Sitzprobe

"**Sitzprobe**" is the eighth episode of the third season of *Only Murders in the Building*, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on September 19, 2023.

## Short Summary

On the day of the show's most critical rehearsal, the pressure mounts. A familiar official returns to upend the case, Loretta's complex past threatens to upend all else and Charles must finally sing his number without losing his marbles.

## Full Summary

Loretta looks at the *Death Rattle* playbill. She pulls an album of playbills off her shelf and adds *Death Rattle* to it. She flips back to the first playbill in the book, for *No Strings*.

*Young Loretta watches* No Strings.

*A slightly older Loretta rehearses on stage.*

*Loretta learns she's pregnant.*

*Loretta leaves the newborn with his new parents and gets on a bus to leave.*

*As time passes, Loretta continues to practice and go to auditions. She learns that the family that adopted the baby eventually conceived a second child. She pastes the picture of the young family in a book, so she could keep track of him.*

*Loretta sees a blurb in the paper about Ben going to Broadway.*

*Loretta enters the* Death Rattle *auditions.*

*Loretta is delighted to see Dickie all grown up at the table read.*

Loretta writes a letter to Dickie and seals it. She goes to put it in the album, but finds it missing. She looks around, but doesn't find it.

Loretta arrives at the theater for the sitzprobe. She sees the orchestra warming up while Dickie watches from the audience.

Dickie sees Loretta and asks how she's feeling ahead of the big day. She's excited to be there and asks if they can talk later. Or she can hand him the letter she wrote and walk away. Oliver gathers everyone as Dickie and Loretta make plans to have dinner. Oliver says the sitzprobe will be messy, but they have to fight through. There should be no distractions. Oliver pauses when he sees Mabel walking in. He calls for a break.

Oliver is upset with Mabel for releasing a podcast without them. He still doesn't care about the investigation, but he's hurt to be excluded. Charles joins them and asks where Mabel has been and if she's aware someone is living in her aunt's apartment. Mabel says she's been crashing with Theo for now. Despite Charles's implication, Mabel insists that she and Tobert are fine. He's at a commercial shoot and loaned her some gear. She has a lot to figure out, but her gut is telling her that Dickie is the killer. Oliver is pleased because he's not in the cast. He supports Mabel's theory. Charles is pleased with the trio being back together, but the other two aren't sure. Howard calls Oliver back to the stage over the PA, so Oliver leaves.

The cast performs. Mabel watches from the audience, keeping an eye on Dickie. Mabel gets a text from Tobert saying she was right. On stage, several of the actors also get alerts telling them that Gregg was released and the real murderer is still at large. As they finish the song, Detective Williams comes in. She tells them Gregg is creepy, but he's not the murderer. The killer is someone in the room. Williams sees Kimber and is happy because Kimber played Roxie in the production of *Chicago* that she saw. Williams would hate to have to lock her up. Williams tries to round everyone up to go downtown, but Oliver stops her and asks why it has to be someone from the show. Williams reminds him that Ben Glenroy was poisoned on opening night, which means someone from the show did it. Oliver asks for two minutes to talk to her. Donna stops Oliver from leaving the stage and confronts him over Maxine being there. Oliver admits to inviting her despite critics not usually coming to the sitzprobe. Cliff has nightmares about Maxine. Oliver says Maxine didn't love the first version of the show, so he wants to get her excited about the musical version. Donna is upset to have cops and a critic there and warns Oliver not to mess it up. It's costing them a lot of money.

Oliver goes to Williams and proposes that she do the interrogations at the theater. That way, she can also enjoy the music. Mabel offers to help, but Williams doesn't want it because Mabel's podcast got her kicked off her cushy Community Services gig. Williams realizes the three of them are fighting by how they react to that news. She goes to find a room to do the interrogations. Mabel tells Oliver they need to get in on the interviews. Finding the killer is the only way he'll actually get to have an opening night. Charles is excited to be back and tries to rally them again. Suddenly, Howard tells them he's made a huge break in the case. He only wants Mabel to come with him. Charles and Oliver tell her to go.

Howard tells Mabel that when the cops came in, he went to K.T.'s office to shred his Papa Smurf/Skeletor fan fiction and he recognized the sound of the shredder was the same sound he heard on opening night when he was looking for the broom. Howard wants to know what someone was doing in there and if he can be on Mabel's podcast. Mabel says it might not even be linked to Ben's death and it's destroyed. Howard says he can put it back together. He's a master at puzzles. He asks Mabel to get him some tape. She offers to help with assembly, but he doesn't want it.

Charles leads Williams into his dressing room, which he thinks is perfect for the interrogations. She sits down as an officer brings Ty in for the first interview. Charles sits down as well, but Williams says she's not talking until he leaves. Once Charles is gone, Williams asks Ty about opening night. Charles comes in as Ty starts to answer, claiming he's looking for his blanket. He finds it and cuddles up on the couch. Williams tells him to get out, but he says he's weighted down. He puts on headphones and says he won't listen. He starts singing to himself as Ty talks. Williams stops him and tells him to get out.

Oliver gets a text from Loretta asking to talk.

Oliver goes to Loretta's dressing room, where she tells him she knows he look something from her apartment. He says he did, but he shouldn't have. He gives it back to her, saying she doesn't owe him an explanation. The book is odd, but she doesn't have to tell him. When she simply puts it in her bag, he tells her this is when she explains and they put this behind them. She knows he doesn't trust her, but he says he does. He doesn't think she's the killer. Mabel thinks it's Dickie and Mabel's never wrong. Loretta asks why she thinks it's Dickie. Oliver says he's Ben's creepy brother, so it makes sense. Loretta gets called to the stage before they can say anymore.

Bobo recounts his childhood for Williams. Williams tells him to cut all the family stuff out. Oliver comes in and apologizes for Charles' behavior. He blames himself because he gave Charles a patter song, bolstering his confidence. Oliver wants to stay in the room, but Williams tells him to get out.

Mabel is shocked by how many rolls of colored tape are in the theater while she can't find any scotch tape. Loretta tells Mabel it's spike tape and gives Mabel some scotch tape from her bag. She never goes anywhere without it because she has a side gig as a professional gift wrapper. Loretta asks Mabel what her theory is because she heard Mabel was investigating. Mabel says killers sometimes insert themselves into the investigations, but Loretta just wants to help. The show means a lot to her as her Broadway debut. It took her a long time to get there. Mabel says she's a late bloomer herself and says she's looking at Dickie. She realizes Loretta doesn't want it to be Dickie. She knows that Dickie is her manager. Loretta says she doesn't think he did it because he's a good kid. She notes that poison is more of a woman's method, but Mabel says Dickie was in charge of Ben's food, so it might have just been convenient. Loretta says it could be someone else, like Bobo. He's the comic relief, but that could be hiding something sinister. Or it could be K.T. She can't picture Dickie as a murderer.

K.T. calls Charles to the stage to practice his song. Williams gets up and walks out of his dressing room.

Charles is nervous to practice his song. Oliver says he can do it. No White Room this time. He watches Williams come in and sit down in the audience. Charles starts the song. As Williams enjoys the show, Oliver sneaks out.

Mabel and Howard continue assembling the shredded paper.

Loretta sees some cops talking to Dickie.

Howard and Mabel have to take some of their work apart.

Dickie goes to Loretta and says he can't do dinner with her because the cops need to talk to him.

Howard says there probably wasn't anything important in the shredded papers anyway. It was a dumb idea. Mabel sees a box of rat poison nearby and says their killer might have stood right there on opening night. There's something important in the shreds and only Howard can find it. She psychs him up for the task. He shows her a paper he put together with the date of opening night on it. She suggests he find all the other pieces with the same font. He might get a spot on the podcast if he can do that.

Mabel finds Charles and Oliver and assumes they had no luck with Williams. Charles and Oliver tell her they have the interrogations on tape. They explain how they set the stage by piquing Williams' interest in Charles' song. Then once she left to watch him sing, Oliver went to Charles' dressing room and set up the camera. Mabel's impressed that they got everything. She holds out her hand and asks if they want to make a podcast with her. They stack their hands, which they admit is corny.

Loretta hears someone in the bathroom vomit and then Donna steps out of the stall, claiming nerves. She still gets them after forty years in show business. She sees that Loretta is crying and asks if she's okay. Loretta says she just has some nerves of her own. Donna thinks it's due to her seeing Maxine. They've taken a big swing trying to save the show. She probably wouldn't have done it if it weren't for Cliff, but as a mother, you spend your whole life looking after your child. You'll do anything to make sure they're okay.

Howard tells Oliver that the final number is next. They're looking for Loretta. Maxine says she hopes they find her because she's extraordinary. When he last saw the show, she thought there was no hope, but she got excited when she learned he was making it into a musical, so she could crush his dreams. But it's pure Oliver Putnam. He'll have to wait for her review to find out more.

Loretta finds Dickie and he asks if she isn't supposed to be getting ready for her final number. She can't stop thinking about opening night. He's the same way. He keeps thinking about the fight he had with Ben right before. Ben said Dickie was dead to him. He's not upset that he hurt Ben's feeling, but he knew Ben would rope him back in the next morning. But then he was gone and for a few moments, Dickie felt free. Then Ben was back and he was trapped again. He couldn't take it anymore. Loretta understands. K.T. calls Loretta to the stage. Loretta tells Dickie he didn't deserve any of this. None of it should have happened. Dickie says it's not her fault. She's been the best part of the last few months. She hugs him.

Oliver asks to talk to Loretta. He says they're going to start with her part of the song. He knows she's upset with him, but he promises that he trusts her. He doesn't care about the book or anything else. He just wants to be with her and do their hit show and go to her apartment and fall asleep in her arms. He tells her he loves her, something he hasn't said in a long time. It felt right, so he says it again. Howard calls Loretta onto the stage. Loretta starts "For the Sake of a Child" and as she sings, Mabel and Charles pull her book and the letter to Dickie out of her bag. Loretta asks to start over because she can't hear the rhythm. The piano plays alone as Charles shows Mabel the letter. Williams comes in just as Mabel realizes the book isn't full of pictures of Ben. It's pictures of Dickie. When Loretta sees Dickie being taken by the cops, she stops them and says she killed Ben. She put poison in his protein drink. When that didn't work, she pushed him down the elevator shaft. She can't let another innocent man go to jail. She is handcuffed over Oliver's objections. Loretta apologizes to him as she's led away. Oliver clutches his left arm and his heart monitor starts beeping as he collapses. Charles and Mabel surround him and tell someone to call for help.

## Cast

### Starring

* Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
* Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
* Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
* Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris

### Guest starring

* Gerald Caesar as Ty Wessex
* Noma Dumezweni as Maxine Spear
* Linda Emond as Donna DeMeo
* Allison Guinn as K.T. Knoblauer
* Ashley Park as Kimber Min
* Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Detective Donna Williams
* Don Darryl Rivera as Bobo Malone
* Jeremy Shamos as Dickie Glenroy
* Wesley Taylor as Cliff DeMeo
* Jason Veasey as Jonathan Bridgecroft

### Co-starring

* Taylor Colwell as Young Loretta
* Bret Shuford as Director
* Joel Waggoner as Tom
* Desi Oakley as Ensemble #1
* Emilie Kouatchou as Ensemble #2
* Adam Hyndman as Ensemble #3
* Kelvin Moon Loh as Ensemble #4

## Notes and Trivia

### Soundtrack

* "Song", performed by Artist
*Written by Composer*

## Navigation

 **Season 3** | "The Show Must..." · "The Beat Goes On" · "Grab Your Hankies" · "The White Room" · "Ah, Love!" · "Ghost Light" · "CoBro" · "**Sitzprobe**" · "Thirty" · "Opening Night"