Donna Demeo appears to be the murderer, and everytime we introduce a new suspect, they are usually given voice-over rights. This episode’s ending is no different; in between phone calls concerning Andrew Lloyd Weber, we witness a flashback of Donna giving birth to Cliff while listening to Donna’s voice-over about being a producer. Looking down at her infant, she replies, “If someone asks what my favorite thing I’ve ever made, “Mamma Mia, hands down,” she jokes. “I’ve won nine Tonys, I’ve birthed 34 Broadway plays. Meryl, however, might concur.
Loretta is out of her orange jumpsuit thanks to the case’s breakthrough last week, and she joins the other two before the murder board where they give their case for why Donna is the murderer. Although she would go to any lengths to defend her son Cliff, outright murder is still a severe measure. If not, Loretta suggests, which would leave her with very little to lose (recalling the time she saw Donna puke in the bathroom).
The bloodied handkerchief from the crime scene, courtesy of Dickie, is presented by Loretta since they still need more. However, judging by the trio’s response, there is something helpful on this hanky that supports their argument. Later, more on that.
The only thing missing from Death Rattle Dazzle’s opening night is Tyler Joseph Ellis’ red carpet interview with Kimber. Mabel gives Donna a note before the program starts informing her that KT’s office has a review ready for her. She discovers Oliver, Charles, and Mabel waiting there to confront her instead of a rave or pan.
Donna interrupts them as they start to make their planned, dramatic revelation and admits right away that she poisoned Ben. In order to rapidly confess to poisoning Tobert’s cookie in the hopes that the production will be purchased some time after reading Maxine’s assessment, she locates the location where he is hiding with the microphone and takes it. She, however, denies pushing him into the elevator shaft and even wanting to kill him in the first place. Rat poison dose is so difficult to get right: “How many rats is one Ben Glenroy?” The poisoning was intended to just knock him on his ass.
The handkerchief that was discovered alongside Ben’s body and stained with the exact same shade of lipstick as Donna’s is the trio’s last piece of evidence, which they give to Donna. Her story abruptly shifts and she swiftly admits to everything when a look of recognition crosses her face. She only asks that they let opening night go on before turning her in for Cliff.
As Howard comes in with the news that their lead, Jonathan, took too many of Dr. C’s medicines and is now unable to continue, another problem suddenly arises. While Howard is gently vying for the position because they need someone who understands the program inside and out to step in, Oliver has another plan. Oliver decides to fill the role on his own, much like director Casey Nicholaw did during the cast shortage in Some Like It Hot.
He belts out “Creature of the Night” while Uma and Matthew Broderick grouse in the audience, playing Statler and Waldorf, and Howard does the choreography in the wings as Mrs. George. I’m wondering if Death Rattle Dazzle will follow Smash’s example and truly make it to Broadway in 12 years after hearing all of these incredible songs again.
In the meantime, Loretta continues singing “Look for the Light” to thunderous applause before locating Dickie sitting in the background. She starts by telling him that she is his mother as Mabel watches on. He cuts in, “I knew it,” claiming he sensed it the moment they met during the read through. She tells him, “There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for you,” and as she says it, Mabel glances into the audience and notices Donna and Cliff having a difficult, emotional talk.
When she goes to look into it, she discovers Cliff in the theater’s attic, where he claims he used to see his mother’s performances when he was younger. She just informed him, though, that she had admitted to killing Ben. Mabel adds, “But it wasn’t her,” after having a revelation. She had seen Donna remove her son’s handkerchief earlier that evening, kiss it and then him, then place it back in his breast pocket while saying, “One on your lips and one on your heart.” Didn’t she do the same thing the night Ben passed away? indicating that Cliff’s handkerchief, not Donna’s, was the one recovered with Ben’s body.
In a flashback from that evening, Cliff is seen bumping into Ben as he hangs up the phone. Things appear regular until Ben confides that his doctor informed him that the results of his lab tests for rat poison were positive. The revelation is puzzling, especially considering that he was fasting, until he recalls that he consumed the Schmackary’s cookie that Donna had purchased. Cliff and Ben both realize Donna was responsible for the poisoning as Ben gradually connects the dots.
Ben pulls out his phone and says, “I’m telling the cops.” Cliff starts a supervillain-like monologue about how he’s more than just Donna’s boy and that she should have listened to him when he told Ben was simply a hack who had no business on Broadway, but before he can figure out how to notify the police, the two engage in a pushing match.
Cliff threatens to plunge to his death onto the stage below after revealing a trap door in the attic to Mabel, who is now on to him. Charles and Oliver rush up to help Mabel as she tries to coax Cliff down the ledge after spotting the commotion above. Nevertheless, he ends up hanging from the ceiling, and his mother is the only one who can catch him and pull him back up to safety. And right in time for curtain call.
Anyone waiting at the stage door for Kimber to sign their Playbill is bound to be shocked when the mother-son producing pair is led out in handcuffs after everyone has taken their bows. However, seeing them in handcuffs should inspire confidence among Broadway casts worldwide that their producers might also be detained at some point!
The cast and crew assemble at the after-party to hear Maxine’s appraisal after the case is declared to be solved. It reads, “This dusty old chestnut has been Botoxed, bedazzled, and brought back to life,” and Oliver has won the night. Loretta joins him in celebrating after learning through Dickie that Grey’s New Orleans Family Burn Unit is still interested in her, though she is unsure if she would be interested if it meant parting ways with Oliver. But this time, he exhorts her to pursue her goals (it appears that Meryl has withdrawn from season four).
But she’s not the only one traveling to Los Angeles; Tobert invited Mabel to join him after being offered a role in an independent movie there. Mabel, however, declines because she claims to still have business in New York. Tobert and Loretta might be able to live together instead.
As if there weren’t enough recognizable characters in this episode, Sazz arrives eager to party and says she needs to speak with Charles later about something “a little sensitive.” He’s about to get some wine from his apartment, when he gets a text from Joy that says, “Scott Bakula says hi.”
The scene then shifts to Charles’s ominous apartment, where we see what appears to be Charles entering. He is struck in the chest by a bullet that flies through his window during a gunshot, falling to the ground contorted. But as the camera pans, we see that it wasn’t Charles at all but his body double, Sazz, who was sent to fetch the wine. And with that, it appears that the scene of our most recent homicide has been found. But clearly the shooter must have been targeting Charles, which means he’s not safe until they catch whoever’s after him. Good thing Mabel isn’t traveling to Los Angeles.
