@ymi2.02 I removed your comment, please even if it is something that is public information but not something shown within the show add a Spoiler Tag to the comment. People may not want to know the information; I did not know the information and I wish I didn't. Give people the choice to see something that you know will change how they see things within the show.

I really liked this episode! I was happy to see Detective Williams back, and very relieved when Mabel, Oliver, and Charles joined forces again! When Meryl Streep’s character confessed, my first thought was, “Well, she didn’t do it, we have two more episodes!” I would never laugh at you for a theory! I’m always impressed by how much you notice and the connections you make!

Congrats to the theorists who were right about loretta and dickie 😁 Saw that one coming cause of what I read but still went ooohhhhhhhh The live performances were SOOO good! Charles was so good I wanted to watch it again right away. What a huge plot twist for me! Haha

Idk if Dickie knows but I think Ben knew. I think he thinks she'll use Dickie like he was, which is why he called her a snake, and he was trying to keep them apart because he wanted Dickie to himself.

OH i like the idea that Dickie unknowingly covered up the poisoning... that's absolutely brilliant!!!

Hopefully Loretta is released before the play opens again. I think that if Cliff did it, then his mom will take the blame because she has cancer, but they will probably both end up in prison.

I saw someone else’s comment about how irked they were that Greg didn’t stay in prison because of what he did to Charles and Mabel. I know it’s probably just lazy writing, but an in universe explanation is that he’s released pending trial for his other crimes

Ben DOB: 1973 Dickie DOB: 1976 Ben may actually be Loretta's son. They swapped names or something.

I have a theory that Cliff is the murderer and was actually attempting to murder Donna. Somehow Ben accidentally recieved the cookies instead of Donna on opening night and got poisoned. Ben left the hospital too early and so he still had the poison in his system, which caused him to feel drowsy and fall down the elevator shaft by accident. A theme surrounding Ben is that he felt ashamed by his slightly young and immature image due to the wacky movies he did and the fact that he played a teenager at the age of 30. Cliff can also relate to this theme, because everyone around him views him as being very young, for example Ben called him “boy” when he was “apologizing” to everyone. Donna constantly treats Cliff like a kid, and therefore maybe Cliff was getting tired of this and wanted to produce on his own without his mom constantly over his shoulder. Also, in episode 8 when Charles is singing the patter song, they show Cliff on the side right as Charles sings the lyrics “He would bite the hand that feeds him with a sneer”. This could also be a clue to Cliff wanting to kill his own mom.

I see lots people saying its Donna/Cliff and make good arguments to support the who, how, why and why now.. Only thing I dont like about that is its validating the Producers theory , which was floated at week 1 once it was known Broderick and Brooks would be making cameos. Wouldnt that be just very easy and obvious?

The Producers theory was one of my first, but I gave it up after they agreed to make it a musical. But when Charles is nailing the performance and they look worried, it got me thinking it could be again. I thought Donna might have been trying to make Loretta nervous in the bathroom so she would mess up so Maxine would have something bad to write about. And Cliff could've hired MB knowing he'd be hard to work with. But I find your cancer theory more sustainable.

I have a possible explanation for what seems to be a discrepancy in the end-credits bus ticket date. Firstly, we know that Ben was born in 1973, according to the date on his picture at the funeral home, making him 50. And Dickie is a few years older, making his birth year 1972 or earlier. If the date of 8 Mar 1976 on the bus ticket clue is intentional & correct (i.e.not a production or prop error), then there is only one logical explanation: there are 2 sets of Glenroy parents who couldn't conceive! And the Glenroy couple Loretta gave her child to in 1976, are not the same Glenroy parents of Ben & Dickie! Loretta has been tracking the wrong person all these years thinking Dickie was her child! Yes, I know it sounds preposterous but this is similar to the premise of "The Comedy of Errors" a play about the 2 sets of twins and mistaken identities, whose poster is hanging in Oliver's apartment (ep7). Then I started looking at the letter Loretta received from her child's adoptive parents Michael & Eloise Glenroy, and the letter mentions "Richard" and that he is doing well, but the big clue is the post mark year on the envelope. It is kind of small & blurry but I think it says 1979, which would corroborate the bus ticket date of 1976 as the year Loretta gave up her child. This would mean neither Dickie nor Ben is Loretta's child. Michael & Eloise could be one half of twin brothers marrying twin sisters, and the other set of Glenroy parents could be Dickie's & Ben's parents. Also means that the twin theory could be back in play ( pun intended 🙂)

Ever notice the devil horns behind Toberts head at 11:04 in this video? In season 2 they did something similar when Poppy sat right under the poster "Who is Becky Butler"?

Do we know what did Charles mean when telling Ben "I know wht you did" ? He also said leave her alone which was about Loretta but the other thing... I don't remember if it was solved?

I think there are 3 killers. Not sure who it was though

"Blood's Ben Test" caught that 😅

I keep wondering about the "aunt Loretta" picture on the fridge. If the adopting parents kept in contact with her to send her pictures maybe they told Dickie she was his aunt and showed him pictures too. I wonder at what point he knew he was adopted? It seemed like Loretta and that family were from a small town. Loretta left to "make it big" in NYC. When did the family move in order for Ben to be discovered at age 8 to be hired on for Brazzos? Someone said that Ben was born in '70 but the ticket was in '73, so maybe that was Ben/Dickie's ticket.

Not Howard but Oliver had heart attack

Ben had pictures of himself in many places. So what if he's in the closet and being gay. What does that have anything to do with any of it.

Love the program. I do not think that Loretta is the killer

Who is Dickies father, the director?

I'm still on my 3 people involved in the murder theory. I think it'll be ambiguous. I think they just meant to pull a prank on Ben since he's always been doing them to others, as a way of getting even, probably separately and each thing culminating in a serious of unfortunate events that leads to his death. It could literally be anyone because Ben pissed a lot of people off. I think the first death was staged, but if he was poisoned, whoever covered the tox report at the police station was the same who didn't run it for Tim Kono. I think Tobert wants to work for Cinda and she's made a deal that if he can get Mabel to work for her, he can too. I think he was there offering a plate of cookies to Ben (and/or perhaps a secret lover). He's involved with something, somehow. And I have more on the Howard being the long con killer responsible for all the other ones (Possibly inadvertently?) But I'll save that for another day 😆

Tobbert is a Documentarian, even when you don't see him, he's there. Tobbert did it. It is a waste having someone as iconic as Meryl Streep and not making her the killer.