Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building increases the star power, maintains the silliness and keeps its central trio at the heart of it.
Creators: John Hoffman & Steve Martin
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Number of Episodes: 10
Release Date: August 27, 2024, followed by weekly episodes, with the finale on October 29
Where to watch: Hulu / Disney+
There are film adaptations of games, books, toys and even emojis. So why wouldn’t a successful podcast, even a fictional one, not be subject to interest from tinsel town? Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building sees the gang’s latest investigation infiltrated by a Hollywood production team, making the already shambolic process even more convoluted. It makes for a fun and fresh fourth kick at the can, even if it does take a little while to get going.
Picking up, as is tradition, almost immediately where we left off in season 3, Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) are befuddled by an email from a Hollywood producer who wants to turn their podcast into a film. They head off to the City of Angels for a meeting, but cut the trip short as Charles is worried about the disappearance of his friend Sazz (Jane Lynch). They head back to New York to investigate, and it leads them to the mysterious West side of the Arcadia.
While season 3 had our trio navigating their own individual story arcs in a way that felt a little too spread thin, season 4 very much gets the gang back together. There’s a palpable shift back to them working as a team, using their friendship to explore individual narratives together rather than splintering off. Short, Gomez and Martin are still incredibly charming, their witty repertoire as fresh and fun as ever, but with a familiarity that feels well-earned but not stale. They feel so comfortable in these roles, as excited as ever for the hijinks and the humour, and that translates to the audience’s viewing experience. (And, as a viewing experience, hearing Martin Short say “fintsa” is perhaps one of the season’s unexpectedly most delightful moments.)
The show is incredibly conscious not to make their peculiarities ever feel like a schtick, consistently reigning in their zanier impulses and keeping it on the right side of too much. Short and Martin have such established comedy styles, individually and as a pair, with Gomez fitting in as seamlessly as she always has as the acerbic (if equally as awkward) counterpoint to their bumbling chaos. The series consistently strikes a nice balance, and it feels like it does so because it knows that the dynamic has always been the heart of Only Murders in the Building.
Season 4 also sees the trio’s fictional podcast series reach new heights, with a large chunk of the narrative meat coming from an upcoming Hollywood adaptation. From celeb cameos to pointed self-aware jokes, the glitz and glamour of the big time does little to stop the shambolic investigation of Sazz’s untimely demise from tumbling on in a series of ridiculous but incredibly fun beats. It’s self-aware but not too meta, with every new A-lister – from Eva Longoria to Alfred Molina, Zack Galifianakis to Kumail Nanjiani – relishing in their chance to play in the series’ sandbox.
But, as the series has consistently done, it falls back on the group of supporting characters that have been with – and shone in – the show since the beginning. Michael Cyril Creighton’s Howard and freshly crowned Oscar Winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Detective Williams are the pick of the bunch, but it is an utter delight to have that little-known actor Meryl Streep back as Loretta, even if only for a handful of episodes. Only Murders doesn’t waste its star power, nor does it rely too heavily on bolstering what is already an established dynamic with famous faces and risk suffering from a case of ‘too many cooks’. Instead, it ensures that every single person on screen sparks and has fun, be they an old favourite or a new addition, and doesn’t overstay their welcome. And the series benefits immensely from it.
While season 4 starts a little slower, feeling a little ponderous and teetering on the bridge of being a little too convoluted, it reigns it back in and keeps the jokes coming to avoid any narrative pitfalls. It’s still absurd, but Only Murders in the Building has always been so, keeping its tongue in its cheek and never losing sight of the fact that it has always been in on the joke. It won’t convert the naysayers, nor will anyone who struggled with the series’ tone, humour or ridiculousness find anything new to latch on to, but fans will definitely find its consistency comforting. (Much like millions of people find the gruesome world of true crime part of a self-care ritual.)
The Season 4 Premiere of Only Murders In The Building will be released on Hulu (US) and on Disney+ (UK & Ireland) on August 27, 2024. The rest of the episodes will be released weekly, for a total of 10 episodes with the finale on October 29. Watch Only Murders in The Building!
