What is grandma hiding? Probably nothing good. But Detective Pedro Pascal is on the case in the latest Merge Mansion ad. Taking on his latest and greatest role, Pascal transforms himself into overly dramatic investigator Tim Rockford for this parody ad, which doubles as a short story. And he doesn’t even have words for the crimes before him. And honestly, neither do we.

A normal family, many knives, a set of nefarious knitting needles… Everything points to grandma. As the trailer notes, “This is not your average game of canasta.” We can’t say we are going to rush to download the game now. But we can say that casting Pedro Pascal in this ad is the best decision Merge Mansion ever made. Because now people will clamor for a Merge Mansion Knives Out-like movie with Pedro Pascal as an overly serious and yet perfectly goofy detective. And you know, we’re clamoring too.

Detective Pedro Pascal in Merge Mansion mobile game ad
Merge Mansion

Tim Rockford also returned for two more delicious and mysterious shorts. All three videos are equally full of Pedro Pascal giving his best detective and, of course, of hilariously high camp. It’s really a genius enticement for us to play Merge Mansion.

Metacore also brought its game to life. The company hosted an immersive experience at the Legendary Paramour Estate in Los Angeles, “which was part live-action theater, part escape room and part lore museum.” You can catch a glimpse of it below. Ashley Benson and Jesse Williams also join in the fun. Meanwhile, Pedro Pascal doesn’t seem to have come to this adventure as Detective Rockford but, instead, arrived as himself. And that’s a lot of fun to watch too!

To all of this, we say, bring on Detective Pedro Pascal in every form possible.

Originally published on March 10, 2023.