“Dirty Birds” is a great example of the two main aspects Only Murders in the Building has relied on since the beginning: a lovable main trio and exciting guest stars that complicate the mystery. This episode is almost entirely dedicated to the three mysterious billionaires and their talents for lies and manipulation. To bait Jay, the young billionaire short of a finger, the trio calls him out on their podcast. He arrives for their interrogation, quickly followed by the other billionaires. Not only do the billionaires all have compelling personalities tied to their fortune (home decor, artificial intelligence, and trust fund social media power), but they also interact electrically with the main trio. While there are smaller bits throughout the episode, such as the robot doorman and Mabel’s jealousy and resentment of Althea, the bulk of the episode takes place in Oliver’s apartment, with all three podcasters finding out that a drugged Nicky sliced off Jay’s finger. However, just as they get an office in Wondify, a popular podcast company, they find out that Jay’s missing finger is not the missing finger they’ve been hiding, and that the billionaires betrayed them. Not only did they all collectively lie about Jay’s finger, but they also manipulated the desperate trio into signing a contract that bars them from discussing any of the three billionaires on their podcast. 

While not as special or unique as the previous episode, “Dirty Birds” is a successful entry in the Only Murders in the Building story. The newly introduced characters are all engaging, and their scenes with the trio had great comedic beats. Specifically, Camila spends the entire episode ridiculing Oliver’s decor, only to have people silently enter his apartment and give his dining room a startling makeover. Although no bit was as funny as the sudden realization of Oliver’s dining room being changed, Charles’s dynamic with Bash and his quest to find out his age were entertaining. Mabel’s scenes with Jay, on the other hand, were successfully heartfelt. The too-good-to-be-true ending twist was relatively predictable, but it served to build tension for the rest of the season. Additionally, the seeds planted with Althea promise an exciting storyline for Mabel, especially with her potential romance or friendship with Jay. The only joke that, so far, did not live up to the show’s usual creativity was the robot doorman. That said, it has only been shown very briefly and could very well get funnier in the future, but this episode merely made pretty standard technology jokes with it. 

Overall, “Dirty Birds” was a tried and true, entertaining episode of Only Murders in the Building. Despite not having perfect jokes or as much creativity as the previous episode, the story did its job in exploring Jay, Camila, and Bash. So far, this season is balancing quite a lot, from billionaires and mob bosses to pop stars, robots, and podcasting conglomerates. It might be easy for later episodes to lose focus and get dragged down by the details, but “Dirty Birds” was a great example of the show keeping a tight focus on its individual story, while balancing some hit-or-miss bits in the background. 

6/10