Only Murders In The Building Season 4 Highlights The Show's Biggest Problem
Contains spoilers for "Only Murders in the Building" Season 4, Episode 3 — "Two for the Road"
On "Two for the Road," our triumvirate of talented detectives split up into three pairings to investigate the occupants of Arconia's west tower. Situated across from Charles-Haden Savage's (Steve Martin) section of the building, they believe that the assassin of Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) likely lives or operates in those quarters. But they have no idea who pulled the trigger and why. During that investigation, the show dares to point out its own frailties — and make note its premise's limitations.
To wit, Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) and actor Eva Longoria (playing a version of herself) hunt down Rudy Thurber (Kumail Nanjiani), an influencer who has gone viral for his all-encompassing love of all things Christmas. Mabel and Eva quickly learn that Rudy is caught in a miserable prison — he doesn't even like Christmas, but has been trapped in a holding pattern by his fans, whose obsession with his one viral video forces him to put out reel after reel related to the holiday season. In spite of the cash he's making, all of that nonstop festive frivolity is dragging him down. Through Rudy, the show's making a pertinent and bold point about what it's like to be forced to deliver the same premise over and over again.
To wit: We all know it's absolutely ludicrous for multiple people to be killed in the same location in a reality-leaning story like "Only Murders in the Building," yet we accept that the Arconia has been bad luck for four individuals and counting thus far. Because of these constraints — and Mabel, Charles, and Oliver Putnam's (Martin Short) promise to keep the podcast centered on only murders they encounter within their building — the show is grounded in a single place. It's one of the show's details that make no sense, but fans are willing to suspend their disbelief about these conceits — and the series resists, as much as it can, the limits placed upon it.
The show knows it's stretching its premise
To be fair to "Only Murders in the Building," they've definitely done a lot of different things with the murder-mystery genre. Whether it's staging an entire, silent episode through the eyes of deaf character Theo Dimas (James Caverly) or setting most of an outing in flashback mode, it's never been afraid to get bold with things. Last season, viewers were even treated to a full-scale musical.
Season 4 has unquestionably been the most meta outing for the dramedy so far; not only is it about the rigors of living life in Hollywood, it features commentary on stunt performers, and the things actors go through to claim authenticity over any subject. If Season 2 was all about true crime podcasting, with its sometimes very inhumane treatment of actual victims as just dollar signs to people telling their stories, then Season 3 is about the ridiculous fronts people have to put up to get anywhere in Hollywood. In spite of its constrained circumstances, the untold truth about "Only Murders in the Building" is that it definitely hasn't lost its claws.