This past fall, Only Murders in the Building aired its fourth season with yet another amusing, captivating, star-studded murder mystery that kept us coming back for more week after week. Since the show’s premiere in 2021, it has been praised as one of the most unique, refreshing comedies to grace our screens in years, garnering 49 total Emmy nominations, and its fourth season did not disappoint. As a loyal fan of the show since the beginning, I have been scared with every new season that it’s going to lose its spark and won’t be able to live up to expectations, but this most recent season has slowly been climbing my ranks and following the finale, might take the top spot as my favorite season of the series. *Spoilers ahead!*
The Murder
As with every finale of the show, season three ended with a new murder for our favorite detectives/podcasters, Oliver Putnam, Charles Hayden Savage, and Mabel Mora to investigate in the upcoming season. This always sets the tone and can make or break the season before it even starts, depending on who the victim is and how invested we are in them emotionally. This was one of my problems with season three, where they killed off the victim before we had even been introduced to him, which I felt led to a slight disconnect for the rest of the season. Season 4 did not have this issue at all, as the victim was Charle’s old stunt double, Sazz Pataki, who we have been repeatedly exposed to since season one as a lovable, loyal, comedic relief character. Not only were viewers distraught to see her go, but her being Charle’s stunt double adds another layer to the mystery from the get-go. Sazz was killed by a sniper while she was in Charle’s apartment, so not only do they need to find the killer this season, but there is also the question of whether Sazz was the intended target or if someone thought they were taking out Charles instead. Sazz as the victim of the season also took us on an emotional journey as we watch Charles simultaneously try to process the loss of his closest friend and protector, deal with the guilt that he couldn’t be there to protect her, and avenge her death by bringing her killer to justice. Sazz appears throughout the season as a figment of Charle’s imagination and their heart-to-heart conversations give us the most tear-jerking moments of the season as we get insight into Charles and Sazz’s close-knit friendship.
The new characters
Another unique marker of Only Murders in the Building is the eternally impressive caliber of guest stars that just seem to get better and better every season. In addition to Meryl Streep staying on the cast after she joined last season, we see three big hitters, Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy, and Zach Galifianakis, appear as themselves to play our three main characters in the upcoming movie version of their podcast. The individual dynamics between each of the characters and their movie star counterparts add a lighthearted layer of fun to the season and we see a new group of investigators come to light as the actors try to prove they are just as capable as the original trio. While these three are the most prominent guest stars of the season, my personal favorites also include Molly Shannon as the cooky movie producer Bev Melon and Melissa McCarthy as Charles’s doll-obsessed younger sister from Long Island.
The misdirects
As is the case with any good murder mystery, the story is only as good as its ability to hide the real killer in a pile of equally interesting and plausible suspects, and I think the show really perfected it this season. With the added plot line of the movie being in production, we were introduced to countless new characters including actors, producers, writers, directors, and stunt doubles, all of whom could’ve committed the crime for one reason or another, causing us to question every character on screen. We were also introduced to the misfit “Westies” who occupy another wing of the Arconia that we’ve never seen before, and all seem to be concealing a dark secret. I was initially confused and suspicious of the Westies as a whole, but after primarily focusing on them for multiple episodes we come to find that their plot was completely separate from the crime at hand, and they are a rather endearing community who found solace in each other. I ended up being a fan of this plot because while it ultimately had no bearing on the main mystery, it brought us on an engaging journey that uncovered a second mystery with its satisfying ending so we could then move our focus back to the initial crime.
The reveal
Without a doubt, the most important part of any murder mystery is the killer and their motive. This season gave us one of the most complex and unexpected killers of the series, who I personally hadn’t suspected up until the very last episode, and their motive was one I never saw coming. Through the last few episodes, we see that leading up to her death, Sazz had taken a stunt protege under her wing but an on-set incident led to them getting blackballed in the industry. These episodes are carefully shot to not show the face of her protege until the trio ultimately deduces that it was Marshall Pope, who they believed up to that point to be the writer of their movie. Pope was introduced shortly into the season as an anxious, introverted, writer who earnestly wanted to help the investigation but his ulterior motives were revealed in the finale. Pope had been desperately trying to break into the writing industry to no avail, so when Sazz asked him to read her very first script, for a movie adaptation of Only Murders in the Building, and it was better than anything he’d written, he jealously stole it and sold it as his own movie. When Sazz found out and confronted him about this, he decided he needed to take her out before she ruined his chance at a big break.
This unpredictable yet satisfying ending, combined with the humor, emotion, and unforeseen twists of the season, solidifies its spot as one of my all-time favorites of the series. For a series with such a literal premise of the characters only investigating murders that occur in their apartment building, I always find myself worried that the show will run out of creative ideas and become redundant or boring, but four seasons in they have constantly kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what they’ll do next. In just the last few minutes of the finale, a new compelling mystery was set up that has me not so patiently waiting to see how season five unfolds next fall.