Arconia should already be haunted

Warning: This post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Season 4 finale of Only Murders in the Building.Just when it seemed Only murders in the building would end its fourth season in defiance of tradition, Hulu’s crime hit delivers another tantalizing mystery while bringing the murder of Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) to a satisfying close. The Season 4 finale has officially arrived, and with a wedding, a handful of twists, and another cliffhanger, there’s certainly a lot to get our heads around. Devoted fans need not worry: Only murders in the building Season 5 has already been confirmed and, based on the ending of “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” it could be very different from what the series has done before.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. As I watched the Season 4 finale, I experienced countless emotions throughout the 36-minute runtime: anxiety, relief, amusement, joy, and genuine fear. General, It’s a rewarding ending to the show’s most personal casealthough some of the flaws in the tried and true Just Murders the formula starts to appear when examining the episode a little closer.

Only Murders Season 4 Finale Delivers Thrills and Excitement

Sazz’s final farewell is heartfelt and there’s a wedding too!

With the episode starting exactly where Only murders in the building left off last week, with Mabel (Selena Gomez) facing off against Sazz’s killer, Jin Ha’s seemingly shy writer Marshall, things got off to a thrilling start. The sequence in which Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short) rush to save Mabel exemplifies the best parts of this showand I don’t just mean Martin and Short’s iconic comedic chemistry. Charles’ decision to step out onto Arconia’s edge is tied to Sazz and everything she used to do for him, and it’s a poignant reminder of how much her death changed Charles.

Martin deftly plays Charles’ barely contained rage at finally discovering and confronting Sazz’s killer, giving Marshall’s exposition-heavy confession a more emotional edge. This part is also animated by Lynchwhich has long been one of the Just Murders‘best guest stars and has achieved a wonderful showcase this season. The realization that Sazz wanted to be a writer and was so eager to share that with Charles hits the heart, and Lynch gives a beautiful performance, especially in the moment when Charles imagines his final goodbye with her.

From then on, the Only murders in the building The Season 4 finale gives us the closest thing to a happy ending with Oliver’s wedding to Loretta (Meryl Streep), which thankfully goes off without a hitch despite Oliver’s sudden fears that his fiancée will die. I was especially happy to see Oliver and Loretta’s children, a nice homage to the series’ history and family themes. Streep and Short’s natural chemistry only makes their on-screen marriage sweeter. It’s an especially satisfying moment in Oliver’s journey throughout the series.especially since it honors Mabel and Charles’ importance to him.

At the same time, only murders offer more of the same

Arconia should already be haunted, honestly

Of course, the show’s title alludes to the many, many murders that have occurred within Arconia, and so before the Season 4 finale comes to an end, another body is discovered by the main trio. For a moment it seemed Only murders in the building may deviate, instead, ending the season with the new mystery surrounding Nicky Caccimelio’s disappearance. The introduction of This thread, sparked by surprise guest star Tea Leoni, is ominoussuggesting a darker area that the trio have not yet entered.

It seems likely that this mystery is linked to the untimely death of the lovable doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca), although the ending reveals nothing. Although it is now tradition for Only murders in the building end a season with another corpse, I briefly hoped the show would find a way to try something new. Several characters directly reference, in a very meta way, how a new body seems to appear whenever a murder is solved, and it now seems quite unlikely that so many deaths could occur in one building in such a short period of time. Shouldn’t these residents be more concerned right now?

Without a doubt, this show has always required some suspension of disbelief, and I still find great pleasure in watching Charles, Mabel, and Oliver investigate a new mystery. At the same time, it only further raises the question of how much longer Only murders in the building you can continue. The fourth season was a success for me because of the emotional stakes that came with Sazz’s death, but it also went off on tangents that ultimately went nowhere, like the storylines involving the Westies. Additionally, it heavily suggested that Sazz’s investigation somehow went back to the first season, but that was never factored into the equation beyond the revelation that Sazz wrote the script. Some elements here feel like missed opportunities.

However, you can count on me to be sitting through Season 5, because despite the cracks that keep appearing Only murders in the building, still knows how to balance compelling character dynamics with suspense and emotion. The image of Lester’s motionless, gray body sitting in the fountain is perhaps one of the scariest things the show has ever done, and I’m so excited to see where it leads.

THE Only murders in the building The Season 4 finale is now streaming on Hulu.