After being absent for an episode, Loretta is back as the narrator. She explains that she fell in love with the theater at a young age and starred in plays until she fell pregnant by a visiting director from Broadway. She gave away her child to a couple in town who could not conceive, which is in line with what Dickie said about his family. When she saw that Ben was going to be on Broadway, she knew she had to be there so she could meet her son Dickie, his manager. What I thought were looks of romantic love in earlier episodes was actually a familiar love. We begin this episode during the first rehearsal of Death Rattle Dazzle with an orchestra and the unhappy critic from the first episode watching in the audience.

As the practice is about to start, Mabel enters carrying a GoPro camera that Tobert had given her, and Oliver and Charles immediately flock to her. Oliver is upset about being left out of the podcast, and Charles is concerned about where she’s living. Mabel quickly assures him that she is safe at Theo’s apartment. When she admits that Dickie is her suspect Oliver is happy because he is not a cast member, showing that his number one priority is still his production.

Mid-rehearsal, a news blast is released announcing that Ben’s stalker was not the killer. When Da’Vine Joy Randolph makes her entrance into the theater, it is perfect, and she commands that everyone follow her back down to the police department. Luckily the trio convinces Detective Williams to do the interrogations in a room at the theater. Howard then grabs Mabel and brings her to the stage manager’s office. While he was shredding something during the rehearsal, he recognized that it was the same sound he heard from the room the night Ben died. They are determined to reassemble the pieces of paper that are still in the shredder back together, although Howard sends Mabel away so he can do it alone.

Charles offers to let Detective Williams use his dressing room as an interrogation room, but he awkwardly refuses to leave. At the same time, Oliver is called into Loretta’s dressing room and she asks for the book he took from her apartment back. He wants her to explain the book, but she avoids doing so. When Oliver lets it slip that Mabel thinks Ben’s killer is Dickie she immediately locks up and is stressed. Before anything can be admitted, she is called to the stage, and they go their separate ways.

Loretta tries to suck up to Mabel about the investigation citing her concerns for the show rather than admitting her history with Dickie. Every valid reason Mabel has for suspecting Dickie she makes an excuse for and casts it aside. She names anyone else who might be the killer, but it is futile. Mabel thinks Loretta’s reasoning for talking to her is because Dickie’s her manager, not her son. Immediately after, Charles must perform the Pickwick Triplets song, which he triumphantly nails. As he sings, there is a fun bit of editing where multiple frames slide and grow around the screen that shows what everyone is doing at the time: Mabel and Howard are trying their best to put together the tiny pieces of paper, Loretta watches Dickie being approached by the police, Detective Williams watches from the seats, and Oliver leaves the auditorium.

Once Charles finishes his performance, the trio meets back at Charles’s dressing room. The guys show Mabel that they found a way to record all the interviews with the GoPro of Tobert’s Mabel brought in earlier. They manipulated Detective Williams into doing what they wanted her to do. This beautiful moment was exactly what I have been missing this season. They found a way to work on the musical while also investigating.

Loretta is trying to pull herself together in the bathroom as Donna, the producer, exits the stalls. While this could seem like a normal interaction, there feels like a deeper meaning in her words about taking care of her child no matter what. I would not be surprised if Donna is behind Ben’s murder, especially since Loretta told Mabel that poison was a woman’s weapon. Then, Loretta speaks to Dickie in the lobby, and he admits to her that Ben was a prick. Apparently, they had a fight on opening night, and he felt free when he thought Ben was initially gone from his life. Loretta feels guilty his life was so rough with Ben. When they head back into the theater, Oliver confesses his love for her in a sweet moment, but she quickly takes the stage to rehearse the final song. This is when Mabel and Charles peek into her bag and finds the notes she wrote to Dickie, that her seeming obsession with Ben was about the wrong brother.

When it seems that Dickie is about to be arrested by Detective Williams and her officers, Loretta stops mid-song and confesses that she murdered Ben. Oliver begs her to stop. Not only is he in love with her, but he also discovered her talent, and she is vital to his production. When they take her out in handcuffs, Oliver has another heart attack and collapses. This has been, by far, my favorite episode this season. It was focused and progressed the plot forward perfectly. I also like that this episode stays within one location, the theater, though it spans several rooms. Only two more episodes to go!