Shifting away from mysteries built around the world of legit theatre and towards the even more outlandish milieu of moviemaking, the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building plays to the beloved series strengths, while offering up a fresh layer of self-awareness. There’s a distinct sense that after so many brushes with death that the unlikely true crime podcaster trio from The Arconia in New York City, the only place series creators Steve Martin and John Hoffman have left to look is inward. This means exposing the actual mechanics that propel the series, but also gives Only Murders in the Building a chance to grow beyond its core gimmick. And thankfully, it’s just as twisty, hilarious, and entertaining as it’s ever been.
The new season of Only Murders in the Building gets started with Hollywood calling, as a major movie studio – led by Molly Shannon’s ditzy, relentless, and high strung executive – already in pre-production on an adaptation of the podcast created by former television actor Charles-Haden Savage (Martin), washed-up stage producer Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and jill-of-all-trades Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez). The trio wrestle with the ethics and potentially life changing windfall of selling off their life rights, while also being forced to carve out time to cater to the whims, neuroses, and antagonism of the actors tasked with portraying them in the movie. (An overly enthusiastic Eugene Levy for Charles, a bitter, nonplussed Zach Galifianakis for Oliver, a constantly name dropping and bragging Eva Longoria for Mabel.) But amid all of this, Charles best friend and former stunt double, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) has suddenly disappeared (although, the final scene of the previous season and the title of the series should tip off viewers as to what might’ve happened). Back in New York, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel begin a new investigation that will involve pink eye, large amounts of Portuguese ham, creepy “twin” directors, overly eager to please screenwriters, people obsessed with Christmas, a bunch of other stuntmen, and the eccentric residents of the Arconia’s previously unvisited western tower.
The mystery in this season of Only Murders in the Building comes with a knowing sense of formula, but Martin, Hoffman, and their team of writers, directors, and performers know precisely how to lean into the material. Four seasons into a show predicated on our heroes always stumbling backwards into murder plots, Only Murders in the Building knows what viewers will be looking for and expecting. There’s a knowing sense that viewers will pick up on the clues along the way and assign them a certain degree of significance, but the show always finds a way to upend those expectations. It’s a show that rewards viewers for paying attention, even if the assumptions made along the way turn out to be wrong. It’s a trifle of a show, sure, but there’s also a distinctive and substantial arc to the storytelling that goes down easy and leaves viewers satisfied.
The series takes some brief hops outside New York City this time out, but most of the action still unfolds within the not-so-friendly confines of The Arconia, using the building’s previously revealed quirks and hidden details to the story’s advantage once again. The building itself has become as familiar a character as the headlining stars, and even though the show has branched out a bit into new locations, the heart of the story remains firmly rooted in New York history, architecture, and culture. No matter how much other residents grumble and bristle at Charles, Oliver, and Mabel’s exploits, there’s always a distinct sense of belonging, or in the case of Gomez’s character, feeling constantly out of place and over one’s head.
Only Murders in the Building amplifies some of its characters’ gloomier traits to exceptional effect here, offering Martin, Short, and Gomez ample opportunity to add further layers to their familiar roles, like finding new wrinkles in a well loved coat. The disappearance of his closest friend leaves Charles feeling guilty and paranoid that he might’ve been the intended target of an assassin. Oliver is so smitten with his increasingly successful girlfriend (a returning Meryl Streep) that he has become low-key jealous and worried about potential heartbreak on the horizon. Mabel is suffering from a chronic case of imposter syndrome and is growing weary about her lack of stability. Although they remain a tight knit group, the dynamic between the trio has changed to a point where they are so caught up in their own individual problems that they sometimes miss the bigger picture. It’s another way the show has kept the dynamic between the actors and their increasingly ludicrous situations fresh.
The show also amps up the degree of unexpectedness to keep viewers on their toes. Gags come out of nowhere, twists creep up on the audience, and there are plenty of of familiar faces – both old and new, and in some cases, previously appearing actors playing new characters – to goose the story along. (Series regular Michael Cyril Creighton deserves special consideration for this year’s season as the overly helpful and prickly Howard, a character that has slowly become like a fourth member of the team and one of the show’s most unsung MVPs, getting more to do than every before this time out.) The joy in watching Only Murders in the Building is akin to curling up with a good book. You sit back, pay attention, take it all in, and enjoy the journey. Four season in, and Only Murders in the Building still hasn’t lost that touch.
Season Four of Only Murders in the Building streams on Disney+ in Canada and Hulu in the U.S. beginning with its premiere episode on Tuesday, August 27, with a new episode dropping every Tuesday until October 29. Please note that this review is based only on the first seven episodes of the season, which were the only ones made available by press time.
