OMITB - Season 4: still a fun mix of comedy and mystery

Nov 4, 2024

3 min read

When Only Murders in the Building first premiered it was one of the more delightful surprises in recent memory. I hadn’t expected much from it, but found it was a funny, engaging, slightly quirky show with a trio of great performances and an intriguing mystery. It was a hit, both with audiences and, it seems, within Hollywood. Now in its 4th season, while still a good show, the quality is starting to deteriorate with the objective now seemingly being to find a way to jam each season with as many guest stars as possible, story be damned.

Season 4 has Charles (Steve Martin) Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) about to have a movie made about their podcast. Not only do they have to contend with repeated requests on their time from actors, writers and producers, but also must investigate the murder of Charles’ friend and stunt double Sazz. But was Sazz the intended target, or did someone mistake her for Charles, and are our trio of detectives in more trouble than they realize.

As always, the strength of this season is the chemistry between the leads. Both Martin and Short have an easy comedic rhythm that allows them to effortlessly play off each other. Gomez, as it turns out, is the glue holding it together, grounding it all and allowing the other two to go broad in their comedic choices. Her level-headedness and wry remarks complements their eccentricities, and the show is at its best when all three are on screen together.

This season also adds some additional nuance to each of their characters. Charles must deal with grief and the loss of his friend, resulting in some of the more poignant moments of the season. Oliver deals with uncertainty over his blossoming (or possibly fading, he’s never really sure) relationship. And Mabel is finally ready to take charge of her life and start making decisions about her future. These are generally smaller moments, but it provides some additional character depth and gives all three actors moments to shine on their own.

Where season 4 falters is with the story, and more with its seemingly endless list of guest stars. While prior seasons all had a few guest stars, this season really feels like it is becoming the prime objective of the show (even the poster plays up this angle). The central mystery isn’t bad (although the weakest of the series), but there are so many characters pushed at you, that it does take a back seat. I imagine that the writer’s room just had a series of headshots of those interested in being on the show taped around the room with the stated objective of “It doesn’t matter how, just find a way!”.

To be fair, most of the guest stars do a fine job (Eva Longoria does a great send up of herself, and who doesn’t want to see more of Richard Kind). It just becomes too much. And there are a couple instances where it just doesn’t work. Paul Rudd, although a fine actor, feels shoehorned into the season. The episode with Melissa McCarthy is just plain awful, playing the same tiring jokes repeatedly until I audibly sighed with relief when the episode ended. The effect on the story is that it becomes less about an intriguing mystery, and about the guest star(s) of the week to serve as a red herring. It was fun in season 1 with Sting, but now it’s simply too much. When the show focuses on the story, it is still quite good. It just doesn’t do it enough and seems more determined to prove how popular it is within the acting community.

Although season 4 is my least favourite of the series, it is still worth watching. As a fan, I noticed more missteps this time around, but overall, it is still an entertaining show with plenty of laughs and heartfelt moments. I hope future seasons tone down on the guest stars a bit, but if we still have Charles, Oliver and Mabel bringing their blend of comedy, heart and mystery, I will be watching.