"Silver Alert" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on October 7, 2025.
Short Summary[]
The mayor warns the trio about the billionaires, sending them to investigate further at a villainous lair upstate - as Oliver boots it in an attempted escape.
Full Summary[]
Linda asks Ron if he thinks their horse knows he's going to the vet. Ron says if he didn't, he does now. Linda's phone chimes with a silver alert, a notice that an elderly person is missing. As she reads off the description, Oliver runs out of the woods, matching it exactly and saying he's in danger.
Nine Hours Earlier
Oliver, Mabel, and Charles listen to Bash Steed give a speech. Oliver finds himself inspired and says the "Bash Steed Greatness Academy Audiotapes" were a good use of $18. They still don't know where to find him, though. His website says he owns homes on all the continents and a pod on Mars. Charles is more mad at him for the catfishing than anything else. Mabel says they have to prepare for their interview with the mayor. Charles doesn't know why they're podcasting when they can't talk about their suspects. Mabel says they're contractually obligated to make content for Wondify. Oliver says he sees it as an extension of their brand and having the mayor on as their first guest is quite the get. He's reached out to Meghan Markle's team about her going next. The doorbell rings and Charles asks if they saw the email from Wondify about them being more like the Drunken Sluts as he gets up to get it. As he opens the door, Tillman pops up from the side and enters with Romy. His security waits outside. Tillman is excited to be there. He shows them his podcast voice and Mabel suggests they get started.
They start recording and Oliver's first question is about the crosswalk button at a nearby intersection. It's not broken, but the button gets sticky, so you can't tell if you've pushed it or not. When Tillman looks confused, Oliver says he said he wanted to make the streets safer. Tillman clarifies that he meant safer from murder. He has some theories. He asks if they've looked into his opponent. Then he admits he's joking. Mabel stops them and says they can't podcast about that murder because their prime suspects own Wondify, so they can't talk about them. Tillman knows about the sale and asks if Bash Steed is one of their suspects. He loves Bash. He would be shocked if he was related to the case. He sends Romy to get him some coffee. As soon as she's gone, he tells them Bash Steed is their murderer.
As he puts down the blinds, Tillman says they have to be quick. Romy is Bash's niece and he had Tillman hire her so Bash could keep eyes on him at all times. She's also the best assistant he ever had, so she'll be back very quickly. He doesn't know for certain that Bash is the murderer, but if they're investigating him, chances are that he did it. He'll do whatever it takes to get ahead. He paid millions into Tillmans' campaign. When Tillman was first running, he was against people with deep pockets and didn't stand a chance. Then Bash started funding him. But if people give you money, you owe them later. It started small, with permits, but then asks got bigger. Now he's spending so much time doing Bash's bidding that he can't make good on any of his campaign promises. That's why he wanted to do their podcast, to win over the public so he can stop doing his bidding. Charles suggests talking to the Chief of Police, but Bash is the NYPD's biggest donor. He's literally above the law. Charles bets Bash hired the dirty cops who came to get Nicky's body. Tillman says he's just a puppet. Mabel wonders what they're supposed to do of the mayor of New York has no power. Tillman tells them to investigate. If they find something, they might be able to take him down together. Charles says they're trying, but they can't even find him. Tillman says he overheard Romy on the phone the other day. Bash is hosting a big, secret rich people meeting at his country estate in the middle of nowhere. There will be no servers, so no witnesses. Mabel asks for the address and Tillman writes it down. They're started as Romy returns with the coffee. Tillman says they were talking about birth control. Romy says they should go because he has a ribbon cutting at the New York City Ballet. Sarah Jessica Parker will be there. Tillman and Romy leave.
Oliver doesn't like the idea of going to Bash's. Mabel says it's just Connecticut. Oliver thinks he should stay home and text Loretta, who is waiting for a delayed flight. She's boarded and deboarded four times. On the other hand, Charles plans to go in guns blazing. Mabel tries to talk Oliver into coming by complimenting his cowboy boots. Oliver is still insistent he's not going, but Mabel says they have go for Lester. If it gets too scary, they can leave. Oliver agrees to go. Mabel wonders how scary a country house could possibly be.
Charles, Mabel, and Oliver get dropped off outside and look up at Bash's place. Charles is still upset about Bash catfishing him. Oliver checks his phone and notices his last message didn't send. He mentioned being taken against his will and then added that Mabel and Charles took him, but the part about Mabel and Charles didn't send. He says Loretta's going to think he's in danger and he definitely thinks that's true. Mabel tells him to clam down. There's nothing to worry about. He just shouldn't look to the side. He looks anyway and sees Algernon Steed leaning up against a tree, carving a small branch with a knife. He tells Oliver he likes his skin. Mabel asks him if his dad is home. Algernon says he's inside with the others, but Daddy says little boys who interrupt get sent to the cellar. Mabel thanks him and wishes him good luck with his shiv. They walk up toward the house.
Oliver thinks he's seen enough and is ready to leave. They hear the sounds of people talking and walk upstairs. They watch from above as Bash hovers over a table talking about removing the spleen. Oliver thinks they're harvesting organs to sell on the black market. Jay moves to take the kidney next. When Camila takes her turn, she hits the edge, making a buzzing sound. They're playing Operation. Bash takes another turn as Oliver says he's good to go. As he moves to leave, he hits something and makes noise, drawing attention to them. Bash, Camila, and Jay ask what they're doing there. They ask the same question back and Bash says he's playing games in the privacy of his own home. Charles doubts that, knowing what happens when the three of them get together. Even if look like Operation, they're always playing for something. Bash thinks they might as well show them. Jay goes and retrieves a trophy. Camila explains that there were only so many times they could destroy each other's businesses before it got boring, so they started having game nights. It gives them an outlet for their competitive spirits. Mabel says they shouldn't mind if they stay and watch if that's the case. Bash says he insists on them staying.
Mabel, Charles, and Oliver watch in boredom as the three of them play a series of games. After seven rounds, Oliver is insistent that they're crazy because they played an entire game of Monopoly. Bash excuses himself to tend to some business. Charles goes to follow him in an attempt to get him to talk. Jay gets up as well and Mabel goes to see what he's up to, leaving Oliver to talk to Camila. Whatever happened, they're clearly in on it together. Once she's gone, Oliver asks Camila how gaming at Bash's compares to gaming at the Arconia. Camila asks Oliver how his apartment is. Oliver says he got a great offer to sell it. Camila wants him to thank her because she thinks her remodel is why he got the offer. When he denies having any questions, she goes back to what she was doing.
Bash pulls a knife out of a bucket and sharpens it. He notices Charles followed him out and asks if he has something to say. Charles wants to wait until he puts the knife down. Bash takes the knife and starts cutting bark off a skin tree, which he says helps his son, Algernon, with his digestion. He says there's Algie in the pool and Charles looks to see Algernon standing in the middle of a drained pool. Bash was going to cover the pool up, but Algernon loves to swim. When his other children were young, he was too busy building his empire to be around, so he promised to be a more present father with Algernon. He's never missed a bedtime. Charles tells him not to try to be sympathetic and says he knows Bash catfished him. however, that behavior is to be expected from a murderer. Bash says he's not a murderer. He hates death. He lost his father when he was young, which sparked his fascination with longevity. Everyone thinks it's all about vanity, but he wants his son to keep his father possibly forever. Algernon asks if it's time for his gesunde Leckerei. Bash says Angie loves his healthy treat. He wishes Charles nothing but happiness and walks away.
Jay finds Mabel searching the house. He asks if he's looking for something or joining them for hide and seek. Mabel says HR won't let her play with her boss, which he is because they bought the podcast and shut them down. Jay says he's sorry about that. He just couldn't let her accuse him a podcast. He's trying to protect his family. Mabel says he keeps making excuses, but he has no evidence that he's actually a good guy. Jay says he would show her that he is one if she would reply to his texts. Mabel says HR also won't let her date bosses plus he's also a suspect. He says that's fair, but asks if he could take her to dinner if he wasn't. He promises he's not a villain. He knows his friends are eccentric, but they're really just bored rich people hashing out a bet, the same one they were working out in the gaming parlor. Mabel asks if he means when Lester died. She asks what he knows. He says nothing and she says she'll find out herself.
Mabel comes back and tells Camila and Bash that Jay admitted it was about more than a trophy, so she wants them to admit to what it really is. Mabel says if they don't want to answer questions, they can do it their way. The trio will play them for answers. Charles and Oliver are horrified and remind her that the last time they did that, two people died. Mabel says if they win, they want to know everything. If they lose, the stop investigating the billionaires forever. The billionaires agree, but say if they win and the trio doesn't keep up their end of the bargain, they'll kill them. Then Bash says he's kidding. Oliver doesn't like it and says he's out. Mabel and Charles try to get him to stay, saying they're doing it for Lester. Oliver thinks Charles is really just made that he got scammed online. Unlike the two of them, he has someone to lose. If they want to risk their lives playing a game, that's fine but he's out. He leaves.
Bash introduces the game Celebrity. The premise is to guess as many famous people as you can in a minute. One round and winner takes all. The billionaire team will draw a category first. He pull out historical figures. Camila picks up the cards and they get started. They get five correct answers. From above, Algernon claps for them. Bash sends him to the cellar. Camila tells Mabel and Charles it's their turn. Their category is Broadway, which would be perfect for Oliver.
Oliver sings to himself as he wanders. He still has no service.
Mabel wonders how they don't have Oliver for this, but Charles thinks it's okay. Mabel knows Broadway. She says she saw a play once, the first fifteen seconds of Death Rattle before Ben Glenroy dropped dead. Charles tells her to do her best. They get started and after passing several, find they can use Oliver's anecdotes to answer. They get six. Bash is shocked that Mabel and Charles beat them. Mabel demands that they tell them what they were playing for. Bash says they were playing for a very large contract, the biggest in New York City since Grand Central Station. Before he can get to it, Charles realizes one of them is planning to build New York City's first casino. Bash says yes. They have their proposals and tonight's winner gets to see theirs come to life. Charles says that's a terrible idea, but the billionaires only care about how much money they'll make from it and how much power they'll get. Mabel asks how they get to decide that and Bash says deals have always been made in back rooms. Games are their way of making it fun. Charles says that doesn't explain why he edited the footage from that night. Bash doesn't like anyone knowing his comings and goings. He took Algernon to Jamba Juice yesterday and scrubbed that, too. Camila adds that they don't want anyone losing faith in the system. Mabel clarifies that they didn't kill anyone and this has nothing to do with Lester. It's just about a casino and a stupid trophy. When she picks the trophy up, they react and she questions it. Jay says they just like it and asks her to put it down. She realizes it's rattling, so she drops it. It breaks, revealing that the finger is inside in a plastic bag. The billionaire's prize is the trio's finger.
Oliver is upset that he still doesn't have service on his phone. He finally gets a single bar and a series of worried texts come in from Loretta. The last one says she's reporting him missing. Oliver sees Linda and Ron in the distance and runs toward them. He tells them he's in danger. Linda asks if there's someone they can call for him. Oliver says he tried his wife, but he has no reception. Plus she's probably halfway to New Zealand to shoot her television show. She's an actress. Linda and Ron play along and ask if they should try the police station. Oliver says no, the police are in on it. It goes all the way to the top. The mayor told him this morning when he came over to record Oliver's podcast.
Mabel and Charles try to rush to leave, but run into Jay. Jay says Mabel's in more danger than she thinks with the finger. They paid a lot of money to get it. Mabel asks who they paid, but then stops and asks Jay if this is his legacy, trapping a woman at game night to get the finger. Jay relents and lets them leave.
Oliver continues telling an increasingly-ridiculous sounding truth. Ron tells Oliver to get in their truck. They can drop Blaze off on the way. Oliver thanks them profusely, saying if he had to walk back to Manhattan in his boots, Charles and Mabel would never let him live it down. Linda asks if those are his friends and offers to call them. Oliver says they're at Bash Steed's place with no service. Ron says they can't be that good of friends if they let him wander off. Oliver says they're great friends. Without them, his life would be so different. He'd have no podcast, no wife, and wouldn't have reconnected with Ron Howard. He's the one who left them alone with deeply unwell rich people. They can't even call a rideshare and have no way out. He realizes in horror what he's done and asks Ron and Linda to drive him back. They say they can't. They're going to take him somewhere safe. He says if they won't drive him, he'll take the horse. The horse trashes in the trailer, scaring Oliver.
Mabel and Charles search for a signal. They spot Bash, Camila, and Jay approaching. Charles tells Mabel he has something to say. Oliver was right about him throwing himself into the case because he was sad about getting catfished and thought he had nothing to lose. But he actually has a lot to lose. He could lose his family and Mabel. Mabel adds Oliver, but only to point out that he's arrived. Oliver drives a tractor at the billionaires, throwing a rake at them and warning them off. Charles and Mabel are happy he came back for them and he says he never should have left. Mabel throws a gas can at the billionaires and says Oliver was right about them being crazy. She tells the billionaires they have matches. Mabel asks where they're going and Charles says they're riding all the way to Manhattan. Oliver says he won't say they'll get there quickly.
Mabel looks at the finger in disbelief that it has something to do with the first casino in New York City. Charles can't believe the finger is back in his apartment. Oliver can't believe Loretta called a silver alert for him. There's a knock at the door. They think it's Williams, so Charles answers it, but it's Camila. She came to settle their tiff. The finger decides the winner and the city is only giving out one permit. Jay and Bash's proposal are grotesque. Her casino would be different. She'll make gambling chic. Mabel says they won't give her the finger. She worried they'd say that, so she pulls out a gun and tells them to give her the finger. Mabel thinks she's bluffing and refuses. Camila cocks the gun and asks if she's willing to risk it. Oliver tells Mabel to give her the finger. Mabel hands it over and Camila says she can't wait to share her quiet slots with the world. She thinks she'll start with Oliver's apartment. She tells him the offer on his place came from her. She's the one buying up all the apartments at the Arconia so she can build her casino. She sends them her proposal for The Camila Club, right at the Arconia. She tells them to have a good night and says they'll hopefully have murders in their next building, too.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
- Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
- Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
- Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris (credit only)
Guest starring[]
- Becky Ann Baker as Linda
- Dylan Baker as Ron
- Keegan-Michael Key as Mayor Beau Tillman
- Logan Lerman as Jay Pflug
- Christoph Waltz as Bash Steed
- Renée Zellweger as Camila White
Co-starring[]
Notes and Trivia[]
General[]
- The title sequence to this episode shows Algernon in each of The Trio's apartments, situated in the background, as well as standing in front of the gated entrance to the building courtyard.
Cultural references[]
Soundtrack[]
Media[]
Episode Stills[]
Behind the Scenes[]
Videos[]
See Also[]
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A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here. |
References[]