Only Murders in the Building Season 5 Episode 8 Recap and Spoiler Review: Loretta Uncovers the Murder Weapon — And It Changes Everything

Only Murders in the Building season 5 keeps cranking up the chaos, and episode 8, Cuckoo Chicks, basically turns The Arconia into Vegas with better prewar molding. We pick up right after last week’s double whammy: Camila White (Renee Zellweger) is trying to buy out the entire building to launch New York City’s first legal casino, and the crew finally found that missing severed finger tucked inside the ultra-rich trio’s trophy. No notes on subtlety.

Spoilers ahead for Only Murders in the Building season 5, episode 8.

Where we pick up

Mabel (Selena Gomez) gets a tip after paying a visit to Vince (Richard Kind) — billed as the world’s most annoying pop star — when Althea (Beanie Feldstein) shows up with actual intel: she’s been invited to a women-only poker game happening in The Arconia’s basement. We’ve already seen Camila set this up with Nicky (Bobby Cannavale) months before he died, so yeah, it’s not just for funsies.

Airport purgatory, then back to The Arconia

Loretta (Meryl Streep) is still stuck at the airport waiting for her flight to New Zealand, day after day, like she wandered into The Terminal. Oliver phones with a better offer: crash the socialites’ girls’ night and snoop. Loretta grabs Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) on her way over. Donna decides to tag along too — mostly to save herself the future call where the podcasters beg for help. Along the way we learn a few random character nuggets: Charles (Steve Martin) is a magic nerd, Loretta claims she can chat with ghosts, and Mabel is definitely not getting into this ladies-only event on charm alone.

The guest list keeps growing

On the way downstairs, Mabel, Loretta, and Donna bump into Lorraine Coluca (Dianne Wiest) — Lester’s widow — who cannot stop fixating on how her husband was murdered. Loretta invites her to the party, because sure, bring the grieving widow to the secret casino night. It’s that kind of episode.

Girls’ night: blackjack, cheating, and a very famous face

Inside the basement, Loretta clocks Jennifer Aniston and immediately wants to pitch her on playing a role in her network procedural. Her logline: a sexy arsonist. That’s the whole pitch.

"Sexy arsonist."

Detective Williams slides in undercover as a blackjack dealer. The team sidles up to Camila at the table, where she keeps losing hand after hand because Donna is palming cards like a pro. It’s a deliberate con to get Camila to bond with them — not exactly legal, but effective.

Then Lorraine threatens Camila over Lester’s death, so Mabel hustles her upstairs to cool off. That turns out useful, because Lorraine mentions Lester’s elevator crank is missing. That leaves Loretta alone with Camila, who accuses Donna of cheating. It’s all part of the long con to win Camila’s trust, and it works. Camila has a jarring flashback that involves a cleaver. Light casino night!

Detour: therapy office mix-up

In a side gag that plays like filler, the gang wanders into a couple’s therapy session while trying to stop a resident from selling their apartment — a sale that would tip control of the building past 51% and hand the keys to the buyers. File that under: important stakes, odd delivery.

What Camila admits — and why

Later, Camila opens up to Loretta about another flashback from the night Nicky died. Her plan to gobble up Arconia apartments wasn’t just about a casino; she wanted to pry Nicky away from Sofia (Tea Leoni) so he could run his own business under her umbrella. Messy, and very on brand.

The big swing, the bloody find

Once Camila is officially handed controlling interest in The Arconia, she bails. Loretta pokes around and finds the apparent murder weapon — Lester’s missing elevator crank — sitting in Nicky’s office and covered in blood. She also flags something bigger: Camila complained about the doorman who messed everything up, which suggests Lester’s role in her takeover might be more complicated than anyone thought.

The tape that changes things (and the doorman twist)

Here’s the tech wrinkle that actually tracks: when Lorraine blows Lester’s bird whistle, it sends a digital alert to Vince’s phone, which triggers his bird camera pointed at the courtyard. That system was live the night Lester died. On the video, Lester deliberately blows the whistle to activate the camera. We see him fall into the fountain, but not the killer.

Moments later, the building’s other doorman, Randall (Jermaine Fowler), walks into frame, looks down, picks up the bloody crank, tucks it under his coat, and exits to the right. It’s an incriminating image without context — which is exactly the kind of cliffhanger this show loves. And yes, if you heard someone say season 2 at the end, that’s a typo. We’re in season 5, episode 8.

Who is who this week

• Camila White — Renee Zellweger; billionaire buying The Arconia to build NYC’s first legal casino
• Mabel — Selena Gomez; gets the poker invite lead via Vince and Althea
• Charles — Steve Martin; loves magic, still cranky, still helpful
• Oliver — Martin Short; recruits Loretta from airport limbo
• Loretta — Meryl Streep; airport castaway turned undercover charmer; pitches a "sexy arsonist"
• Detective Williams — Da’Vine Joy Randolph; undercover blackjack dealer
• Donna — joins the sting and cheats at cards to bond with Camila
• Lorraine Coluca — Dianne Wiest; Lester’s widow, determined and grieving
• Lester — the late doorman; his missing elevator crank resurfaces, bloody
• Randall — Jermaine Fowler; the other doorman caught on the courtyard camera with the crank
• Vince — Richard Kind; pop star with a bird-cam setup that catches critical footage
• Althea — Beanie Feldstein; brings word of the women-only poker night
• Nicky — Bobby Cannavale; dead, tied to Camila’s takeover scheme and her flashbacks
• Sofia — Tea Leoni; the woman Camila hoped to outmaneuver to get Nicky on her team
• Jennifer Aniston — cameo target of Loretta’s hilariously specific casting pitch

Bottom line

It’s a busy hour stuffed with cameos and side quests — some of it fun, some of it a little forced — but the core mystery moves: Camila’s motives sharpen, the bloody crank shows up in Nicky’s office, and that courtyard footage drops a new wrinkle with Randall. The show’s juggling a lot, but the threads are finally knotting together.

Where to watch

Only Murders in the Building season 5 is streaming exclusively on Hulu. The season launched September 9, with new episodes every week through October 30.