Only Murders in the Building has become a cozy watch for many of us, and season four is set to premiere on Hulu on August 27. With new episodes dropping weekly, it will run through October, so the cool coat and cozy vibes are strong, as always. Everyone involved with this show really understands its appeal and its narrative DNA.
Which is why the guest casting for season four is so good. After their podcast breaks out, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver are approached about adapting their podcast into a film. Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Zach Galifianakis play (versions of) themselves as the film actors cast to play the amateur sleuths in the movie. But then there is the murder, this time of Charles’s stunt double and friend, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), which sends the intrepid trio to the other side of The Arconia to interview west wing residents. These include Kumail Nanjiani and Richard Kind—how is Richard Kind ONLY NOW appearing in this show?!—plus there is Molly Shannon as a movie executive, Melissa McCarthy as Charles’s sister, and Meryl Streep returning as Loretta Durkin.
This show’s ability to pull amazing actors remains almost unparalleled—almost because The Bear has a similar ability to knock you down with its guest-star casting. But Only Murders has something else in common with The Bear, besides casting and both airing on Hulu, and that is that I think these shows need to end. Both were conceived as singular seasons, and both were extended after they were met with breakout popularity and critical acclaim. The Bear is on its third season, Only Murders on its fourth. It’s probably time for both to think about wrapping it up.
In The Bear’s case, it’s about narrative inertia—season three was just treading water. There were some excellent moments of writing/acting/directing, it’s as stressful as ever to watch, but in the third season, I felt “sitcomitis” setting in, which is the tendency for sitcom characters to never change so that the basic premise of the show can continue. Think about how sitcoms often keep breaking up and making up couples to perpetuate a will they/won’t they trope (Monica and Chandler on Friends is a rare exception, though Ross and Rachel were definitely guilty of this), or how characters never learn/grow so that in each episode Michael Scott can be a boor, Nick Miller can be chaotic, etc. Usually, sitcom characters don’t evolve until they KNOW they’re on the last season and it’s time to ram home a hopefully satisfying conclusion.
The Bear is falling into this trap, and to save it from a typical sitcom fate, maybe it’s time to think about how and when it ends. For everyone involved, I’m sure this means walking away from money, which is very hard to do. Would I be able to do it? I don’t know! No one has ever offered me millions of dollars to do something I love. Quick, someone offer me millions of dollars to do something I love, and let’s see what happens!
What I DO know is that The Bear was excellent in season one, it managed to find something interesting to plumb in season two, and season three felt like a downgrade simply because there was no forward momentum. Only Murders hasn’t quite fallen into that trap, but we have to ask how many people can die before this becomes totally ludicrous. It’s not the most grounded show, there is some freedom of plot simply because the show has always been slightly preposterous, but at what point do people start moving out of The Arconia, believing it to be cursed? Maybe that’s a plotline for season five—everyone moves out of The Arconia and there are no more murders to solve, and whatever eldritch god is being satisfied by the deaths occurring within the building rises from the deep and must be stopped by the remaining Arconia residents! How many people must die before the eldritch horror living inside The Arconia is satisfied?
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Only Murders tremendously (way more than I enjoy The Bear, the most stressful show on TV). But part of loving it is asking how long we’re going to string this along, because eventually, it WILL hit the wall. The Bear already has, and for the sake of that show’s quality control, I hope they don’t turn it into a ten-season slog through Carmy’s self-destruction. I would actually like to see how they end Only Murders, even if it means letting go of a show I love.
