When news broke that season four of Only Murders in the Building was going Hollywood – in that the characters would be spending some time in LA while a film version of season one of their podcast was produced, I was worried about what that meant for the series as a whole. After all, as the title states, the main thrust of the series is to solve murders that occur in the most unlucky apartment complex in all of New York City. And what would that mean for the investigation surrounding the apparent murder of Sazz Patacki (Jane Lynch), Charles’ (Steve Martin) long-time stunt double at the close of season three? Rest assured reader, our investigative trio do, in fact, spend a great deal of time at the Arconia in season four attempting to solve yet another murder. Although this season isn’t nearly as tight as season three – and a lot of that stems from the invasion of Hollywood into the story, both in front of and behind the camera.
Now, it’s not solely the subplot of the film happening that pulls focus from our central trio in ways that hurt rather than enhance the storytelling. No, it’s the influx of so many recognizable Hollywood stars that takes the focus off our beloved characters and starts to turn the show into something more like a who’s who of popular film and television actors and less a story of how Charles, Mabel, and Oliver work together to solve a murder. Season four sees the introduction of Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria as heightened versions of themselves, cast to play Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, respectively. This version of Longoria is self-centered and occasionally vapid, this Levy is sycophantic in his desire to accurately portray Charles, and this Galifianakis hates that he’s been asked to play Oliver and is plain mean to him – so much so that I genuinely hoped that the series might kill him off because a sad Oliver isn’t fun or funny.* This works for a brief time, contrasting the Hollywood personalities with our more down-to-earth trio (even Charles gets annoyed at their presence, and you’d think he’d love that someone wanted to capture his true essence on screen), but by mid-season, I found myself rolling my eyes every time they popped back on screen.
*I would be remiss if I didn’t give some kudos to Galifianakis for a killer musical montage set to a TGIF sitcom theme song that he performs with Short that had me dying with laughter. This moment proved that the writing could expertly serve his key comedic talents – and letting him riff with Short in that sequence was gold. But the writing fails him so often throughout the episodes provided that this one moment of joy highlights the disappointment of the rest of his arc thus far.
We also get the additions of Kumail Nanjiani and Richard Kind as two (of several) potential suspects in the murder, each with a one-note character identifying trait. Both work fine within their roles as suspects – Kind, in particular, knows exactly what his character needs to be – but there’s definitely a bit of name recognition fatigue with their addition, as well as all the other names appearing this season. Molly Shannon pops up as the studio executive trying to get the film off the ground, and she’s in her manic mode (Shannon was so great on HBO’s The Other Two in a much more low-key role and I had hoped for more nuance in her work here since I know she can turn out a truly spectacular and layered performance). Meryl Streep is also back as Loretta Durkin, a sweet, if flighty, actress and love interest for Martin Short’s Oliver – a character who is less grounded this time around, with Streep being asked to dial things up to an eleven at times. And then there’s the guest appearance by Melissa McCarthy – whose exact role critics have been asked to keep quiet even though the most recent trailer for the season spoils that particular surprise – who also taps into all of her worst, over-the-top comedic instincts throughout her performance. With Shannon, Streep, and McCarthy all going for broke in their work (sometimes in the same scene together), along with the rather unlikeable trio of “Hollywood Actors” shadowing our central trio, the whole season starts to feel over baked and exhausting.*
*And that’s not even the complete list of guest stars that might make you say “Oh, I know them!” All of whom serve to increase the exhaustion of the storytelling.
That is, whenever it’s not just our trio and some of our original supporting characters on the screen. Short, Martin, and Selena Gomez continue to be the best thing about the series, so homed in on just who Oliver, Charles, and Mabel are at this stage of the game they feel truly real – especially when confronted with so much scenery chewing from their new co-stars. Martin, in particular, really gets a chance to shine when interacting with Jane Lynch’s Sazz throughout the earlier episodes of the season. He brings an honest humanity to Charles, something that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle with Charles’ tendency to appear larger than life and unaffected by anyone and anything. And every time Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Detective Randolph appears on the scene the writing pops – she knows these knuckle heads and trusts them (to a point) and that history is felt in their interactions. And I’ll admit it made me smile to think that in a show with so many heavy hitters, Randolph joins Streep as the only cast members with Academy Awards on their mantles. We’ve spent time with the returning characters (which includes Michael Cyril Creighton’s delightful Howard and recurring appearances from Jackie Hoffman’s caustically hilarious Uma) and the character development and relationships we’ve seen built over the seasons are reflected in the performances and writing. Sure, we need new blood every season in a murder mystery series, but when it overwhelms the story and starts to take over the narrative, that’s a problem.
So, is season four of Only Murders worth your time? If you’ve watched the past three and enjoyed them, four will satisfy at least some of your hunger for more time at the Arconia. Through the seven episodes provided for critics, season four doesn’t feel nearly as well-structured or focused as three was but doesn’t have the lost feeling of the mess that was season two. This isn’t the best we can get from this series and it’s clear around episode five that things are starting to go off the rails – episodes six and seven are, in my opinion, the worst of the lot for very different reasons – but the writers know that a focus on our central three characters can right a number of wrongs when necessary. In fact, the murder mystery almost feels secondary to a lot of the story beats being presented, which is troubling. I just wish there was less emphasis on flash and more on story function and our characters throughout the narrative.
Only Murders in the Building premieres on August 27 on Hulu. Seven of the season’s ten episodes were provided for review.
-
Writing
-
Direction
-
Acting
