Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 3, primarily focuses on the main trio performing an autopsy on Nicky. The autopsy itself has a great setup, with Oliver sneezing on the corpse, getting his DNA everywhere. The comedy continues fantastically, with Oliver stuffing Nicky in a laundry cart, rushing him through the streets of Manhattan, and leaving him in Charles’ apartment. After some argument, they decide to investigate his body and discover that his time of death was around Lester’s, but Nicky’s body was frozen. They also discover a piece of Lester’s ledger in his mouth. From here, the trio splits up, with Oliver retrieving the ledger and Mabel running into her old friend, celebrity, and new occupant of the Arconia penthouse, Althea. Charles is left with the task of returning Nicky’s body to the dry cleaner. With Charles, the corpse talks, taunting him, until police enter the scene. Charles overhears their incriminating conversation, deducing that the discovery of Nicky’s body was to be covered up by the police. Finally, the trio makes their way to the secret casino beneath the Arconia, hiding from a trio of billionaires, one of whom is missing a finger. 

“Rigor” was a very strong episode of Only Murders in the Building and the best episode of season five thus far. The story is exciting and creative, the character dynamics are consistently entertaining, and it tells a focused, engaging story while efficiently setting up plot points for later in the season. The standout sequence is undoubtedly the autopsy, being a great showcase for all of the characters and their quirky personalities. On top of being a light, amusing display of the lovable trio, the sequence also serves to further the mystery of Nikcy’s death. The rest of the episode, while not as exciting, still tells engaging stories for the three main characters. Althea is a promising addition as the penthouse celebrity, as she is famous in a more modern, internet-focused way. This gives her a very unique personality, especially given how different she is from Mabel. Oliver’s character arc throughout the season, as hinted at with his interactions with the new doorman, seems to be him trying to make up for his treatment of Lester. Oliver, balancing politeness and selfishness, especially in this context, is charming and completely expected from his character. Finally, Charles’ story is extremely engaging, as the show gets to explore more of Nicky’s character and Charles’ relationship with his own mortality. As usual with Only Murders in the Building, the morbid themes of this plot line are woven very well with the silly jokes and gags that are featured throughout.

All of these strong plot points are great on their own and are made even better by what they promise for later in the season. The episode functions very well as a stand-alone story, but also concludes with an exciting cliffhanger and multiple new characters who will be exciting to see mesh with the main trio. 

Rating: 8/10