A whistle and a hole in the kitchen window are one of the first scenes of the new season of Only Murders In The Building, relating to the sound of the desire of resolving another murder which follows our protagonists, Mabel, Charles and Oliver as the audience, watches them try to figure out the holes in the mystery that is Sazz’s death (warning: spoilers ahead!).
Kinda confusing
Sazz Pataki was Charles Savage’s stunt double and best friend, who was murdered mysteriously in his apartment while everyone was away at a party, but nobody noticed for almost one week, as the murderer put her body in the incinerator of the building.
The main characteristic of the production of having a non-linear storytelling is reinforced in this season, but keeps the audience a little confused, as you don’t understand very much what is their prior investigation: the Sazz murder, Charles’ history, the other neighbor’s life stories or why a movie about their podcast is needed to be produced.
In addition to that, I felt that the producers and directors tried to talk about so many different topics that at the end of the season, we can’t remember if all the aspects were even covered, since not all of them were really relevant – such as the relation with the neighbors and Dudenoff, something that became loose ends in the whole scenario.
putting charles on the spotlight
On the other hand, this time, they gave room for the growth of other personalities. While in the previous seasons the focus was on Mabel’s loneliness and Oliver’s search for success in movies and the theater, this one prioritized investigating the past of Charles, especially considering his longtime friendship with Sazz. And, honestly, I loved it! We knew Charles only as “just” one of the protagonists for 90% of the time, so the plot needed to explore more of his history in the same way as the other ones were presented more deeply.
The kickoff for this season’s investigation was the hole in Charles’ kitchen window, made by the gun bullet that killed Sazz. Since then, the story was built by alternating memories of Sazz, Charles and their present lives, so we could understand why they were so close, what their insecurities were, how they admired each other, and also give us hints to analyze and solve the new case with them.
Looking into it, we were finally introduced to Charles’ sister, as well as where they used to live when they were children, their relationship and why he is more shy than his fellow protagonists. Cautious and calm Charles became more sensitive and showed off his empathy, especially with Sazz, Mabel and Oliver (who gets married with Loretta in a beautiful ceremony at The Arconia!).
not the solution i was expecting
In the end, we discover all the answers, including the mystery of Sazz’s death. Frankly, I saw the reasons of the murderer as implausible, making him look like just a completely lunatic person trying to find their place in the world and dealing with traumas. However, he described himself as a frustrated writer who understood that his real vocation was being a killer, due to being taught from a young age on how to hunt by his father, who had no faith in his son’s future as a writer. (What?!?)
His arguments don’t make sense, in the same way his appearance in the serie. It is a character with almost no personality who had one of the most important functions in the season, and honestly, was a big no overall. The other killers were much more interesting and complex, while this one just doesn’t have enough motivation for anything and is trying to see if he fits in somewhere (or anywhere, actually). Hulu has more creativity than that.
But, In conclusion, I can say that even though I didn’t like the ending and found some unanswered plot holes, I strongly believe it was a season that made each character find themselves (mainly because of the chartacers dealing with the actors who are playing themselves, and seeing how they, the screenwriters and producers see them and their actions), develop a kinship as Arconia residents, friends and last, but not least, understand their limits as people and “detectives”.
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The article above was edited by Mariana Aguiar.
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