The murder mystery TV genre has a huge flaw built into its DNA: how do its protagonists keep stumbling on dead bodies? If the main character is an actual detective either with the police, like in Columbo, or a private detective, like in Moonlighting, this can be avoided because it’s part of the job description. But with amateur detectives, a lot of narrative gymnastics need to happen. For example, in the entirety of Murder, She Wrote a total of 274 murders occur for mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher to solve, despite her town of Cabot Cove only having 3500 residents.
This issue only deepens with Hulu’s star-studded mystery series Only Murders in the Building, a show that paints itself into a corner with its title alone: it’s entirely about murders that happen in the characters’ apartment building, The Arconia. In the first two seasons, the repeated murders of Arconia residents could be chalked up to coincidence. But in Season 3, the story had to get creative with Ben Glenroy’s murder. In Season 4, the story takes even more twists and turns to justify its existence — and it pays off tenfold.
Like the previous seasons of Only Murders in the Building, the victim is established in the previous season’s finale: Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), the longtime stunt double and friend of Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin.) In exploring who could possibly want Sazz — or even Charles — dead, Charles, Mabel (Selena Gomez), and Oliver (Martin Short) are forced to traverse to the other side of the Arconia courtyard to investigate the mysterious “Westies” in the Arconia West Tower, a veritable smorgasbord of kooky characters played by a host of guest stars from Kumail Nanjiani to Richard Kind.
But there’s more happening in the world of these three investigators than their next case. After Season 1 explored amateur podcasting, Season 2 focused on the glitzy world of podcasting fame, and Season 3 took on Broadway, Season 4 is centered around the most popular entertainment of all: Hollywood. Charles, Mabel, and Oliver are flown to the West Coast and come face to face with their silver screen counterparts: Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Zach Galifianakis, each playing fictionalized versions of themselves.
But as production carries on, it looks like the movie and the case may be connected. While the murder still happens in the building, the action takes the detectives all over the place as they explore some long-held mysteries and cope with their story reaching more people than ever.
Much like previous seasons, the highlight of Only Murders in the Building Season 4 is the cold opens that focus on different suspects in the case, giving us a glimpse into their internal monologue that might otherwise go forgotten. As an added bonus, because this episode is centered around Hollywood, the writers are really in their wheelhouse. The in-universe movie’s writer and directors are both shown in detail, and little details like an idolization of Charlie Kaufman and a “challenging” short film full of Lynchian vibes feel far more real than last season’s Broadway moments.
As deftly as this season handles the show’s ballooning of ambition, there is one big doubt hanging over every episode — how much longer can this go on? There’s no dip in quality, but where does a show go after the ultra-meta movie story? If there are more murders in the building, finding a new, fresh, take may prove difficult.
But on its own, Only Murders in the Building Season 4 is the perfect escalation of the series and proves that with the right ideas and the talent both in front of and behind the camera to match, things can just keep getting better — and bigger.
