Missing hankies and found lipsticks aside, Only Murders in the Building fans just caught a detail that'll make you question everything.
Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Steve Martin) may be on the case, but Arconiacs are already sleuthing two steps ahead. Season 3 of the Hulu series chronicles the death of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd), the lead star in Oliver's Broadway play. It all seemed like a straight-forward whodunnit, but one fan theory alludes to an entirely different twist. That is, Ben secretly has a twin.
It traces back to episode 3 when Mabel and Tobert (Jesse Williams) snoop around Ben's apartment. An eagle-eyed Reddit user pointed out that the wallpaper in his penthouse resembles the patterned carpet seen in the 1980s cult classic The Shining. "It suddenly came to me about a certain very frightening scene in The Shining involving two twins," they wrote.
Those on the Reddit thread debated how it connected to the movie's haunting imagery, with some tying it to the ongoing theory of Ben being a twin. That could explain how he survived his onstage poisoning that closed out the end of season 2 before actually falling to his death in an elevator shaft at the beginning of season 3.
Not to mention, each apartment seems symbolically tied to the characters. For example, Mabel's apartment was a work in progress, indicative of her rough-around-the-edges character. Oliver's own living room is transformed into a performance area to fit his theatrical endeavors. Thus, the familiar wall pattern could very well be paying homage.
Another Reddit user recalled an earlier moment that tied to the movie. Detective Williams (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) narrates season 1, episode 6, saying, "We're all born alone. Unless you're a twin or something, but twins creep me the f--- out. And don't even get me started on triplets."
One last potential clue is the final time we see Ben. He enters Oliver's apartment where the Death Rattle cast has gathered. When Dickie — his brother and manager — gets a call for Ben toward the end of the episode, Ben answers the phone: "Oh yeah, Ben has to take this," referring to himself in the third person.
Folks may call it a coincidence, but to that, Mabel says in season 3: "A coincidence is like someone having the same birthday as you." Chills.
Jacqueline (she/her) was a commerce editor for Good Housekeeping from 2021 to 2024. Prior to joining GH, she was a style and beauty reviews fellow at Insider, testing viral trends, reviewing sustainable brands and more. She's a graduate of the University of Florida's School of Journalism, with a specialty in magazines and mass communication.
