Ah, Love!

Episode five was all about love actually. Charles finds himself accidentally engaged to marry Joy. A prospect that does not fill his heart with joy.

Luckily his stunt double Shazz turns up. Charles problem is that he is averse to enjoying himself.

Oliver is looking forward to his date with Loretta but loses a tooth on an overcooked pork chop. Both are clearly nervous as they have not dated for a while.

Oliver does find out that both he and Loretta have moved in similar circles over the years. They just never crossed each other's path.

Mabel ends up going on a date with Tobert. She thought he had a lead, he just wanted to date her.

There were drips of information about Ben's murder but it was secondary here. Even now anyone can be a suspect.

Still with the murder podcast taking a back seat. This was still a fun episode. Just not something you can get your teeth into.

This is getting worse. If last episode has just 5 mins of sleuthing, this had nothing. Have the writers completely lost the plot.

The whole episode is on the 3 leads having dates or breakups. The murder investigation has completely gone to the background. The series was never meant to be a character study of a young girl and two old men reviving their careers. But thats what Season 3 is turning about to be. Meryl Streep is charming but her charms cannot hide the absence of a credible plot line if there is one. We are also hardly seeing the building and its characters which was the highlight of the other two seasons.

Three relationships are explored here. Oliver is head over heels with the Meryl Streep character, Loretta. He is finally pressured into asking her out. The results are quite interesting. Once again, individual interactions are also part of the gathering of clues for the murder of the actor in question. The show does a nice job of introducing possibilities and having them dismissed. Second, Charles has mistakenly asked Joy to marry him. It is in one of his white out things. A tube of lipstick has been found near the crime scene and it belongs to her. And Mabel goes out with Tobert and they hang out at a night club where some strange things are going on with another cast member. I do agree, I would like to see more work on the case and less bizarre stuff.

I was worried that the a third season might be one too many. No worries needed. The writing, acting, and music keep being great. I love this show.

I'm not going to comment on the three main sleuths other than to say they are great together. The big thing for me about S3 is the addition of the new cast members, including Meryl Streep (Loretta) and Andrea Martin (Joy). I love the interaction between them. Charles's relationship with Joy. Oliver's with Loretta. Loretta singing "Look for the Light" in E3 is amazing and she continues to glow in E4. The acting. The writing. The music. They combine to make this one of the best ever.