Eagle-eyed "Only Murders in the Building" viewers know the animated opening credits sequence requires close viewing. It provides a swooping view of the Arconia from the outside, capturing its residents going about their business inside their private spaces – including our three favorite amateur detectives Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) and Oliver Putnam (Martin Short).
Everybody save for one – the person walking their pet near the entry gate. That figure becomes a sentinel of sorts as each season evolves. At first, it was simply an old lady with her dog who we later come to realize is Arconia's grand dame and Board President Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell).
Now that honor falls to Howard Morris, Michael Cyril Creighton's cat-loving sweater fan who has assumed the role of knowing everybody's business.
Howard calmly strolls by with what we can assume is his newest furry ward Sevelyn on a leash in front of him, pausing to peer inside.
From a production standpoint, this animation serves the simple role of announcing Creighton's promotion to series regular for the third season of "Only Murders in the Building." But Howard's also essential to running Oliver's production of "Death Rattle," the showbiz obsessive's momentarily doomed return to Broadway.
As the new season begins, Howard has been tapped as Oliver's assistant, wrangling the cast and crew through table reads and rehearsals. Next to Oliver, the previously high-drama cat fancier is downright Zen-like. (Creighton's Howard is also saddled with regularly fulfilling the show's integrated sponsorship deal with State Farm, which he does by reminding Oliver at regular intervals of a family connection to the insurance company — you know, just in case.)
When Oliver's lead actor Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) is murdered, Howard is one of the few loyal figures at Oliver's side as he strives to resurrect an already-ridiculous play about a murder where the three main suspects are infant triplets into a musical called "Death Rattle Dazzle."
But Howard's cat obsession outranks all his other quirks, rising above even his love for a chunky knit, his yodeling barbershop quartet and his boyfriend, Jonathan (Jason Veasey), Ben's understudy in the production. And that makes him a harmonious foil for Oliver, whose effort to compose a musical overnight has made him frantic.
The third episode of the latest season, "Grab Your Hankies," shows Howard slumped in a chair as Oliver bangs out a melody on his piano, part of a dusk-to-dawn marathon that yields "one complete song, 11 fragments, and 25 rough notions screamed over a piano chord."
Most people would have slept through Oliver's mania without taking a single note. Oliver, however, is a cat daddy of the Jackson Galaxy variety, not the other kind. Meaning, he's accustomed to getting his winks in around random 2 a.m. caterwauling slaps in the face. He knows some beings simply aren't trainable. You can only suggest behaviors and hope they'll go with it. Are we talking about Sevelyn, or Oliver? Yes, that's a trick question.
The combined charisma of this season's "Only Murders in the Building" ensemble is far more fascinating than the mystery or the sleuthing, to the extent that whatever shortcomings there may be in that department don't get in the way of enjoying the larger story. The overarching plots dealing with Mabel's penchant to isolate, Charles' burgeoning commit-phobia, and Oliver's obsession with both success and his acting discovery Loretta (Meryl Streep) are full to the brim with enough heart, whimsy, and lunacy to carry the whole show.
Within all this, pairing Creighton and Short brings a welcome and unexpectedly fresh sparkle to the core cast's already strong chemistry. Placing his Howard in a pen with Short's jumpy, cheerfully peevish Oliver is perfect. Howard is persnickety but forbearing and appreciates quirks. When Oliver fires off one of his cutting quips at Howard, he either takes it or responds in kind, albeit more slyly.
But one may also notice a relative absence of actual cats this season – negated, perhaps, by what Howard represents. Why bother bringing in a cat actor when the building's foremost enthusiast serves the same purpose?
Howard may not have much dialogue compared to the "Death Rattle Dazzle" cast, but he's always standing close to the action or stoically enduring Oliver's swipes. He's a silent witness to every tantrum and an amiable grounding presence evening out Oliver's disorganization.
He also solidifies an unspoken detail about the Arconia's ecosystem: there must always be somebody pulling the neighborhood together, even if that person tends to be taken for granted.
In the first season, the building enjoyed the strains of Jan's (Amy Ryan) bassoon wafting through her window into its courtyard – "the sound of the Arconia," a smitten Charles called it. Her music augmented the romance of the place until, you know, she was outed as a murderer.
Bunny is recognized in Season 2 as the soul of the place, someone who wanted nothing more than to maintain its dignity as an extension of her own. When she died, a new resident named Nina (Christine Ko) assumed her Board President role but didn't seem interested in living up to Bunny's unofficial job of being the building's social glue.
That's where Howard comes in.
Judging by the ratio of canine-loving bumper stickers to those pledging allegiance to our feline friends, our society leans heavily in favor of dog lovers. Oliver is one of those dog people, by the way – a bulldog lover who acts like a high-strung terrier.
But some environments are best navigated by experts in cuddly anarchy, especially the version prone to baring its claws at unpredictable intervals.
That describes Howard to a tee. In a previous season's post-mortem interview series creator John Hoffman revealed to me that briefly the writers contemplated making Howard the perpetrator, but Creighton made the character too likable to cage.
We're grateful they followed this instinct. The people surrounding him, whether they're actors or his neighbors may not fully appreciate what he brings to a room. They may even prove immune to his calming influence. But it's tough to imagine what the Arconia would be without Howard quietly, keeping an eye on the drama, judging everyone all the while.
