Only Murders in the Building has gotten an impressive amount of mileage out of the relationship between its main three leads of Mabel, Oliver, and Charles. However, the backbone of the show has always been in its strength of recurring, cameo, and bit characters. Episodes such as season five episode two, “After You,” offer a prime example of the creative strengths of television and how the medium allows for more storytelling fluidity. “After You” follows Lester, from when he gets hired at the Arconia as an aspiring actor, to his mysterious, untimely death. While Lester’s love story with both his wife and the Arconia itself is the main draw of the episode, most of the fun comes from seeing him interact with familiar characters throughout time. Overall, “After You” was a simple, sweet episode of Only Murders in the Building, building slightly on the season’s plot while prioritizing Lester’s characterization and the eccentric run-ins with the familiar cast.
Lester begins his story as an unrecognizable young man, sternly mentored by George, all while he has his sights set on becoming an actor. This dream quickly fades as he gets more integrated into the Arconia, both the familiar main floors and the newly discovered basement casino. The tone of this episode is consistently light and sweet, fitting in naturally with the rest of the show despite its departure from the main story. If anything, the placement of such a flashback episode could have been saved for later in the season, but it planted enough seeds for later in the season to, in some parts, warrant its placement this early on. At best, the episode is a tender exploration of how someone can fall in love with a place and explore unfamiliar parts of it with the audience, filled with charming, recognizable bits. At worst, the episode offers scenes that, while sweet, offer little beyond providing the audience with small Easter Eggs from the past. Still, this by no means holds back the episode, as most of the scenes with young Charles, young Oliver, and baby Mabel are entertaining. Notably, the running gag of Charles going up for iconic film roles worked very well. At times, however, some “remember when” nods felt like merely cute little references that did not have much bearing on the episode or the character work. With that, much is to be seen, and Only Murders in the Building has proven time and time again that it is the type of show where any of these small, silly details could come back in a major way.
“After You” was a heartfelt story with exciting details sprinkled throughout. It’s a very cute episode, with some parts of it seemingly only existing to serve and enhance this cuteness. As a flashback episode, it was successful in telling its own story, tenderly exploring Lester, and potentially planting seeds for later in the season. Despite the comforting consistency of Mabel, Oliver, and Charles finding clues every week, the ability of Only Murders in the Building to seamlessly and successfully explore a minor character’s backstory is very impressive.
Rating: 7/10