Only Murders in the Building Season 5 Episode 7 ending explained - What was Bash, Jay and Camila doing at the casino?

In New York’s Upper West Side, Only Murders in the Building spins a tapestry of murder, mischief and martinis. Launched on Hulu in August 2021, this brainchild of Steve Martin and John Hoffman transforms the Arconia, a grand apartment fortress, into a stage for amateur sleuthing and razor-sharp satire. 

The core trio, Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), a neurotic ex-TV star shadowed by a stalker; Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), a flamboyant Broadway has-been chasing relevance; and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), a sardonic artist wrestling with family trauma, anchors the show’s charm. They run a true-crime podcast that turns neighbourly nosiness into a battle against the Arconia’s darkest secrets. In Episode 7, “Silver Alert”, it is revealed that Bash, Jay and Camila were present at the casino on the night when Lester died, playing for a very big contract, which indicated the biggest Casino development project in New York.

Season 5, which premiered September 9, 2025, centres on doorman Lester’s murder, initially a heart attack, exposed as foul play via a severed finger in a freezer. The trail leads to the Velvet Room, a hidden casino where billionaires Sebastian “Bash” Steed, Jay Pflug and Camila White orchestrate a high-stakes merger, laundering influence through coded bets to gentrify Brooklyn and silence leaks, tying them to Lester’s death.

This season’s razor-sharp satire and emotional depth make it a must-watch, exposing the deadly games of wealth.

Only Murders in the Building Season 5, Episode 7 ending explanation: Trophy of gamble

Episode 7 “Silver Alert” opens with Mayor Beau Tillman being invited on the Only Murders’ podcast with Charles, Oliver and Mabel. In the podcast, the mayor announced his campaign project of making the streets of New York City safer from “murder”. He then proposed his theory on investigating the person who ran against him in the fall. However, Mabel interrupts him, saying they cannot podcast about the murder as their prime suspects (Bash, Jay, Camila) brought their networks and have forbidden them to talk about the murder or its suspects. 

The mayor believed that Bash is the murderer and Romy (Tillman’s assistant) is Bash’s niece, who made Tillman hire her to keep an eye on him all the time. Bash has paid millions to the mayor’s campaign and is using him for favors, such as building permits and diplomatic license plates. But now the asks are getting bigger as the mayor is spending time doing Bash’s bidding instead of fulfilling his own campaign promises. The mayor also revealed that Bash is the NYPD’s biggest donor, and he is “literally above the law”.

The mayor wants the trio to investigate the murder and collect evidence against the suspected rich millionaires. He informed Charles, Oliver and Mabel that he heard Romy on the phone about Bash hosting a big, secret, rich people meeting with Camila White and Jay Pflug at a country estate in the middle of nowhere.

The trio then decides to go to Connecticut to Bash’s estate to find any evidence on Lester’s murder. In the meantime, Oliver sends a picture of his boots to his wife Loretta, saying, “I’ve been taken against my Will”, but before he could send the next message, “By Mabel and Charles”, the network connection is lost.

At the estate, they meet Bash’s son, Algie, looking equally frightening and pale like his father, who directed them inside the house. In the mansion, hiding behind the upper mantel, they saw Camila, Jay and Bash playing Operation, which looked like “harvesting organs to sell in the black market”. As Oliver was about to take off, he made a noise, alerting their enemies to their presence.

After Mabel asked about the agenda of Bash’s private meeting, he said they were only playing board games in the privacy of his own house. Charles, not convinced by what Bash said, believed that when the three of them were together, they were always up to something. To this, Jay showed them a trophy, indicating that they had game nights, which provided an outlet for ruthless competition and gossip. 

Mabel wanted to stay and watch while Oliver wanted to leave, but Bash insisted that they stay. Then the three of them decided to keep their eye out for Camila, Jay and Bash. Oliver and Camila argue about the apartment, which Camila refined for him, but she did not receive any appreciation. On the other hand, Bash tells Charles that he is not the murderer, as he wants to be a good dad for Algie, which he couldn’t be for his other children, as he was busy building his empire. Jay, however, still wants to take Mabel out for dinner, which she declines. But due to her clever wits, she makes him unintentionally admit that something more important is happening at the house, and the trophy is not just an ordinary one.

After Oliver decides to leave Charles and Mabel at the estate, the five of them play a game called “Celebrity”, which requires guessing celebrities in a minute. Bash’s team got the historical figures category card, and they played really well. In an ironic twist of fate, Mabel and Charles choose Broadway, despite Mabel not knowing anything about it. But, even without Oliver, Mabel is thankful for him, as she uses all his anecdotes to get Charles to answer them and win.

So, it's their turn to tell them why they were playing. As it turns out, on the night Lester was killed, they were playing for the right to open the first casino in New York City. Furthermore, Mabel realises that there is something to the trophy they have been playing for, and it is the missing finger.

Oliver, while finding no luck in the wilderness, finally gets service, and he learns that Loretta has reported him missing. He asks to be rescued, but in all honesty, the farmers aren’t willing to believe anything he has to say. After all, he opened up to them about the fact that his wife is an actress in Hollywood, and he even mentioned that the mayor showed up to record his podcast with him.

Jay also attempts to stop Charles and Mabel from leaving with the finger when Mabel successfully uses Jay’s emotions to her benefit by telling him she isn’t going to take credit for “trapping” a woman for a finger to establish Jay’s legacy. It’s uneasy at the time, but they break free, and luckily, they manage to get outside, where Oliver shows up on the tractor to rescue them.

At the end of the episode, while awaiting the arrival of Williams, who will take the finger and officially determine to whom it belongs, Camila appears, saying the finger determines who gets to build their casino, because it turns out New York is only handing out a single permit. Camila draws a derringer on them, advising the gang to surrender the finger.

Mabel thinks Camila is bluffing, but Oliver is afraid she might shoot, so Mabel relents. Camila has already begun her work, as she has begun purchasing many of the apartments at Arconia and will use them as a residence for her "Camila Club." Camila's parting words were "hopefully there will be murders in your next building, too," making it difficult yet important for the trio to find a way to save the Arconia.

Only Murders in the Building Season 5 streams exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., with new episodes dropping on Tuesdays at midnight ET.

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