Only Murders in the Building started with an unlikely trio of true crime fans finding themselves in the middle of a murder, and working together to try and help solve it. Season after season, they have been faced with murder after murder, turning their podcast into a smash hit and, by season four, a movie script. The 10-episode fourth season ended in the same way the others have: a murder was solved, a killer brought to justice, and another dead body. But there was also another interesting twist.
✕ Remove Ads What Case Is at the Center of Season 4? 4/5 Only Murders in the Building PG-13ComedyMysteryCrime
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*Availability in US Release Date August 31, 2021 Creator(s) Steve Martin , John Hoffman Cast Michael Cyril Creighton , Aaron Dominguez , Ryan Broussard , Selena Gomez , Martin Short , Vanessa Aspillaga , Steve Martin , Amy Ryan , Jeena Yi Showrunner Steve Martin , John Hoffman
Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building follows the discovery of and investigation into the death of Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), Charles' long-time stunt double and close friend. Devastated to learn of her death, the trio of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel spring to action to solve it.
Alongside this investigation, they have also signed a contract to have a movie made about their lives and podcast. A young screenwriter named Marshall P. Pope (Jin Ha) penned it and Paramount picked it up, led by the enthusiastic producer Bev Melon (Molly Shannon). Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria have been tapped to play Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, respectively.
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As the trio, along with their celebrity doubles, uncover layers of the mystery, they come across various potential suspects, each of whom is ruled out one by one. The identity of Sazz's killer is purportedly revealed in the penultimate episode when the trio learns that Sazz was mentoring a young stuntman, Marshall, just prior to her death. Something went horribly wrong on a Ron Howard movie set and he was blacklisted. When Charles and Oliver see a photo of the young man, they realize he bears a striking resemblance to Marshall.
At the same time, Mabel is at her apartment with Marshall, helping him with rewrites to the script. Just as Oliver and Charles send her a frantic text confirming that Marshall is the killer, she reaches into her fridge to get him a beer. It's from a case Sazz left at Charles' house that he gave to Mabel since he didn't want it. She finds a wad of papers inside and sees that it's an Only Murders in the Building screenplay written by Sazz. She confronts Marshall and at this moment, he looks over and sees the message on Mabel's phone warning her about him.
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1 Who Killed Sazz And Why? Close
It's confirmed in the final episode that Marshall is indeed the person behind Sazz's murder when he admits to the killing. He recalls the story of how, after being blacklisted from stunt work, he went back to writing at Sazz's encouragement. He showed her his first script about his own life. It's about a young boy forced into hunting by his father when all he really wants to do is write. Sazz gives him encouraging words and shares a secret she hasn't told anyone yet: she wrote a script herself. She wants to try and get it made into a movie to make enough money to open a trampoline park in New Jersey. She tells Marshall she would be honored if he would read it.
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He does and realizes it's good. Very good. It's better than anything he has ever written, and he's instantly bitter and jealous. He lies and tells Sazz it isn't good, but offers to help make some suggestions if she makes a copy for him. She obliges, trusting that her new friend and mentor has good intentions. Marshall, whose real name is Rex Bailey, comes up with this new name and shops the script around Hollywood as his own. It lands on Bev's desk and is not only bought but greenlit to be made. Marshall's dreams have come true. Except Sazz finds out, traces the theft back to him, and calls him over to lambast him over his actions.
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She tells him she had planned to show the script to Charles and get his approval first, and she is extremely hurt. She bids him goodbye and tells him she's headed to see Charles' play in New York and after that, she is going to tell him the truth. Marshall knows this will ruin his life, so he travels to New York and plots to kill her.
Marshall initially chickens out, hearing his father's voice in his head and repeating that he's not a killer, he's a writer. But he stops and decides that maybe to be a writer, he has to become a killer. From there, he fires the fatal shot, climbs across the building ledge and into the apartment, watches Sazz breathe her last breath, and burns her body. He then goes on, as revealed in episode nine, to also smother Glen Stubbins (Paul Rudd) with a pillow in the hospital before he has to chance to recognize who Marshall is and spill the truth.
✕ Remove Ads Mabel's Triumphant Rescue and the End of a Killer Close
At the end of episode nine, Mabel had just discovered Marshall was the killer and was stuck in her apartment with him. He pulls out a gun and threatens to kill her. Meanwhile, in the other building, Charles and Oliver receive a text from Mabel, really Marshall, noting that if they try to come through the door, he will kill her. They run to the window and see Mabel and are terrified for their friend.
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Deciding the only way in is to climb along the ledge as Marshall did, Charles takes the leap and honors Sazz in the process by doing what she had done for him for so many years and performs his own death-defying stunt. Oliver follows and the pair shimmy, rather merengue, their way to Mabel's window. As a diversion, their new friends Vince Fish (Richard Kind) and Rudy Thurber (Kumail Nanjiani) knock on the door asking for sugar. They keep talking and refuse to leave, giving Mabel just enough time to notice her friends at the window and let them in.
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Eva Longoria's 19-in-1 multitool comes to the rescue as Charles grabs it and threatens to kill Marshall with one of its many dangerous tools. Marshall sits down and recounts his story to them, but he is eventually able to use his stunt skills to get away, knock the gun out of Oliver's hand, and pull it on them again. Just as he's about to shoot, however, a shot rings through the window behind him from Charles' apartment across the way, hitting him right through the chest. He falls to the ground dead. Who delivered the shot?
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It was none other than Jan (Amy Ryan), who claims to have been hiding in Charles' apartment this entire time, traveling between there and the building's secret tunnels. She was waiting to exact her revenge, and while she would rather have done it up close, she was happy to have won. As she's escorted away by police, she pledges her love to Charles, who thanks her for "serial killing their serial killer."
What Happens After and What's to Come Close
With the killer caught and everyone safe, it's time to proceed with Oliver and Loretta's (Meryl Streep) wedding, and the event goes beautifully. While Oliver plans to move to New Zealand to be with Loretta while she films her project, she is understanding of his deep friendship with Charles and Mabel and receptive to them having a long-distance marriage until they figure things out.
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Meanwhile, the movie is in full swing with everyone, Charles in particular, viewing it in an entirely different way. The movie script was a love letter to Charles and proof that Sazz had talent far beyond being just a stuntwoman. Charles is proud of his friend and more invested in the movie than ever. Of course, Only Murders in the Building couldn't be Only Murders in the Building without, well, another murder in the building. It initially seems like the show might divert from this strategy when Charles and Mabel meet a woman in the lobby. She introduces herself as Sofia Caccimelio (Téa Leoni), a wealthy woman who wants to hire the trio to help her find her missing husband.
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They tell her they only investigate murders in their building, and the woman claims his disappearance or presumed murder has everything to do with the building and she can pay handsomely. She gives them her card, and they look at one another wondering if maybe it's time to branch out into private investigation. As they walk outside and meet Oliver, they are all in good spirits until they see red-tinted water coming from the courtyard fountain. When they look down, they find their beloved front doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca), slumped over, dead in the water. The trio are shocked and saddened, ready to call the police.
Earlier in the episode, Oliver and Charles had run into Lester and dismissed him, Oliver noting that he doesn't do anything but "let murderers in the building" and threatening that he makes sure everything goes well with his wedding prep now that Oliver has other things to take care of first (namely, saving Mabel's life). Charles, meanwhile, dismisses Lester's story about having gotten married at night in the courtyard of the building himself, with "the fountain as my witness." He claims it's good luck.
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Clearly, this wasn't the case for Lester. It remains to be answered if Lester has any connection to Sofia and if those two storylines will be intertwined in the already confirmed fifth season. For now, the Arconia has lost not only yet another person in the building but someone beloved to everyone there. Season five will finally give due to a character who has been in the background since the start.
Stream Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
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