TV Review | ‘Only Murders in the Building’ New Season Underwhelms

Show Aims but Fails to Expand upon the Quaintness That Makes It Special

Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, and Martin Short star in 'Only Murders in the Building' | Photo: Courtesy

Only Murders in the Building features talented actors Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve Martin — however, its fourth season captures less of the charm that you would expect from such a dynamic trio. In this Golden Globe–nominated season, the characters are summoned to Los Angeles to get a taste of a proposed adapted film of their podcast where they meet actors that will be playing them. Each actor is assigned a watered-down version of their characters as played by Eva Longoria (Gomez), Eugene Levy (Martin), and Zach Galifianakis (Short), which is meant to be an intertextual reference to the reception of their podcast. Taking a step back, this was probably meant to illustrate criticism of the show itself, and how these characters are interpreted by its audience.

I began watching this series when it first came out, and I was interested in its ever-winding narrative mystery plot, which kept getting convoluted as the series progressed. I loved the first season since its aim was to get the audience acquainted with the characters. We get to know the mysterious Mabel (Gomez), and how she begrudgingly becomes friends with these kooky old men that live in a glamorous New York apartment building. However, as the series became more and more expanded, the characters became bland cardboard cutouts with familiar and uninteresting remarks. The show introduced new elements like musical theater, art, and, in the new season, film, in order to keep viewers engaged. These elements cannot mask that the narrative falls short with limited investment in the main characters’ growth.

The show aims to be quirky; the sheer amount of weird scenes are abrupt and sometimes out of place. For example, when Charles (Martin) finds out his stand-in/longtime friend dies in the new season, her apparition or Charles’s imagining of her character is littered throughout the episode, even when his evil ex escapes from prison and breaks into his apartment. All the while, Oliver (Short) and Mabel go to the other apartment building across the street to find his friend’s killer, and every person they meet is a suspect. There are too many off-putting, random characters. They invite Oliver and Mabel to eat with them, and they all eat ham with a knife in the shared bathroom. Too many things are happening at once! Having a complex plot is perfectly okay, if it doesn’t take away from the heart of the show, which for Only Murders in the Building is that they are supposed to be investigating in their building, together. Not across the street, not in Los Angeles, and not separate from each other.

Only Murders in the Building jumped the shark this season. Dedicated viewers lose interest when new elements are introduced to dilute what makes the show special. The first season was stellar because its premise was simple and easy to follow. The audience comes for the long-loved familiar faces, not for a lesson on Hollywood production or a messy attempt at capturing grief, overloaded dark humor, and hammered mystique.