As season 4 of Only Murders in the Building came to a close, the Arconia was rocked by yet another murder when Lester the doorman was found dead in the Arconia courtyard. This paved the way for Only Murders in the Building season 5, which has seen Mabel, Oliver, and Charles teaming up to investigate Lester’s murder.
Along the way, a trio of billionaires and the head of a mob family entered the mix to complicate matters in a number of ways. While the Only Murders team has faced many adversaries along the way in their searches for justice, the billionaire trio of Jay Pflug, Camila White, and Bash Steed have tested Mabel, Oliver, and Charles in ways we’ve never seen before. In fact, heading into the finale, the trio had managed to silence the Only Murders podcast and Camila secured a majority ownership in Arconia units, allowing her to kick the remaining tenants out in order to build what would be New York City’s first casino.
Speaking of developments heading into the finale, the penultimate episode brought about some major developments, including the resolution to one of the season’s central mysteries. In an unexpected development, we learned that it was Lester who killed mobster Nicky Caccimelio in an effort to protect the Arconia upon learning about his plan to turn it into a casino. Episode 9 also brought about the revelation that it was Nicky’s Nonna who stole the finger from Charles’ kitchen earlier in the season, setting up a confrontation between Nicky’s family and the Only Murders team heading into the finale.
So what is the story behind the severed finger, who killed Lester, and how did season 5 set up a potential sixth season? Read on for spoilers from Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 10!
Who killed Lester and whose finger was in the fridge?
The Only Murders in the Building season 5 finale begins by turning back the hands of time to revisit the past as a young Nicky woos Sofia in the 80s. While the pair once were full of love and plans for the future, time was not kind to the couple. We jump ahead to the future before Nicky’s murder as Sofia reveals to Nicky that she’s finally calling it quits on their relationship, with Nicky vowing to find out who the other man in her life has become and end his life.
We then return to the present day as Charles, Oliver, Mabel, Howard, and Theodore try to get answers from Nicky’s Nonna about the finger Lester placed in the shrimp. They find out Sofia is out of town and Nonna reveals hints that the finger belonged to the person Sofia was having an affair with, but who exactly is the mystery man?
When the team returns, they’re shocked to find out that Camila’s plan has changed. She’s no longer going to turn the Arconia into a casino, but rather she’s going to demolish the building to build the casino after finding out that it’ll be cheaper to start from scratch rather than converting the building. With time against them, the team look to solve one last mystery.
Oliver, Mabel, and Charles manage to lure Camila, Jay, and Bash to the casino in the Arconia and call upon Nicky’s kids to help with their plan as backup. They’re determined to get answers before the building is demolished and try their best to put on a charade to intimidate the billionaires.
During the questioning, we learn that Jay never lost a finger as we’d been led to believe as he takes the bandage off his hand, revealing that all of his fingers are intact. Camila and Bash follow suit in proving their fingers are all accounted for as well, as the group reveal they don’t know who the finger actually belongs to. Their interrogation is cut short when Mayor Beau Tillman makes his way to the casino, his arrival prompting Mabel to announce that she knows who killed Lester as a text comes through on her phone.
Without hesitation, Mabel brings the cleaver she’s holding down on Mayor Tillman’s hand and detaches his finger from his hand, proving to her that he was the one sleeping with Sofia. So how does she know? When Howard texts her to give her a heads-up that Mayor Tillman was on his way down, his phone autocorrected the Mayor’s name to “It’s beautiful,” the same message that Lester sent to his wife the night of his death.
Mayor Tillman admits he was there the night Lester died and that he’s in the pocket of the billionaires, accepting bribes from them in exchange for looking the other way. The night of the poker game, Nicky has found out that Mayor Tillman was sleeping with his wife and cut off his finger after doing a line of what appears to be coke. As Nicky goes crazy, Lester steps up and hits Nicky on the back of his head. Lester threatens to take things to the cops as Nicky tries to stab Lester, who stops the knife in his ledger. Nicky then passes out on Lester falling on him and impaling himself with the cleaver.
Lester is able to escape with the finger and ledger in the chaos, and Mayor Tillman chases after him to try to get his finger. He tries to reason with Lester, but Lester won’t cave. He’s done protecting them. Lester grabs his bird whistle and races into the courtyard, the pair fight and the Mayor ends up pushing Lester into the fountain where he cracks his head, leading to his eventual death.
The Only Murders team prove Mayor Tillman killed Lester and an unexpected ally helps save the Arconia
After confessing to killing Lester, Mayor Tillman calls in his crooked cops who take the group’s phones before locking them in the hidden hallway, with the plan being to leave them there to die when the building comes down. The cops dump the phones into the trash chute, where they’re discovered by Trash Man Miller, who brings them to Howard.
Realizing that something is wrong, Howard and Trash Man Miller begin to come up with a plan to get past the cops, which is when Althea arrives and offers to help the pair. She then lures the press into the hidden casino in the basement to perform a farewell set to the Arconia, giving Howard the distraction needed to sneak in with the press. As Althea creates a distraction, Charles uses his magic skills to help talk Mabel and Oliver through maneuvers to loosen their chains in order to give him a boost so he can climb a pole and grab a hanger to use to pick the locks on their chains.
Having freed themselves, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel emerge and call out the Mayor in front of the press. He says they have no proof, at which point the team reveal a hidden recording device they hid within the roulette table which captured the Mayor’s full admission of guilt.
Only Murders in the Building season 5 ending explained
We jump ahead three months to find Lester’s wife, Lorraine, was able to move into the Arconia after Sofia left her a large sum of money as a gift from one widow to another. Speaking of Sofia, she’s enjoying time in Italy when she gets a call from her kids informing her that Nonna is dying, offering some interesting final words as she passes.
Back at the Arconia, the building is getting an influx of new tenants. Love is also in the air as we learn that Howard and Vinny have begun a new relationship, one we’re really hoping will last and play out more in season 6!
Upstairs, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel gather to listen to Cinda Canning’s new podcast, The Girl with the Curls, about a new mystery she’s been following. A story about a young woman with red curls as red as blood connected to the murder of a royal descendant, who Cinda believes is innocent and in need of being saved. We hear Cinda talk about sending her to America to be safe as we watch a woman fitting the description struggle to reach the Arconia.
Oliver, Charles, and Mabel arrive at the gate of the Arconia to witness the scene as the woman takes one final breath and reaches out for the gate, putting her technically within the Arconia. As the woman rolls over, we see that it’s Cinda, thus setting the stage for season 6’s mystery!