14/35

Steve Martin is playing the concertina in several scenes

Scenario

Three strangers – who live in the same New York City apartment building and share an obsession with true crime – suddenly find themselves involved in a murder. He is, in fact, a very talented and gifted musician. The viewer learned in the first episode that CHS lived above Oliver, who lived above Mabel, with that elevator scene. BUT the opening has CHS in an apartment on the 7th floor, Oliver on the 8th, Mabel on the 9th – the reverse order and much lower than the actual floor of CHS’s apartment within the series. Featured in AniMat’s Crazy Cartoon Cast: The Rat of All My Dreams (2020). Season 1 (9/10) When this series started, my girlfriend wasn’t particularly interested.

Soon they’re investigating and podcasting

I’m a big fan of comedic mysteries and I loved Steve Martin when I was younger, but her enthusiasm for both is tempered. But after five minutes, I had to stop and make her watch it, because we’re New Yorkers and this series nails New York in five minutes. The odd relationships with passersby, the artistic types, the justified paranoia, it was all there and immediately hilarious. The series is about a trio of murder podcast fanatics who are united by a real-life murder in their luxury apartment building. But they’re also keeping secrets from each other in a wonderful mystery-within-a-mystery structure. Everyone has secrets, the series says, and digging deep is a fascinating exercise.

The cast is fantastic

Martin is quietly funny, Short, who I’m usually lukewarm on, is very funny as a flamboyant theater director, and Selena Gomez more than holds her own as a hilariously sarcastic temporary tenant. This show has been a hot ticket item, as far as I can tell—certainly my friends (and fellow New Yorkers) love it—so I was shocked to see how many user reviews simply hate this show, or just find it mediocre, to the point where they insist that all the favorable reviews be paid for. This response is inexplicable to me. The show is amazing. When a new episode came out, we watched it immediately. It’s so, so, so, so good.

Season 3 (6/10): What the hell happened?

Ignore the naysayers, this is a must-watch. Other seasons: Season 2 (8/10): A little weaker than the first season, but still excellent. Season 3 had Steve Martin playing his character like a complete idiot, and after two great seasons, Selena Gomez got a bit dull—darker and less sarcastic. And when the mystery was solved, oh my God, these were the most absurd reasons you could come up with. Sure, there were still good moments, good guest stars, surprisingly enjoyable songs. But OMG.

Probably the second best season after the first

Season 4 (9 stars) To my relief, season 4 was a return to form—Martin was no longer an idiot, and Gomez’s delightful sarcasm was fully restored. There are some fun guest stars — Eva Longoria is particularly funny as she plays herself as a truly awful person — the mystery is solid and keeps you guessing, the plot twists are satisfying, and it’s all extremely funny. Check out our recap of “Yellowstone” season 5, part 2, “Squid Game” season 2, and more of the most anticipated new and returning series coming to TV and streaming.