Only Murders in the Building Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Silver Alert

Only Murders in the Building Season 5 Episode 7, “Silver Alert,” focuses our trio’s attention back on the billionaire trio. They still have the issue of not being able to podcast about them, and a solution is nowhere in sight. However, they do at least get some answers out of them.

Thanks to their interview with the mayor that lasted all of three seconds, our trio at least learns where to find the billionaires. They’re at a secluded estate with no cell phone reception.

Truly, the perfect spot for evil-doing and a great setting for a spooky episode of television.

While not quite a Halloween episode, “Silver Alert” does have a horror film vibe.

We’ve already discussed the eerie location, and then on top of that, there’s a creepy, Victorian-era child — Bash’s son. Throughout our trio’s time at the estate, there’s a layer of tension, keeping you slightly on edge. 

Oliver clearly isn’t having a good time, but we sure are.

As far as suspects go, the billionaire trio is hard to read. It’s clear they aren’t really good people, and they behave abnormally, or rather, they behave like someone who has so much money that they feel as if social norms don’t apply to them.

This makes us and our trio feel slightly off-kilter around them. For mysterious, potential killers, this is a great trait. You are never fully sure what your opinion is on them being behind either/both of the killings.

Only Murders in the Building plays up the unease well. You will go from believing they are just playing board games like super competitive weirdos to learning there’s a finger in the trophy, making you believe any of them are deranged enough to commit murder.

But, as a love interest, it’s a frustrating quality.

Mabel has realized she has a connection with Jay and has debated dating him — it’s not like Charles hasn’t dated a few suspects before. However, it’s hard to figure out if Jay is someone we’d want her to be with.

Wanting characters to get together (aka shipping) is a fun aspect of watching a show. You want to feel some way about a pairing, whether good or bad, because there’s nothing worse than being ambivalent toward something happening on a show you enjoy.

There are just too many questions surrounding Jay to decide if he’s a good guy, let alone if seeing him with Mabel is something that could be worth the show exploring.

For a potential murderer, a bit of mystery surrounding their character is fine, but we need to have something concrete about them to latch onto if we’re going to explore romance between the maybe murderer and one of the show’s leads.

It could be as small as at least believing that he likes her and has her best interest at heart, but Jay has shown that he will prioritize himself over Mabel. While they clearly have chemistry, we can’t even tell if it is genuine on his side or if he’s playing her.

Stray Thoughts

• It’s sweet how much Charles and Mabel remember of Oliver’s many, many stories.
• I would love to see a Halloween episode set at the Arconia, featuring our favorite Arconia residents dressed up in costumes.
• The casino twist ties back to the Arconia in a cool way.

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New episodes of Only Murders in the Building air Tuesdays on Hulu.

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