Season 3 of MURDERS IN THE BUILDING continues a strong tradition, although we can't talk about one of the best new cast members, Ben (Paul Rudd) You may remember the ending of Season 2, when actor Ben (Paul Rudd) collapsed to his death on the stage floor while performing with Charles-Hayden Savage (Steve Martin)

Dry, Mabel (Selena Gomez) cursed in surprise, "Screw you," and we were off This scene foreshadows much of Season 3 of "OMITB," which incorporates theater as a new topic following last season's blackout

And it provides a solid backdrop for the cutthroat world of Broadway, where potential killers abound This season in particular shows that the casting team for Only Murders deserves praise In addition, the new cast member, Meryl Streep, is excellent

However, the one major flaw in this review of "Only Murders In The Building" Season 3 is that each of Charles, Mabel, and Oliver's subplots are romance-based, so they run the risk of being a bit the same But each is so good that I don't feel too bad about it

Oh, and don't worry about spoilers I'm not going to dare spoil any revelations for this latest season of one of the best Hulu shows

The best part of Only Murders, as always, is the group dynamics between Charles, Mabel, and Oliver (Martin Short) This season, the dynamics are switched by placing Oliver in a position of power as the director of the stage show, Charles as one of the main actors, and Mabel on the outside looking in

This allows Short to work in vanity and control, while Charles becomes anxious and slightly manic One of Charles' major storylines this season has been his acting anxiety about certain moments on stage, which puts him in a sort of funny state Somehow, this has worked every time without feeling like overkill

And while Paul Rudd does a fine job of playing the ditzy star, the guest piece that is the bigger story is Meryl Streep as Loretta, an aspiring actor who has finally been discovered (by Charles) This performance is engrossing, emotional, and very effective in breathing new life into this series

Jesse Williams also helps to expand the cast as the documentary director, who spends more and more time with Mabel as the season progresses This is related to the fact that Mabel spends a little less time around Charles and Oliver and more time out on her own as her living situation changes

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver all have romance plots this season, and each works well enough, but the amount of romantic stuff seems a bit redundant Charles' commitment issues reignite, Mabel's trust issues rise again, and what about Oliver? What about Oliver? Fortunately, all is well

Also, there are some life events that Oliver goes through that are not really detailed, and I would have liked to have drawn more on them I don't know if he was left on the cutting floor or not, but I feel like something went wrong

And of course, "Only Murders" featured Paul Rudd as this season's murder victim Fortunately, a series of flashbacks show us more of the ageless star

Right now, "Only Murders" fits that point in TV's scoring rubric where it meets, and maybe even exceeds, expectations season 4 of "Only Murders In The Building" has not yet been confirmed, but I I can only assume that it will We may have to wait for the writers' and actors' strike to end, though

That said, this review of "Only Murders In The Building" Season 3 should be reason enough to look forward to the next season, which debuts on August 8

And yes, if this is any encouragement to you: I spent most of my vacation watching "Only Murders In The Building" Season 3 If there is a greater accolade than that, I have yet to hear it