midway Season 4 of Only murders in the buildingNYPD Detective Williams (DaVine Joy Randolph) once again complains about how true crime TV hosts Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are getting bogged down in their murder investigations. Williams not only objects to the three civilians who constantly put themselves in danger and interfere with the real police, but also to the shoddy quality of their investigations, which this time have produced so many suspects that they need multiple murder panels to fit them all.
“this He is “There are a lot of suspects,” Mabel soon admits.
What Mabel and Detective Williams pick up is as much a problem for the show as it is for these characters: There are too many suspects because there are simply too many notable guest stars and recurring players on this season of the Hulu comedy. (Randolph herself returns to the show with some serious hardware as an Oscar-winning supporting actress for her role in “Iron Man.”) The rest.)
In addition to the main trio and their neighbor/unpaid assistant Howard (Michael Cyril Cretton), the new season brings back Meryl Streep as Oliver's actress girlfriend Loretta, Jane Lynch as Charles' former surrogate—and this season's main murder victim—Saz, and a few more actors I can't name. Additionally, the new season brings back Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria as themselves, who have been cast to play our heroes in a movie inspired by the first film. Only murders The second season of the film. The film also includes continued or one-off appearances by Melissa McCarthy (as a woman from Charles' past), Kumail Nanjiani (a lesser-known neighbor from the western tower of Arconia), Richard Kind (ditto), Molly Shannon (an executive overseeing the film), Griffin Dunn (a rarely seen but often discussed Arconia resident), and Scott Bakula (also playing himself). Shortly after Mabel admits that this story is getting too crowded, Oliver is bumped by an appearance by John McEnroe, with the reckless tennis legend appearing just long enough to deliver a variation on his catchphrase “You can't be serious!”.
To some, this may seem like the ultimate problem. Who wouldn’t want so many talented actors to appear on the same show at one time or another? Especially when the show has already made room in past seasons for the likes of Paul Rudd, Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Amy Ryan, Sting, Amy Schumer, Jesse Williams, Michael Rapaport, and more?
The Three Musketeers from “Murder in the Building”: from left, Martin, Gomez, and Short.
Eric McCandless/Disney
To be fair, this talent pool does occasionally yield strong results. There's a fun comedic scene in one early episode, for example, involving old pros Martin and Levi.
“And there’s some good stuff going on between Short and Galifianakis, including Oliver explaining to his future costar, “The key to an Oliver Putnam story is that you want it to be authentic. It has to be set between 1960 and 1980. It has to involve a famous character who is shocked to discover they’re still alive. The best ones are set in a nightclub that’s now an Applebee’s. Or involve a drug that no longer exists.” And episode seven, the final episode that critics have picked up before the season, puts our heroes and most of the very special guest stars in the same house on Long Island for some fun, including a lengthy spat between Meryl Streep and Melissa McCarthy. Even given the fact (acknowledged in the script) that Galifianakis and Longoria are not an ideal couple for Oliver and Mabel, Levi makes sense as a replacement for Charles. However, it is disappointing that Levi interacts so little with his ex-wife. SCTV Channel Co-star Martin Short. (On the other hand, fellow
Andrea Martin, an alumnus of the show, also had a major role in scenes with Steve Martin when she appeared in previous seasons. But if Rick Moranis or Catherine O'Hara showed up in a hypothetical fifth season and didn't work much with Short, then at that point it would seem intentional. Related to However, more often than not, season four is so crowded, and so focused on dynamics other than the ever-present one between the three main characters, that it's not as satisfying as season one.
Only murders It's possible. It's what happens when a show has been around long enough, and is successful enough, that it doesn't want to give up on anyone who's been around before – even dead characters like Sazz keep coming back in flashbacks and dream sequences – despite continuing to add more and more and more. The season premiere takes place in Los Angeles, where Charles, Oliver, and Mabel have traveled to study the idea of the film. For a few moments, it seems as if
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In fact, the “Hero” team wants to reinvent itself a bit, by moving our heroes away from their home base and focusing on a vastly different group of players. Oliver even ditches his usual sauce-only diet and insists on hitting up In & Out Burger while they're on the West Coast! But in the next episode, they return to Arconia to investigate Saz's murder – and find out if she was the target, or if she was just a carbon copy of Charles. This simply causes her to die. Soon all of the characters of Los Angeles are gathered around the building as well, and Martin, Gomez and Short are forced to do their best to focus on their own show.
At the same time, it is difficult to blame
Only murders Podcast producers rely heavily on any celebrity they can get hold of. Individually, it’s incredibly difficult to keep comedy and mystery fresh by the time you get to season four. When the show tries to do both at once, slippage seems inevitable. As always, there are metaphysical jokes that acknowledge how cliched things have become over the years. “If this is the part where you tell us not to investigate, you’re wasting your time,” Mabel tells Detective Williams, who replies, “After three seasons, I got that.” Charles admits that the podcast has been a huge success because “we’ve been so lucky to have people die in our building.” Most popular
But really, it was a miracle that the first season balanced comedy and thriller as well as it did. Season 2 kept the laughs but struggled with its story, while the series went in the opposite direction last year, with modest humor but some strong character work. It’s fun to think about how many stars were willing to show up this season, thanks to the reputation the show and its two leads have built over the past few years. But like Detective Williams, I’d prefer a more streamlined story next time around — even if there’s no more room for Detective Williams herself. The fourth season of Murders in the Building is now streaming on Hulu, with additional episodes being released weekly. I’ve watched the first seven of the ten episodes.
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