s showrunner, says. “It’s an unusual job, a doorman in an apartment building looking after everybody, and particularly this building where a few homicides have occurred. What does that do to someone?”. Episode 2 will divulge details of the life that Lester led as well as how he “connected to everybody in that building for as long as they’ve been there.”

The trio is, of course, on the case, even though Lester’s death is ruled an accident. “That seems absurd to the people who’ve been studying murders in the most murderous building,” explains Hoffman. “They are driven by, [as] over and over again you’ll hear, ‘We’re doing this for Lester.’ They’re walking into very dangerous situations.”

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Their investigation leads them into the worlds of both the old and the new mob. On the side of the traditional mob are Bobby Cannavale and Téa Leoni‘s characters, Nicky and Sofia Caccimelio; she had approached Charles and Mabel about her missing husband at the end of Season 4. In a perfect mix of Only Murders‘ comedic approach to crime and its nods to classic-movie thrills, the couple live on Staten Island in The Godfather house! (They actually filmed inside, which Hoffman hadn’t realized they could.) In tow is his mother and their five near middle-aged sons, who at one point have to be told they’re going to have less screen time. Nicky has “dreams of being Tony Soprano,” Hoffman says, but “is the mob dead in that form?”

In contrast to them is the new mob, the billionaires who represent real modern power in New York, played by Renée Zellweger, Logan Lerman, and Christoph Waltz, and have secretly been moving around the building. (See a first look at Waltz and Zellweger in our exclusive photo below.) Each of the trio is paired off with one of them in a way that drives their story this season.

Beanie Feldstein plays Mabel’s “new friend in the building who is the bane of her existence,” and just as Mabel is feeling insecure as a result, “in walks this gentleman with eyes on her,” teases Hoffman. “How do you manage that if you have someone coming at you with all these resources to change everything for you?” That forces her to ask questions about herself.

Charles is facing everyone moving on and his “addiction to murderous women” — including a flirtation with Sofia, a suspect this season. That relationship “is very odd but specific and with heart,” the showrunner says, promising revelations about why Charles is the way he is. As he deals with that and how long he’ll be alone, “he confronts a billionaire who’s deeply involved in longevity in an absurd way,” Hoffman adds.

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And as Oliver faces a long-distance marriage with Loretta (Meryl Streep), he talks with New York’s most fashionable arbiter of good taste, Camila (Zellweger). “She’s telling him all about his interiors, both the apartment and what it might mean for his relationship and what he should do,” Hoffman says, leading him to question, “Do I love this building, do I love this trio more than I love my wife?” — especially once the ownership of Arconia might be up for grabs.

Other new cast members this season include Keegan-Michael Key as the mayor and Jermaine Fowler as another doorman. Dianne Wiest plays Lester’s widow, and Hoffman was so glad to get her. “I can’t tell you what it meant to me to have Dianne Wiest say she would like to be in our show. I have been a very deep fan of Dianne Wiest for my entire life, and I just think she’s brilliant,” he raves.

While fans already know Lester, she’s only introduced after his death. “We needed to love her in order to also remind ourselves constantly that Lester is at the heart of the season,” Hoffman says. “She’s got a tremendous beating heart and a wickedly funny way of dealing with everybody in this wide-eyed, innocent way, unlike anyone else we’ve had on the show.”

Each season’s finale of Only Murders has set up the next murder investigation. While Hoffman won’t confirm there will be another murder at the end of this one, “if there were, I think we will look to shake things up in a potential next go. Nothing is at its end,” he says. And while “there’s the stretch of credulity” of “how long can this thing go on?” he’s all for continuing to do so as long as the writers and producers come up with new ideas. We’re all for it! We wouldn’t want to move into the Arconia, but we certainly love to keep visiting.

Only Murders in the Building, Season 5 Premiere, Tuesday, September 9, Hulu

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