Only Murders in the Building Showrunner Breaks Down Season 3 Premiere's Shocking Reveal

The third season of Only Murders in the Building has finally arrived on Hulu. The first two episodes of Season 3 were released early on Tuesday, giving the trio of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel a brand new murder to solve. The case might have been teased in the Season 2 finale, but the show begins its latest installment with a clever double-twist that had fans questioning who the real victim was, at least for a few minutes. WARNING: The rest of this article contains major spoilers for Only Murders in the Building Season 3! Continue reading at your own risk...

Ben Glenroy, played by Paul Rudd, dies on stage while opening Oliver's new play, as fans saw at the end of Season 2. It's revealed in the Season 3 premiere, however, that Ben was brought back to life at the hospital. At the end of the episode, Ben dies again, this time for good, having been pushed down the Arconia's elevator shaft.

Only Murders in the Building co-creator and showrunner John Hoffman recently opened up to TVLine about the double-twist shocker in the Season 3 debut.

"The part I liked the most is this twist on the classic murder-mystery thing, where you have a room full of people – suspects, potentially – and here we have the victim himself going around the room and picking out potential suspects for our audience at home," Hoffman said. "And then it's a double twist [once Ben dies in the Arconia] that sets up our trio."

Hoffman also talked about Rudd's performance as Ben, and his willingness to take on the double death fake out scenes. Rudd, as Hoffman explained, was all about the opening twist.

"Paul was delighted," he said. "We didn't have it when we first pitched him on his demise at the end of Season 2. I'll never forget Zooming with him, when I was telling what this season would entail for Ben Glenroy, and he was both shocked and delighted."

OMITB Season 3's Prime Suspect

The first two episodes of Only Murders in the Building seem to hint at Meryl Streep's Loretta Durkin being at least capable of killing Ben. She doesn't like him very much and has been nearby for both of his deaths. She could obviously be a red herring but Loretta is probably the earlier frontrunner for Season 3's big murderer.

Further complicating things is the relationship Loretta formed with Oliver. After talking about Ben's demise, Hoffman opened up about Loretta's arc in Season 3.

"Loretta is a truly miraculous actress who needs to be in the right part to give the performance she's capable of giving.... I come from the theater and, you know, a process is a process. At a table read, I have seen many a brilliant actor really make everyone tremble with nerves. Like, "What are they doing?" Their process is out of left field – and for Loretta, she needs to find the voice. Some people need a costume, some people need a voice, and what was really important to me is that it puts it on Oliver to defend her. He's the one championing her, and he's not going to walk away from her, and it sparks a romance between them."

The first two episodes of Only Murders in the Building Season 3 are now streaming on Hulu.