We Need To Talk About Paul Rudd's Round Robin Moment In Only Murders In The Building Season 3
This post contains spoilers for "Only Murders in the Building" season 3.
Over the course of his career, Paul Rudd hasn't died a lot onscreen. Comedian Patton Oswalt shot him in the chest in "Reno 911! Miami," Alexander Skarsgard stabbed Rudd's character Cactus Bill in the throat in the low key thriller "Mute" and I suppose you could count the time where one of his future variants is ripped to pieces in the trippiest scene in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." My personal favorite is when Scott Lang becomes a zombie and gets decapitated in the Disney+ animated series "What If ... ?" at the hands of Hank Pym. Apparently, Rudd is just too likable to wind up playing the victim very often.
That all changes in Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building" starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as three amateur sleuths who start a true crime podcast to help solve a series of mysterious deaths in their Manhattan apartment building, The Arconia. After the unfortunate demise of Bunny Folger is solved in season 2, Rudd's character Ben Glenroy suddenly drops dead on stage during a preview of Oliver Putnam's (Short) triumphant return to directing with a play aptly called "Death Rattle." Picking up right where we left off, season 3 begins with the immediate aftermath of Glenroy's death as the obnoxious A-list actor is whisked away in an ambulance after croaking just before his big Broadway debut.
As the cast regroups back at Oliver's apartment, Glenroy suddenly reemerges back from the dead to crash his own opening-night party. Visibly shaken by the ordeal, Glenroy acts as if he's been reborn and given a second chance to be a kinder more understanding artist instead of a spoiled, pretentious Hollywood blowhard. With his infectious brand of charm and smarm, Rudd bounces around the room to ask his fellow cast members for forgiveness, giving Glenroy a chance to play at his version of "It's A Wonderful Life." It's Rudd at his best, and it's worth breaking down every inappropriate encounter he has along the way.
The slap heard around the room
Not to overshadow his turn as a zombie in Marvel's "What If...?," Rudd comes back from the dead again as the now enlightened Ben Glenroy, who immediately proceeds to have an emotional breakdown in front of absolutely everyone. Never to be upstaged, Oliver runs over to him first to steal the spotlight. The two look like they're having a genuine moment of catharsis together, until Glenroy just slaps Oliver out of the way. The act itself is so dismissive, it immediately stands as evidence that Glenroy hasn't changed at all. But Rudd's signature grin still makes him look like he's engaging in a real moment of sincerity. Oliver goes from celebrating his newfound success to mourning his lead actor, to hating the resurrected star all over again.
The young ingénue, Kimber (Ashley Park), is the next target in Glenroy's sights, and it's obvious there's been some shady dealings between the two occurring offstage. Thanks to flashbacks, we know it's been four months since the two first met during some cringe-worthy flirting at the first script reading for "Death Rattle." "I'm so sorry I made everything messy between us," Glenroy tells her. If their relationship went south, Kimber seems to be willing to forgive but not necessarily forget whatever went wrong between them.
Rudd plays the character like he's peaking on mushrooms, moving on from Kimber to another actor named Ty (Gerald Caesar), who had the audacity to ask if he could get the number for Glenroy's personal trainer, Hutch, who Ben refers to as his "secret weapon." Glenroy's apology for getting mad at the request quickly turns to a backhanded remark that Ty would never be able to afford a trainer like Hutch in the first place. Every attempt at reconciliation becomes a confirmation that Glenroy is still a world class A-hole, a duality that Rudd excels at.
No more no no's for Bobo
Rudd's natural, universal appeal as an actor allows him to take chances playing an overbearing snob like Glenroy, who serves as an amalgamation of every negative story about the curse of celebrity that's ever been printed in the trades. That makes the next encounter even funnier with Glenroy's understudy Jonathan (Jason Veasey), who Glenroy admits would have never set foot on the stage to replace him. Obviously, it's the height of arrogance when you're telling your understudy that you're now considering letting him perform at a Wednesday matinee mere hours after you were pronounced dead at the scene.
"Death Rattle" producer and investor Donna and her doting son Cliff (who Glenroy refers to as "boy") are next up. Glenroy's apology to them for constantly complaining about the size, shape, and color palette of his "unnecessarily shi**y" dressing room says all that needs to be said about how trying that relationship has been. Now in the midst of a spinning hurricane of comedic acting, Rudd storms over to two other castmates, Bobo and KT, promising there will be "no more no no's for Bobo" and apologizing for yelling at KT about the mangos. "It's pretty much the only food I can eat on the 'Cobro' diet," he explains, referencing the ridiculous movie franchise where he stars as a half-man, half-Cobra superhero. Rudd's clearly relishing in getting the opportunity to make fun of himself and his own big budget filmography as Marvel's Ant-Man.
Everyone has a reason to hate Ben Glenroy
Playing a failed actor named Loretta who finally gets a break on Broadway, multiple Oscar winner Meryl Streep also looks to be enjoying the irony. Without even trying to sugarcoat things, Glenroy lashes out at Loretta, clearly seeing her as a threat. He tells her he knows a fellow snake when he sees one. Last but not least, Charles pleads with Glenroy to just skip over him and go on to someone else. It's a lovely, quiet character moment that reminds everyone that, on a good day, Charles would probably want to just be left alone. Glenroy accuses his aging co-star of being happy about his sudden (and unfortunately temporary) death, a sentiment Charles immediately agrees with.
Aside from showcasing Rudd's immense talents and comic timing, every confrontation that happens in this round robin charade has another purpose. Each character has a motive for killing Glenroy based on his antics. At the end of the episode when Glenroy is again found dead in the elevator shaft, his behavior the night before may have incited someone else to put him in an early grave.
After being called out as someone with ulterior motives, Loretta may have moved up to the front of the suspect line. Right after Glenroy makes his triumphant exit after supposedly making amends with everyone, she storms out of Oliver's apartment. "Ben may be back but it doesn't change the fact that he is a f**king a**hole," she yells for everyone to hear.
As the season moves on and the clues mount up, it's nice to know that Rudd will still be appearing in a few flashbacks where he'll have even more opportunities to shine. Playing an out-of-control jerk like Ben Glenroy is a chance for one of our finest comedic performers to act on pure id. And it's a joy to watch.
"Only Murders in the Building" is streaming on Hulu.