Over three seasons, Only Murders in the Building has been mostly consistent. It started good, wobbled a little in its sophomore season, and then hit the right combination of cozy mystery, outstanding ensemble acting, and stellar outerwear that have come to define the show.
Season four feels like an even further improvement, and while I think this is a series where everyone will have a different favorite season—and by extension, favorite version of the ensemble cast—season four is the best actual mystery since season one. Yes, the central trio of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez remains excellent, their chemistry as sharp and intergenerationally witty as ever, and the ensemble cast around them is also very good. But season four offers a really compelling mystery with the most personal stakes yet.
As we saw at the end of season three, Charles-Haden Savage’s longtime stunt double and friend, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), is murdered in Charles’s apartment at The Arconia. Who killed Sazz is tricky, without requiring the double-dipping death drop of Ben Glenroy, or the secret past whodunitery of Tim Kono, and Sazz’s mystery is leagues better than the whodunit of Bunny Folger, which was rather weakly passed off on another person with a secret past. Notably, of Only Murders’ three seasons, only season one offered a victim with a personal connection to the central trio, as Mabel (Selena Gomez) knew Tim Kono when they were younger. Sazz’s death, though, is deeply felt by Charles, who struggles to express his grief even as he tries desperately to solve Sazz’s murder—and perhaps prevent his own.
That sense of personal stakes heightens the emotions throughout season four. As the podcasters ink a deal with Hollywood—represented with boozy resentment toward the talent by Molly Shannon—to turn the mystery of Tim Kono’s death into a movie, there is always this grounding force of Charles’s friendship with Sazz to keep the murder mystery from becoming back-burnered in favor of hijinks. In fact, in later episodes, the show mines some good jokes and a solid reveal from the idea that “the actors” playing the podcasters in the movie (Zach Galifianakis, Eugene Levy, and Eva Longoria, playing versions of themselves) are more hindrance than help as the podcasters try to solve Sazz’s murder.
With a new murder comes a host of new suspects. There are the creepy Adult Twin directors of the movie, Tawny and Trina Brothers (Siena Werber and Catherine Cohen, respectively), plus several residents of The Arconia’s west tower, where the renters live. These include Christmas influencer Rudy Thurber (Kumail Nanjiani); Vince Fish (Richard Kind); and the sauce-stirring family unit of Alfonso (Desmon Borges), Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega), and their daughter, Ana (Allie Vazquez). Visiting a new area of The Arconia also means new drool-worthy, pre-war apartments to gawk at. Since the west tower is the home of renters, the apartments are a little smaller and a little homier, but still boast plenty of eye-popping interior design, and one apartment is a vintage kitchen appliance lover’s dream. The Only Murders art team never misses.
There is only one quibble I have with Only Murders’ fourth season (through seven of ten episodes), and that is Mabel is starting to stink of “sitcomitis”. Four seasons in and she STILL has no clue what to do with her life. At this point, it IS treading water just to preserve the central trio’s dynamic of bustling Oliver, uptight Charles, and aimless Mabel. But both Charles and Oliver have gotten enough character development to show why they are the way they are, while Mabel just sort of…is. She needs to grow as a character, sorry sitcoms, characters NEED to grow, or they become boring. Mabel is teetering into boring territory. It’s especially weird because a whole ass successful career has fallen into her lap, but she has to grit her teeth to tell anyone she’s a “podcast producer”, which is an actual job that does exist now. (Mabel’s attitude toward being known as a podcast producer is another hint at the show’s disdain for true crime and podcasts. It’s pretty clear the people involved behind the scenes don’t actually like true crime or podcasts.) It’s one thing if Mabel makes clear she doesn’t actually want to be a podcaster, but she doesn’t do that. She’s just kind of sh-tty about being a successful podcaster.
That is an admittedly small quibble in what is an otherwise excellent season of Only Murders. Season four is everything we’ve come to love about this show, from the central trio to the coats to the wallpaper to the mystery to the lovably daffy characters. And since the murder victim has such a personal connection to a member of the central trio, season four’s mystery is not only intriguing, but also poignant in a way none of the mysteries have been before. I’m still wondering how many people can be murdered at The Arconia before property values plummet, but as long as Only Murders in the Building keeps finding new ways to reinvent itself, I will keep watching.
Only Murders in the Building premieres today on Hulu in the US and Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar everywhere else. New episodes drop every Tuesday.
(Post updated at 1:15pm ET)
