Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Review: Without Distorting the Consolidated Formula That Is Well-Rooted at The Base of The Success
Cast: Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez, Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd
Created By: John Hoffman, Steve Martin
Streaming Platforms: Hulu and Disney+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4.5/5 (four and a half stars)
Only Murders in the Building Season 4, the fourth season of the crime-comedy TV series starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short, will be released on Hulu and Disney+ on Tuesday, August 27. Having partially previewed it, we can already spoil one thing for you: this season also confirms the extraordinary level of this series that mixes comedy and mystery, laughter and murder. If you want to know more, follow us in this review, which begins with the summary (without spoilers) of the plot of Only Murders in the Building Season 4. In the wake of the new crime, Only Murders in the Building Season 4 partially changes location, leading Charles, Mabel, and Oliver to California, where they are summoned by a film company that intends to make a film about their podcast. This trip will thus start a chain reaction of events, also linked to the murder case behind which Oliver, Charles, and Mabel are investigating.
The doors of the elegant Arconia reopen, ready to welcome our “three amigos” once again – to quote a comedy cult starring Steve Martin and Martin Short, but with Chevy Chase instead of Selena Gomez –, with a new and intricate crime to solve and tell in their famous podcast. A mystery, this time, immersed in Hollywood glamour, given that the new investigation will take place in the middle of the pre-production of a film inspired by the exploits of the trio of amateur detectives. After the theatrical experience of Death Rattle, the fun murder mystery musical created by Oliver, we move on to the magic of the big screen; an environment not devoid of charm, but populated by just as many potential suspects. Who knows how far a person is willing to go to leave their mark on the firmament of Hollywood stars…
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Review: The Story Plot
Only Murders in the Building Season 3 ended with the death of actor Ben Glenroy, played by Paul Rudd, who collapsed on stage during rehearsals for Oliver’s stage musical. In the third season of the TV series, it turns out that Ben’s death was actually only an apparent death due to alleged food poisoning, while the star is alive and well and ready to return to the stage. Ironically, Ben later ends up dying, but as the victim of a murder that once again took place inside the Arconia apartment building. Mabel, Oliver, and Charles begin to investigate the new mystery, discovering that this time there are two murderers: Donna and Cliff DeMeo, the same producers of Oliver’s stage show. When Donna discovers that Glenroy’s interpretation is despised by critics, to avoid her son the disappointment of a flop she decides to poison the actor to put him out of the game. This time too, miraculously, Ben escapes death. The mix of drugs and medicines he takes in an attempt to manage the stress of the stage inhibits the effect of the poison.
However, when Ben discovers what Donna has done and by chance finds himself in front of his son, he confronts Cliff threatening to go to the police. The boy loses his head and pushes Glenroy, who falls into the elevator shaft and dies in the crash. Before dying, Ben, in an attempt to hold on to Cliff to avoid falling, drags with him a handkerchief from the boy’s jacket stained by Donna’s lipstick. When all else fails, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver try to nail Donna for poisoning Ben. When Donna discovers a lipstick-stained handkerchief found next to the actor’s body, she realizes it is her son. Since Donna is terminally ill with cancer, she takes the blame for the real murder of Glenroy to save Cliff. Similarly, after Cliff learns what his mother has done, he confesses to his crime and both are eventually arrested. Later, while Oliver, Charles, Mabel, and the entire musical team are together at an after-show party, another murder occurs at the Arconia. Charles’ stunt double, Sazz Pataki, goes to the man’s apartment to get a bottle of wine and return to the party but is suddenly hit by a bullet that came through a window. While Sazz tries to leave a clue written in her blood, the third season of Only Murders in the Building ends by insinuating a doubt in the viewers: was Sazz the intended victim of the killer or, since she was at Charles’s house, was he the one in the killer’s sights?
In this new season of Only Murders in the Building, the cinematic and Hollywood theme is not simply used as a context, but also becomes form, with episodes built around purely cinephile elements (the first episode explicitly cites, even in the title, the Leone classic Once Upon a Time in the West to talk about the importance of sound in films. And it is precisely a sound clue that will put a flea in Charles’ ear) and/or narrated from the point of view of some of the professional figures who revolve around the world of cinema (screenwriters, actors, stuntmen, and, of course, directors). A choice that represents an element of novelty for the series, capable of giving different episodes from the usual, among which the sixth certainly stands out, shot in mockumentary style using the found footage device (a technique popularized by films such as The Blair Witch Project).
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Review and Analysis
With each new season, the pleasant surprise of seeing how this TV series manages to remain faithful to itself and never be the same is renewed, familiar but not repetitive, and indeed surprising in ever new ways. The Californian trip of this fourth season, with a new load of guest stars (also worth mentioning Scott Bakula, from In the Time Traveler) who joins an increasingly rich cast, which can still count on the participation of the legendary Meryl Streep. Only Murders in the Building Season 4 confirms the intelligent humor that has characterized this series since its inception, combined with the rare gift of constructing classic thrillers set in ever-new and current contexts and situations. We have been fans of this show since the beginning, but even if we want to be objective it is impossible not to appreciate such a fun and engaging series, which maintains a classic pattern that is renewed every time in the name of a story that becomes longer and bigger. The only negative thing is the certainty that sooner or later even this masterpiece series will have to have an end: but for now, let’s enjoy it all.
After the consolidated success of the first three seasons, Only Murders in the Building Season 4 also maintains the basic recipe of the TV series, but cleverly adds other ingredients that manage to offer new interesting ideas without affecting the original formula. Special attention should be paid to the new locations introduced in Only Murders in the Building Season 4. An attempt is already made in the third season of the Hulu show when the setting moves from Arconia to the theater where Oliver is performing his musical. Despite the welcome novelty, in a similar context, the places to explore had been necessarily limited to the stage and the dressing rooms of the building. At the same time, the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building, in addition to changing location also changed the city. While Oliver, Charles, and Mabel deal with what happened to Sazz, they are contacted by a well-known film company interested in producing a film based on their podcast. The trio of protagonists then heads to Los Angeles, literally leaving their usual hometown and giving the public a breath of fresh air among the most popular destinations in Hollywood.
But that’s not all. In trying to reconstruct Sazz’s last days before the crime involving the woman, Mabel, Oliver, and Charles will also have to make their way through the places recently frequented by the stuntwoman. This will also lead the three friends to venture into a part located within Arconia itself and never shown until now: the West Tower of the condominium. Although in this case, the interactions take place as always inside the base building, these are new locations that further delve into the history of Arconia. A journey through the unknown meanders of the building, through which it is possible to fully explore a construction that turns out to be larger and more populated than it usually seems. The introduction of all these new places, in Only Murders in the Building Season 4 also coincides with the entry of several new entries that make the plot even more stimulating, precisely because they are characters still unknown and all to be discovered. The fourth season of the TV series focuses on an almost completely new cast and, except for some unexpected cameos and a few well-known faces like Howard and Uma, the rest of the Arconia residents have much less importance to leave room for the latest additions.
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 is not only renewed in its settings but also its narrative style by inserting different facets. This time the three protagonists are not faced with the usual mystery, but it is an event that is part of something much bigger. The crime itself presents itself with a much more macabre and darker guise than previous murders. Which, despite their madness, still preserved a minimum of “humanity” as far as possible in similar contexts. The episodes of Only Murders in the Building Season 4 range between different genres, juggling Western content, sitcoms, detective stories, and parodies, alternating with noir-tinged stories and sentimental parentheses. In all of this, the ironic comedy that also dominates in Only Murders in the Building Season 4 continues to be constant, managing to skillfully play down the darkest and saddest moments of the story without diminishing their importance.
In the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building, the central plot related to the crime involving Sazz Pataki unfolds in other different storylines. But the main thread of the story travels hand in hand with the development of the film inspired by the podcast of the three protagonists. The production company has already thought of everything before even speaking with the interested parties, even choosing the actors who will play the three podcasters well in advance. These are Eva Longoria in the role of Mabel, Zach Galifianakis in the role of Oliver, and Eugene Levy in the part of Charles. The curious fact is that the three stars in Only Murders in the Building Season 4 play themselves and are not fictional Hollywood stars. This situation highlights the usual insecurities that Oliver, Charles, and Mabel suffer from internally, with the difference that in this case, they have the feeling of being in front of a mirror.
If before this meeting the three protagonists could feel inadequate in some areas, the comparison with real celebrities in show business does nothing but worsen the situation. According to the script of the film on the podcast, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver are portrayed as parodies of themselves although with some grain of truth in representing them. However, being confronted with their flaws without mentioning any merits, for the trio of friends, also becomes a way to acknowledge their own limits and try to improve themselves. Above all, proving first of all to themselves that the film version represents only a small part of how they really are. The main problem of Charles, Mabel, and Oliver is that they never really tell each other to their faces what they think of each other, despite their punctual bickering in which criticism is wasted. But certainly, none of the three has ever allowed themselves to exceed certain limits by entering too much into private life with targeted accusations or even worse offensive ones.
So basically, the roles played in the film by Eva, Zach, and Eugene are alter egos of Mabel, Oliver, and Charles who indicate how they are seen by others. A position that on the one hand clearly annoys the trio of podcasters and, on the other encourages them to react to shake off fears and insecurities that have been harbored for far too long. This proves to be an important turning point in the story of Only Murders in the Building Season 4 because up until now the protagonists have always continued to behave in the same way, almost resigned to the idea of not being able to change some things. For this reason, Charles, Mabel, and Oliver literally needed to face their imperfect alter egos, to see things from the perspective of others and thus be able to learn from their mistakes. Even Only Murders in the Building Season 4, like the three previous seasons of the TV series, between hilarious sketches on one hand and bloody crimes on the other, always inserts particular underlying messages into the story.
One of the most banal concepts often labeled as rhetorical, is the awareness of how much you really care about someone or something only when you have lost it. A very common situation in general and experienced in three different ways by the protagonists of Only Murders in the Building themselves, especially in this fourth season. Oliver, since he previously declared his love to Loretta (Meryl Streep) and the two began a long-distance relationship, constantly lives in fear of losing her, and for this reason, he is afraid of taking their relationship to the next level. Mabel, while being forced to relate to Eva Longoria for the film on the podcast, faces a strong discomfort comparing herself to the actress because unlike her she has not yet found a new home, a stable job, and a fixed purpose. Mabel feels like a failure because she believes she has already lost everything before even conquering it. And this thought naturally depresses her, making her lose hope in some ways and relegating her to an infinite loop. Finally, there is Charles, who has not yet truly managed to metabolize what happened to his friend Sazz, especially because people like Pataki are often seen by others as immortal.
As a stuntwoman, Sazz has always been used to taking hits, taking tumbles, and dying on set in Charles’ place on TV shows, because she was simply doing her job. Unfortunately, this time it was not a fake and Sazz took a real bullet that was perhaps meant for Charles. Something that the latter cannot forgive himself for, especially since once again his stuntwoman covered his back even though she was not in an episode of their TV series Brazzos. Beyond the unexpected crime, since Sazz certainly could not have foreseen what happened to her, the underlying message is to never take anything for granted. Sazz took calculated risks in the world of entertainment but given the great friendship she had developed over the years with Charles, she certainly would have taken them on the living if it had been necessary to protect him. But only when Sazz is hit by a real bullet does Charles realize that he feels the same as the woman who, in hindsight, he realizes is his best friend. Charles certainly cannot change the past, but he can treasure what his stunt double has taught him over time, both inside and outside the television studios. As they used to say to each other when they took turns on the set with “Tap in“, while Sazz is on the bench it is time for Charles to take the field and demonstrate that he can take the hits even for others, when necessary.
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Review: The Last Words
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 introduces new locations, new characters, and different narrative styles that enrich the plot interestingly and innovatively, without distorting the consolidated formula that is well-rooted at the base of the success of the TV series. A tone that is at times darker compensated for by the usual gags, along with cameos, quotes, and tributes to other works, also makes Only Murders in the Building Season 4 a high-level season. Only Murders in the Building is back, the close-knit trio of amateur detectives is back to investigate a new case within the walls of Arconia. This time the ironic investigation of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel is tinged with Hollywood glamour, with a crew intent on making a film about their exploits. An opportunity to play, in this fourth season, with cinephile elements and give a freshen up to the now well-oiled formula. Another excellent year for the series created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, enriched by many hilarious new supporting actors and, as always, supported by brilliant writing and a solid and close-knit cast.
