There are many people that need kudos for Only Murders in the Building Season 3, but the prop team surely deserves its own shoutout. The attention to detail in this instalment of the crime caper — from Paul Rudd-themed memorabilia and in-jokes to amusing fictional news articles — has been next level.
The show's end credits are a homage to this. Each episode finishes with images of two items, both of which feature in some capacity in the preceding episode. Some of these items contain text that requires a zoom-in to read, others require context. Most are clues that our intrepid trio of podcasters, Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), must explore on their quest to track down the murderer of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd).
From theatre posters to bus tickets, we've broken down each episode's end credit Easter eggs below.
Episode 1, "The Show Must"
On the left is a poster for Oliver's doomed play Death Rattle, which shows a red baby stroller superimposed on the backdrop of a black-and-white lighthouse (a nod to the play's impressively silly plot about an infant that becomes a murder suspect).
On the right is a brown fedora, which looks like the same one Ben is wearing during the show and when he surprises everyone by coming back from the dead. In the episode, Ben takes it off and throws it to his brother, Dickie (Jeremy Shamos).
Episode 2, "The Beat Goes On"
On the left is a security badge for Gregg Rivera (Adrian Martinez), the Ben Glenroy stalker posing as a security guard who kidnaps Charles and Mabel.
On the right is a movie poster for Cobro 3, which sees a man in a cobra outfit facing off against Ben's titular lead character.
Episode 3, "Grab Your Hankies"
On the left is a poster for Death Rattle Dazzle (Oliver's musical reinvention of the play), which has clearly been made by hastily updating the original Death Rattle poster design (a mirror ball has been added to the top of the lighthouse along with some stars and silhouettes of figures dancing, plus there are now three baby strollers instead of one — a nod to the "Pickwick Triplets").
On the right is a handkerchief like the one Ben was clutching when he was found dead. Oliver, Charles, and Mabel realise at the end of episode 3 that Kimber (Ashley Park) doesn't have her hanky, which makes her a suspect.
Episode 4, "The White Room"
On the left is some "Liquid Venom" ageing serum, a bottle of the anti-ageing product Kimber creates that she wanted Ben to promote for her ("I even wrote him the copy," she tells Mabel. "'I might be CoBro in the movies, but in real life I don't want to walk around with snake skin!'")
On the right is a miniature Statue of Liberty, which is the centrepiece of Charles' girlfriend Joy's (Andrea Martin's) enormous fish tank, a giant version of which Charles glimpses through a window during one of his "White Room" episodes.
Episode 5, "Ah, Love!"
On the left is a news article clipping titled "BEN GLENROY — T-SHIRT GATE (CONTINUED)", which Oliver finds in a scrapbook hidden in Loretta's (Meryl Streep's) apartment (we've transcribed it in full for you).
On the right is Joy's "Ruby Strippers" red lipstick that the trio find backstage in Ben's dressing room, which was used to write the mysterious "Fucking pig" message on his mirror.
Episode 6, "Ghost Light"
On the left is a mug that reads "BECAUSE I'M THE STAGE MANAGER THAT'S WHY", presumably belonging to stage manager K.T. (Allison Guinn), who features heavily in the episode.
On the right is a sketch of a man in a flat cap and a red jacket, with his back facing us. This is Gideon Goosebury, the supposed ghost haunting the theatre in his "signature cap and red coat" (the ghost actually turns out to be a fired director who's been living in a room above the theatre).
Episode 7, "CoBro"
On the left is a poster for The Bloody Mabel Podcast, which shows an illustration of Mabel clutching a dagger between her teeth. The tagline at the bottom reads: "The exciting follow-up to the hit podcast Only Murders in the Building!" This is the podcast suggested by podcast queen Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) that Mabel decides to launch herself, following the argument she has with Charles and Oliver at the end of episode 6.
On the right is a "Ben Glenroy Bar/Bat Mitzvah DJ" action figure, which "includes body glitter and limbo pole". This is one of the products glimpsed in the background at the silent auction for Ben's stuff held by his brother Dickie.
Episode 8, "Sitzprobe"
On the left is a bus ticket from St Louis, Missouri to New York, issued on March 8, 1976. This is the trip taken by Loretta after she gives her son — who grows up to be Dickie — up for adoption to a family in her town who are unable to conceive.
On the right is a family photo of Dickie as a boy with his adopted mother, and the "miracle" baby that will grow up to be his brother, Ben.
So, what does it all mean? With two episodes to go, who is the murderer?
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 is streaming on Hulu.
Topics Only Murders In the Building
