Thirty

"Thirty"
"Thirty" title-card
Season	3
Episode	9
Director	Cherien Dabis
Writer	Elaine Ko
Editor	Peggy Tachdjian
Original air date	September 26, 2023
Episode chronology
← Previous	"Sitzprobe"
Next →	"Opening Night"

"Thirty" is the ninth episode of the third season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on September 26, 2023.

Short Summary

The trio have amassed a plethora (oh yes, a plethora) of clues, suspects & theories but find no concrete answers about Ben's murder. They devise a peculiar method of throwing themselves into the actual case to recreate the final moments of Ben's life.

Full Summary

Mabel is in a hospital room. Dr. Turbovsky informs her that another one is coming and tells her to push. She asks what's going on. She thinks there must be a mistake because she's just visiting a friend who had a heart attack. Turbovsky says she did great with the first two, but she needs to keep pushing because she's having triplets. Dr. Turbovsky hands her a microphone, her third baby, joining baby Oliver and baby Charles. Dr. Turbovsky congratulates her on her podcast.

Mabel wakes to Oliver's voice. She's asleep at his bedside. He tells her the doctor said he can finally go home. Mabel thinks it's too soon because it's only been five days. Oliver says he needs to get back because his show opens in two days and his star is about to be charged with murder. Charles says maybe the doctor should run more tests, but Dr. Turbovsky says Oliver responded well to the stent despite the scare it gave them. Charles claims he wasn't scared, but Oliver heard his wailing. They start to bicker and Mabel says she actually missed that. She rallies Oliver, saying they have work to do.

Mabel says if Loretta made up her confession to protect Dickie, they need to prove that Dickie is the real killer to get her out. Oliver can't let her take the fall because she's the love of his life. Mabel thought they were just hooking up. Olive asks if Charles learned anything from the police interrogations they recorded. Mabel says they haven't watched them because they spent the whole time sitting by Oliver's bedside. She wanted to wait so he could be part of it. They need to focus on Dickie because Loretta clearly believes he's guilty. They still don't know whose hankie Ben had when he died. It could have been Dickie's. They know someone wrote "fucking pig" on his mirror, and they have footage of him talking to someone in his dressing room. Oliver is enjoying the magic of them being together again. He wants Mabel to take the lead and record something about them being back. Mabel records a blurb for their new episode.

Mabel wants to question Dickie without telling him that Loretta's his birth mother because that's not their news to share. Charles opens the door and finds some packages. There's a box of cookies from Donna for Oliver as well as the box containing Joy's wedding dress. It was her mother's and her mother sent it so it could be altered for her. Mabel is surprised that Joy's mother is still alive. Charles says her father is as well and was going to walk her down the aisle with her childhood dog. They leave the dress behind as they leave.

Mabel, Charles, and Oliver tell Dickie that they thought he killed Ben for a minute. He asks why, and they tell him they know he stole CoBro. Dickie admits he resented that. Mabel reminds him that he also told her he covers things up, so she figured he covered up Ben's blood work. Dickie says he did, but he didn't know Ben was poisoned when he did it. He just knew there was other stuff in Ben's blood he wouldn't want getting out. They're quick to say they believe him, but ask where he was when Ben died. Dickie says he was freaking out about Ben coming back to life and left the party early. He got drunk, but on Ben's CoBro suit, and went looking for drugs and whores. Every Thursday, Ben would disappear for hours and wouldn't answer Dickie directly when he asked about it. Dickie tracked his phone to a place on Broadway between 35th and 36th where he'd go to meet his "five whores." He even saved opening night seats for them: Trixie, Marigold, Emerald, Dot, and Mei Mei. Dickie shows them a picture of himself in the CoBro suit on that night, yelling for them to bring him the "five whores." He slept there all night and got peed on. Mabel says that's proof that he wasn't at the Arconia when Ben died, but the police already saw it and said they couldn't see his face clearly enough. He's just grateful there isn't audio. He can't believe Loretta killed him and Oliver says they don't believe she did it either. Dickie doesn't understand why she'd confess if she didn't do it and the three of them shrug it off. Dickie excuses himself to call his lawyer. Once he's gone, Mabel says Dickie couldn't have pushed Ben if he's telling the truth, which means Loretta gave herself up for someone who is also innocent. If they can find the real killer in time, maybe they can get Loretta to recant her confession. Oliver reminds them that her arraignment is at five. They need to figure out what Ben was doing and who he was seeing in the days leading up to his death. They need to start with his Thursday night routine. Oliver says they can't just walk into a brothel without a reservation. He has an idea.

Oliver carries a ladder as they walk down the street, saying a ladder can get you in anywhere. Mabel says the ladder is a new turkey. They come to Snitches Get Stitches, a fabric store. Oliver thinks that's just a front. Instead of using the ladder, Charles wants to cry, saying no one can say no to a crying man.

Oliver walks into the store, saying he's there to change a lightbulb. The clerk stops him from going into the back of the store. Oliver says they all know what's going on in the back and then Charles starts to cry, but struggles to get tears out. The clerk asks if he needs a restroom and says they have one in the back. They make their way into the back.

In the back room, they're surprised to find five women sewing. Mabel says they were looking for a group of women who might have known Ben Glenroy. Trixie says they knew him. He came every Thursday. Benny said sewing kept him off drugs. They all miss him. She gestures to a quilt with his face on it. They last saw him on opening night. They stayed up all night helping him sew the hankies and run his lines.

Ben practices one of his lines. The five women say the next line after his.

Trixie says Ben wanted to make something special for everyone. He said he'd treated a lot of them poorly. They finished the hankies just in time.

The ladies help Ben gather up all the hankies to go. He promises to see them at the theater.

Mei Mei brings over Trixie's phone and plays a voicemail Ben left them on opening night asking if they were going to be there because he really needed them. They also hear Oliver talking to Ben through his dressing room door. Ben asks the ladies to get there soon because he's surrounded by people he can't trust. Oliver, Charles, and Mabel awkwardly excuse themselves. Oliver gifts them the ladder and apologizes for calling them whores. Trixie says it's okay because she used to be one.

Mabel says they need to figure out what happened between Ben leaving for the theater and leaving that voicemail. She wonders who he thought was out to get him. Charles says they can find out by listening to the interrogations. Williams questioned everyone who saw Ben that night, and they can use the interrogations to make a timeline of the night. Oliver is pleased, since Charles was due for a good idea. His last good one was them going halfsies on a New Yorker subscription. Charles says that was actually Oliver's idea. Mabel plays the first video, which is K.T., who says that all actors have to be at the theater for "half hour," which is 30 minutes before the curtain. Ben was late.

Ben comes into the backstage area carrying the gift bags full of hankies. He tells K.T. he has gifts for everyone, but she just takes them from him and tells him to get into costume.

Next is Cliff. He says he saw Ben right after K.T. had yelled at him. Cliff wasn't a fan of her tone.

Cliff offers Ben some cookies. Donna ordered them specifically for the night, with rattles decorating the tops. Ben tells Cliff to get them away from him because he's fasting until after the show. After a moment, he asks Cliff if he can smell them. He does so then asks Cliff to check on his guests for the night.

Now they know that Ben was fasting before the show. Next, they watch Dickie. He admits he was angry with Ben for being late on opening night. It was always something with him, which is why Loretta was encouraging Dickie to leave him.

Loretta tells Dickie he deserves so much better. He has stress hives on his arms from Ben. He used the cream she gave him on them.

Mabel wonders how they didn't realize that Loretta is Dickie's birth mother.

Loretta asks if Dickie made the list of bullet points to tell Ben when he quits. That always helps her. He shows it to her. Ben comes up behind them and snatches it out of Dickie's hand. Loretta leaves to warm up as Dickie tries to get the paper back from Ben. Ben reads the paper and asks what it is. He asks if Dickie is quitting. Dickie says he was going to wait until after the show. Ben thinks Loretta put him up to it, but Dickie says the problem is Ben, not Loretta. He's spent his whole life catering to Ben, who isn't exactly a delight to be around. Ben pretends he doesn't care and says Dickie's a lousy manager and brother. Dickie may have created it, but Ben is CoBro. Actually, he's NoBro because he doesn't have a brother anymore.

Oliver is surprised that Loretta encouraged Dickie to leave Ben. Next is Howard, who talks about going to get the broom.

Howard goes to K.T.'s office, but finds the door locked. Inside, he hears the shredder.

Mabel says she'll do a progress check on the shredder.

Howard is working on assembling the strips when a fan blows and undoes some of his work. He gets a text.

Mabel says Howard needs more time. Oliver says the next event is Loretta and Ben's fight call rehearsal. They play Loretta's interrogation, and she says that Ben accused her of trying to steal Dickie from him, but this was moments after the learned Dickie was quitting.

Ben arrives, late and angry, and he and Loretta start rehearsing. Ben breaks character and tells Loretta to stay away from his brother. Loretta says Dickie's been loyal and Ben treats him horribly. Charles comes in and Loretta says Ben attacked her. When Ben tells Charles to stay out of it, Charles punches him, leaving a mark on Ben's face. Ben leaves in horror.

Mabel still can't believe Charles hit Ben. Charles says he had a good reason. And that's when Joy came in to touch up the bruise. Mabel says Joy left her lipstick behind in Ben's dressing room, but asks who was next to see Ben. They play the next video, and it's Donna, who says she saw Ben right after giving Cliff a pep talk.

Cliff says his stomach is in knots. He put everything into the play and needs it to be a hit. Donna promises she won't let him fail. She kisses him as Ben comes down the steps and asks where his guests are. Cliff says traffic is pretty bad. Something's happening at the UN, but he doesn't know what because he's boycotting global politics until everyone gets along. Donna tells Ben he looks awful. He asks her if she can see the mark. She tells him to go to his dressing room and be nice to himself. He needs to get ready to go on stage. As Ben gets to his room, Tobert comes up to him and asks to start shooting some behind the scenes footage. Ben says he's not an animal and Tobert reminds him that he's doing what Ben paid him to do. Ben says they're done and takes the camera from Tobert. He slams the door and Tobert leaves.

They just need to figure out who Ben was talking to in his dressing room. She plays the clip of Ben. Charles remembers that he told Ben he knew what he did, but he didn't have the whole picture. His brother was leaving him. Charles punched him. He was fasting. His guests got caught in traffic. And this was all right before his Broadway debut after being up all night making the hankies. Charles starts crying and says Ben was the one who needed a hankie. He stops suddenly and wants props for faking it.

Oliver says Ben must have been poisoned during that time by whoever he was talking to. Charles and Mabel think they've reached a dead end and have no hope of figuring it out in time to save Loretta. Oliver says that's fine. He'll just die sad and alone. Charles says he was able to fake cry because he thought of Joy. Seeing her wedding dress was like a punch in the gut. He heard she's dating Scott Bakula now. Mabel says she wins in the loser competition. She still doesn't have her life figured out, she hasn't solved the case, and she has no place to live. Charles says she has time to get it figured out, but Mabel's not where her ten-year-old self thought she'd be. She has a MASH game from when she was a kid. It predicted that she would be married to Josh Hartnett, with two kids, and driving a Honda Odyssey. She was so sure it was right. She rips it up as she says she made her mom promise to send it to her on her thirtieth birthday, and it came in the mail today, on the exact date. Charles is surprised to learn it's her birthday and she spent it looking for clues with them. She says there's no way she would have rather spent it. Charles asks what ten-year-old Mabel would say if she saw her life. Mabel says she'd be horrified, but she shopped at Wet Seal, so she didn't know anything. Howard comes in and says he solved the paper shredder, but he's been taping for so long that his vision is blurry, and he can't read it. He hands it to Oliver, who realizes it's Maxine's review from opening night. He wonders how someone got it because it was never published. He sees Mabel's torn MASH game and says he needs to tape it together because that's all he does now. Mabel reads the rest of the review, which says Ben was the weak link of the show. Someone might have read it that night and wanted to get rid of Ben to save the play. A lot of careers were riding on it being a hit. They might have their motive. Oliver goes to get some dip from Charles's fridge as Charles asks if the review mentioned him. Mabel says no and stops him from checking it for himself. Oliver comes back in with a candle in some dip. He and Charles sing to Mabel. She thanks them and blows out the candle. Oliver starts eating the dip, moaning in pleasure. Mabel hears him talking to his dip like it's a person and realizes Ben wasn't talking to a person. He was talking to food.

Ben closes his dressing room door and sees a cookie on his vanity. He starts talking to it. He turns off the camera and then eats the cookie, then berates himself for eating it. He takes the lipstick and draws a pig on the mirror and calls himself a pig. He calls Trixie and leaves her the voicemail. He rallies himself and leaves the room.

This whole time, he was talking to a cookie. Charles says if the night hadn't been so awful, maybe he wouldn't have needed to eat the cookie, and he'd still be alive. Oliver says the cookies were from Donna. The review said Ben was as wooden as a lighthouse, which is exactly what Donna said at the sitzprobe. He realizes she'd read the review. She always bragged about having connections at the paper. She must have gotten a hold of the review. The play was Cliff's producing debut. A pan could have made it his last. They go over the possible series of events, from Donna getting the review to her shredding it and poisoning Ben's cookie, then planting the idea in his head to eat it. Donna was in and out of the party all night. She could have easily slipped away to push him. They have their killer, so they can get Loretta out. Charles says her arraignment is in twenty minutes and it's downtown. Oliver is out of ladders and Charles can't cry twice in one day until he thinks about his dad or his mom or his childhood. Mabel says no one stops a bride as she looks at Joy's wedding dress.

Mabel doesn't understand why Charles and Oliver wore tuxes. Oliver never misses a chance to wear his tux while Charles hasn't worn his since the 1987 Emmys. He still has Bebe Neuwirth's phone number in the pocket. They use the dress to steal someone else's cab.

Charles, Oliver, and Mabel race through the courthouse. A security guard stops them and asks if they have an appointment. Mabel says it's her wedding and Oliver and Charles pretend to be her dads. The guard asks if she has a groom in there and when Mabel asks why there has to be a groom, she lets them pass.

Mabel, Charles, and Oliver enter the courtroom where Loretta is being arraigned. Oliver tells her not to plead guilty. He says they know who murdered Ben. They know she confessed to save Dickie, but he didn't do it and they can prove it. She says she trusts Oliver, but she's gone down the road so far already. She asks who they think did it. In the audience, Donna stands up.

Cast

Starring

• Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
• Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
• Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
• Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris

Special Guest Stars

• Meryl Streep as Loretta Durkin
• Paul Rudd as Ben Glenroy

Guest starring

• Marylouise Burke as Trixie
• Linda Emond as Donna DeMeo
• Allison Guinn as K.T. Knoblauer
• Jeremy Shamos as Dickie Glenroy
• Wesley Taylor as Cliff DeMeo
• Jesse Williams as Tobert

Co-starring

• Wai Ching Ho as Mei Mei
• Ashanti J'aria as Dr. Turbovsky
• Catherine LeFrere as Woman with a Cab
• Matt Manuel as Clerk
• Makia Martin as Security Guard

Notes and Trivia

General

• Mabel's MASH game is inaccurate. The bottom of the page says the number she got was seven. Counting by sevens would make her housing a shack (the S in MASH), while her paper has M circled (for mansion). The other circled answers match up with the game as played with a number seven.
• As this episode takes place on Mabel's 30th birthday and her birthdate, according to her hospital band at the start of the episode, is April 4, 1993, this episode takes place on April 4, 2023.

Cultural references

° When Charles refers to himself and Oliver as "the fathers of the bride," this is a reference to Father of the Bride parts 1 and 2, in which Martin and Short both starred in..

Soundtrack

• "Song", performed by Artist
  Written by Composer

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Patrick Harbron for Hulu.

Videos

The Trio Gets Back Together - Only Murders In The Building- S3 Episode 9 Opening Scene - Hulu

The Trio Gets Back Together

Only Murders In the Building - Fathers of the Bride - Hulu

Fathers of the Bride

See also

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.