The way that Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building can adapt and grow should not go unnoticed–you can never accuse this series of resting on its laurels. As the fictional podcast grows in popularity across the airwaves, the John Hoffman-Steve Martin created comedy nimbly looks forward to the next phase in the show’s development while winking at itself, the industry, and New York City as a whole. This isn’t Serial season two. What season four of Only Murders accomplishes is an indelible achievement. With its biggest murder case at the center, our beloved trio–Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez–must look inward as the suspect lists grows and grows. To put it quite simply, this season just might be the zaniest, loosest and most heartfelt yet.
Everyone has a relationship to the movies. Whether you went every week with your dad as part of a ritual (yes, I am talking about myself…how Oliver Putnam of me) or you only went on special occasions, we all looked at that massive screen and had relationships with characters at one point in our lives. Only Murders embraces this from the very first episode with Once Upon a Time in the West, and Charles, Mabel, and Oliver realize that the beloved Sazz is the latest victim in their, normally, relishing line of work.
Of course, we are ahead of our favorite podcast hosts in terms of who is dead as the first episode unfolds. The premiere plays tricks on us which makes it more exciting (you’ll understand what I mean when you watch), and Jane Lynch is very present throughout this season as a figment of Charles’ dreams and imagination. You do not waste Jane Lynch, and this season really lets her shine. Before they even realize who is dead, Hollywood has come calling with an adaptation of their podcast and promises of fat checks from signing away their life rights. There are full board rooms with innumerable executive introductions, and Molly Shannon’s Bev Mellon is that perfect mixture of overly pleasant with an uncertain edge to her.
As we are whisked off to Los Angeles in the premiere, the rest of the season settles and reveals the season’s greatest strength. It is both the most ambitious season yet for how we are constantly aware of how huge this podcast is, but this is the most personal murder case the trio is faced with. The Arconia has always served as a fiendishly stylish home base, but Hoffman has expanded this world by adding shifty characters who may have been under our noses this entire time. New cast members, devilishly played by Daphne Rubin-Vega, Kumail Nanjiani, and Richard Kind, feel entirely welcome in this world. When you have Kind donning an eyepatch, you don’t get more traditionally character-driven than that. You just don’t.
Ridiculing Hollywood comes with the territory of bringing intellectuals from the east to the west coast, and Only Murders doesn’t disappoint. Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria are game to poke fun at themselves, but Longoria has the most fun lampooning herself and celebrity culture. Her “character” has a line from episode five about Desperate Housewives that will make you howl. Catherine Cohen (one of the best guest spots in this season of Girls5Eva) and Siena Werber play Hollywood artists that have to be seen to be believed–their dual performances can only be described as high art.
With this talented group at its center, it’s inevitable that Only Murders continues to soar to new heights. What is unexpected, however, is how it carries its emotional core and unpredictable heart along with it. On its surface, this Hulu comedy is so performance driven that it manages to keep outdoing itself over and over again, but it’s truly a work of storytelling genius by Hoffman and everyone involved. It’s like the best version of Clue that you never tire of playing with, and you keep asking it to play another round and another. With such an eager, openhearted turn from Martin, the comedy explores the notion that we must pay back our friends for years and years of friendship. Bonds and love don’t work that way, honestly, but his Charles feels that he failed his friend in some way, and Martin gives us such a touching ode to the power of unspoken sibling unity.
The film adaptation of our favorite podcast will undoubtedly be a bankable success, but, like most true stories, the original is even more entertaining and unbelievable than you could possibly imagine. It doesn’t get better than this.
Only Murders in the Building debuts its fourth season on August 27. It drops episodes every Tuesday.
