For a profession that strives to make its own work invisible, stunt performers have been thrust into the spotlight in 2024. First came Ryan Gosling's The Fall Guy, a popcorn movie about a double; now comes Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building, in which the victim of the latest mystery is Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), the longtime incarnation of former crime star Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin). Sazz's disappearance after her shooting in the Season 3 finale sets the stage for a season just as wacky as its predecessors, but thematically more focused on the idea of doppelgängers and what they tell us about ourselves.
A new investigation is standard fare for Only Murders, the hit Hulu comedy that centers on a trio of neighbors-turned-true-crime podcasters battling both chaos and the alienation of the townspeople. Season 4 adds a hefty dose of Hollywood satire to the mix. Unbeknownst to Charles, theater director Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and aimless millennial Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), their story has inspired a screenplay that, by the wacky logic of this universe, is now a full-fledged production ready to roll the cameras. All power producer Beth Mellon (Molly Shannon) needs is our heroes' signature.
Beth's pitch requires a trip to the City of Angels in the season premiere, but anyone hoping co-creator Martin is planning a reboot of his 1991 opus “L.A. Story” may be disappointed. Fans hoping for comfort food throughout “Only Murders,” however, can rejoice: Summer is winding down, sweater weather is in the air, and we're back at Arconia, the palatial Upper West Side complex that's a world apart. (The only West Coast these Manhattanites know borders the Hudson River.) There's just a bunch of showbiz types hanging around, and there's a new corner of the building for Oliver, Charles, and Mabel to explore.
If Only Murders won't leave the Arconia, it can at least bring something new by introducing a new group of townspeople who arouse our suspicions. The Arconia has a long-forgotten annex directly across the street, and the bullet hole in Charles' window points in their direction. In keeping with the show's rising profile (Meryl Streep is now just part of the cast!) and increasing absurdity, this latest group of suspects has even bigger personalities and more famous faces than the co-op committee members we're used to. There's the eyepatch-wearing Stink Eye Joe (Richard Kind), an absent-minded film professor (Griffin Dunne) and a Christmas-obsessed fitness influencer (Kumail Nanjiani, whose figure seems designed to reflect his Marvel-style physique). And Mabel, still without a permanent residence, decides to take up residence in an empty apartment that could be a crime scene.
These so-called “Westies” are nice additions, but it's the film that gives Season 4 more focus and pathos than the series has had since Season 1. It's not just the inside jokes — including a thank you to this publication! — or the opportunity to cast Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria as themselves, who pounce on the open case to study their future characters. Charles becomes increasingly convinced that Sazz took a bullet that was meant for him in a final act of taking a beating for him. That leads not only to entertaining forays into the stunt community, but also some sincere self-reflection about what it means to have someone else capture your essence.
“Is that really me?” Charles asks in his opening voiceover, describing the experience of seeing himself (or a version of himself) on screen. “Is that how I want to be remembered?” Oliver worries that Galifianakis sees him as boring and pathetic, an extension of the insecurities surrounding his friend Loretta's new fame; Mabel is disturbed when she is dismissed as an unemployed, homeless, directionless young woman. Compared to previous seasons, this one barely focuses on the ongoing podcast, instead switching narrators with each episode. But Charles' voice sets the tone for a story that strikes the right balance between melancholy loneliness and naming a cute piglet George Swinebrenner. Everything in moderation, especially when it comes to making comedy out of corpses.
The first episode of the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building is now streaming on Hulu. New episodes air weekly on Tuesdays.
