Steve Martin’s Only Murders in the Building maps its next act: Season 5 finale shocks, Season 6 heads to London with the trio intact

Only Murders in the Building closed Season 5 with a one-two punch—resolving the Arconia’s most personal case yet and dropping a fresh cliffhanger—just as the series locked in Season 6. With Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez confirmed to return, the cozy caper is trading West 86th Street for London, setting up the show’s first adventure abroad and a stylistic shakeup for the true-crime podcasters who turned a Manhattan co-op into appointment TV.

Season 5: how the Arconia case landed—without losing the comedy

The fifth outing leaned into home-front stakes: the murder of beloved doorman Lester pulled Charles, Oliver, and Mabel into a web of money, power, and municipal back-scratching. The finale revealed the killer as Mayor Beau Tillman, whose cover-up tied local politics to an outsized development scheme. It was a darker motive than most Arconia whodunits, but the show kept its tonal balance—snappy patter, meta theater gags, and the now-traditional late-episode reveal that reframes earlier clues.

The closing minutes added a second jolt: an apparent death connected to Cinda Canning, the frenemesis whose podcast empire has needled the trio since Season 1. Whether that tag signals Cinda’s exit, misdirection, or a larger media-industry arc is precisely the kind of ambiguity the series uses to bridge seasons.

Steve Martin and the chemistry that keeps Only Murders humming

At this point the brand is the trio’s rhythm—Steve Martin’s skittish precision, Martin Short’s Broadway bombast, and Selena Gomez’s dry, deflating wit. Season 5 doubled down on that alchemy: Charles dealt with aging-actor jitters, Oliver chased another impossible staging, and Mabel—ever the emotional compass—kept the boys from drifting into farce. Guest stars delivered pop, but the throughline remained the show’s humane joke: friendship is the only thing that solves any of this.

Season 6 confirmed: why London changes the game

Sending the podcast overseas isn’t just a backdrop swap; it resets the rules of the building. In New York, the trio speaks fluent Arconia—its gossip, power dynamics, and elevator politics. London forces them to relearn terrain: different corridors of privilege, a new set of institutions (police, press, theater), and a city where class, history, and humor bend investigations in unfamiliar ways. Expect:

• Fish-out-of-water sleuthing: Charles charming and baffled in equal measure; Oliver overconfident amid West End theatrics; Mabel spotting the tells the others miss.

• A new “building” to decode: London’s labyrinth—mews, townhouses, guilds, private clubs—offers Arconia-like intimacy without the literal Arconia.

• Podcast reinvention: Different time zones, new audiences, and format tweaks (live rooms, on-location soundscapes) give the trio fresh narrative toys.

Casting watch: who returns, who might follow

The core three are locked. Season 5’s bench—stacked with heavy hitters—proved the series can layer marquee guests without drowning the mystery. For Season 6, look for UK theater royalty and transatlantic scene-stealers to fill suspect and ally slots, while a handful of Arconia regulars surface by FaceTime, voice memo, or a well-timed Heathrow arrival. The show’s pattern—announce a few buzzy names, keep one pivotal role under wraps—should hold.

Release cadence and what to expect between seasons

Season 5 ran a 10-episode schedule with a late-October finale after a September premiere. Season 6’s exact date hasn’t been unveiled, but the production shuffle to London suggests a familiar fall window is plausible if filming turns quickly. The creative team has favored weekly drops over a binge, both to let clue-spotting flourish and to fuel the podcast-within-a-show vibe across social chatter.

Why Only Murders in the Building still feels fresh in Season 6

• Mystery with manners: The series treats clues like choreography. Sight gags hide setups; a throwaway line in Episode 2 detonates in Episode 9. Moving to London expands that clockwork into a city built on hidden rooms and ritual.

• Aging as a superpower: Charles and Oliver aren’t action heroes; they’re men whose experience—and missteps—become investigative tools. The show’s empathy for ambition, vanity, and second chances keeps the comedy grounded.

• Mabel’s modern lens: Her skepticism, internet fluency, and millennial dread give the podcast teeth. London’s media ecosystem (tabloids, broadsheets, podcasts, and stage PR) is ripe for her brand of satire.

The big questions heading into Season 6

1. What’s the real endgame of that finale tag? If a death in Cinda’s orbit is genuine, why now—and who benefits?

2. What ties New York to London? A financier? An art or theater scandal? A case that crosses borders is catnip for a show already obsessed with performance.

3. Will the trio stay roommates in spirit? Even apart, the series thrives when the pod feels communal—murder boards, bagels, and the familiar scratch of a marker on plexiglass.

With Season 5 wrapped and Season 6 set in London, Only Murders in the Building enters its most intriguing chapter yet. Steve Martin and company aren’t just changing scenery; they’re upgrading the puzzle box—new suspects, new systems, same heart. The Arconia may be an ocean away, but the show’s north star remains unchanged: friendship, jokes, and just enough danger to make the reveal sing.