Watching: Only Murders in the Building S4

2024, Disney

Oh yeah, I didn't put in this stub when we finished. Not that it matters; the post will still appear long after the season ended. I also didn't even write about season 3, because reasons, but Kent did. Apparently neither of us wrote about season 2 only Kent wrote about season 2, but I did write about season 1, but for some reason my fondness for it did not come through in the post, likely because I waited too long to write it... like this post. Suffice to say despite on occasion feeling lukewarm about the show, its one of the few things I anticipate returning. Go read those posts to understand what the show is about. This post is only for the season in question.

More Meta. Not to be confused with Mabel Mora. Of note, I am wondering about all our old "formats" and "tags", especially the "I Saw This!!" and "What I Have Been Watching" and how I so often mashed them up into a big giant post. I guess, for the sake of more consistent writing, I have abandoned 'long form' for these shorter more frequent posts.

That's a different meta than Kent's meta.

Also, "more frequent" ? Heh.

What 100. Unbeknownst to the mains, Charles' (Steve Martin, Grand Canyon) stand-in and best friend Sazz (Jane Lynch, Two and a Half Men) was murdered in his kitchen, but knownst to us as we saw it last season, the body hidden, evidence cleaned up. The trio are flown to Hollywood to meet with execs about a movie adapting their podcast's first season, with Eugene Levy (Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek), Zach Califragilisticexpialidocious (Zach Galifianakis, Muppets Most Wanted) and Eva Longoria (Eva Longoria, Brooklyn 99) playing Charles, Oliver (Martin Short, Inherent Vice) and Mabel (Selena Gomez, Sprin Breakers) respectively. Yeah, even Hollywood is weirded out by Mabel hanging out with two old farts. When they get back, they discover Sazz was murdered, again by someone in the building, and begin investigating, as they are wont to do.

1 Great. It's a toss up between Mabel and Sazz as to who I enjoy more on screen. Of course, everything Sazz is via flashback so we get a bit more insight into what she was all about, and of course, she is jus delightful -- supportive, open and warm with people. I like good people. Her unwavering support of Charles even when she was starting to show the signs of being an aging stunt person made me angry at Charles a bit, but the memories/talking-with-ghosts between her and Charles showed she held no grudge. Meanwhile Mabel is a bit unmoored (pun intended) threatened without a place to stay, not really sure if these murders are a proper "career" and deeply distrustful of the whole Hollywood thing. Her usual millennial dismissal of everything isn't serving her as well, but still, she navigates it well. And the number of times they would cut away, and we would see Selena smirking in the background, shows she was having a lot of fun which made me love her all the more.... moor... Mora?

1 Good. The guest star shenanigans. So many guest stars. More guest stars than mains? Mos def. I can only assume that the stereotypical outfits first seen on our "Hollywood mains" Eugene as Charles in hat & coat, Zach in a purple coat with scarf, and Eva in the iconic first episode fuzzy coat, toque and headphones meant someone did a magazine spread or photo shoot with the trio? Cuz they had an audio podcast (I hate when people call YouTube channels "podcasts") and it is unlikely anyone knew what they looked like first season, but still... fun shenanigan. And then we get the return of Paul Rudd, and Melissa McCarthy as Charles sister, in a role I didn't hate (character is another matter), Molly Shannon as the Hollywood exec, Kumail Nanjiani as a across-the-courtyard neighbour and a few other recognizable faces. 

1 Bad. Was there anything bad about the season? I am never all that jazzed about the actual murder mystery itself. Its good, its fine but it never really has intrigued me since the first season. I guess the one bad is that in order to tie this season's murder to more emotional connection they killed off Sazz? Bleah, I liked Sazz a lot. I hope Ghost Sazz continues to visit Charles next season.