New "Only Murders In The Building" Episode Casts Suspicion On Charles' Girlfriend Joy

Author's Note: This article contains spoilers for "Only Murders In The Building" Season 3, Episode 4 "The White Room".  Please do not read any further if you have not seen the episode yet.     

    The latest episode in Hulu's hit murder-mystery series "Only Murders In The Building" premiered this morning. The episode, titled "The White Room", revolved around Charles Haden Savage (Steve Martin) struggling to remember the words to a song that Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) has written for his musical "Death Rattle Dazzle" while at the same time dealing with having his new girlfriend Joy (Andrea Martin) move in with him-apparently along with sixty-two fish that Joy owns. Meanwhile, Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) is attempting to find a new place to live due to the impending end of her lease-and is contacted by a familiar face.

    We begin the episode with narration by Cinda Canning (Tina Fey), the rival podcaster whose former assistant Poppy White (Adina Vernon) was responsible for the murder of Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell) in Season Two. Cinda has spent the past year undergoing a new transformation, both physical and spiritual, although the latter is later revealed to be just an act. Meanwhile, Mabel is being shown an apartment by a real estate agent but decides it's not the right one for her. 

    Oliver wants to add a patter song (Basically, an informative rap in a musical) to "Death Rattle Dazzle" and wants Charles to perform it. During the initial rehearsal of the song, however, Charles blanks out and goes to the titular "White Room"-essentially, the Broadway version of the "Happy Place". When he comes out of it, he is completely disheveled and holding a (thankfully fake) baby by the leg. We have no idea what Charles did on stage during his "White Room" moment but apparently it was traumatizing enough that Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton) needed to call his therapist. (Although Howard later reveals that he doesn't have a therapist and was actually calling his brother). Charles discusses the issue with his new live-in girlfriend Joy, who suggests that he make an omelet. When Charles take her up on her suggestion, he discovers that when he is making the omelet, he can perform the song all the way through without forgetting any lines. However, Joy thinks that the omelet making is a "crutch" and tells Charles that she's his omelet now and that she will take care of him-just like she "took care" of Ben. Naturally, this begins to raise Charles' suspicions about Joy.

    Oliver and Mabel, meanwhile, are attempting to prove that Kimber (Ashley Park) is behind the murder of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) after she was unable to produce the handkerchief that Ben had given her and the rest of her fellow cast members before he died and become more suspicious of her after discovering that Ben was a spokesman for an anti-aging serum she developed that may have been used to poison him. Mabel convinces Howard to let them into the theater by telling him that she left her sweater in there. When they get to the theater, they discover that Kimber has been using her dressing room as her office. Kimber denies having a romantic relationship with Ben, stating that she only wanted him to endorse her new product. He apparently agreed to but then changed his mind-which is why she decided to sell his handkerchief on eBay. It's also revealed that the night Ben collapsed on stage, there was a red mark on his face and that he called in someone to help cover it up. Mabel and Oliver then go to Ben's dressing room where they discover that someone has written the words "Fucking Pig", along with a drawing of a pig, on his mirror in lipstick. 

    Meanwhile, Mabel is getting text messages from a seemingly unknown number. Eventually, when she and Oliver are investigating at the theater, Mabel finally decides to meet up with her "stalker"-who is revealed to be Cinda Canning. Cinda is willing to offer Mabel a substantial amount of money to have her own podcast but Mabel refuses her offer. 

    Charles eventually tries once again to perform the song during a rehearsal by mimicking his omelet making on stage but Oliver insists that he perform it his way-which naturally leads to another "White Room" moment. Oliver suggests that Charles' issues are connected to Joy moving in with him and tells Charles that he needs to tell Joy to move out. He goes back to his apartment to do just that but instead blanks out and has a third "White Room" moment. When he snaps back to reality, it's revealed that instead of asking Joy to move out, he has asked her to marry him, which she happily says yes to. Just then, Mabel and Oliver show up with the tube of lipstick that was used to write the message on Ben's mirror-which Joy immediately recognizes as belonging to her.

    So is Joy Ben's killer? Given that we're only four episodes into a ten episode season, probably not. After all, neither of the first two killers (Jan and Poppy/Becky) were suspects at this point in their respective seasons. But she is definitely hiding something, and I am sure we will find out what that something is in the next episode.

New episodes of "Only Murders In The Building" premiered every Tuesday night at 12:00 midnight Eastern Time on Hulu. The next episode, titled "Ah, Love" will premiere on August 29.