“On paper, ‘Only Murders in the Building’ is everything that’s wrong with contemporary TV comedy,” said Rachel Aroesti in The Guardian. Forgoing “outright hilarity” for an “excessively starry” cast, “high-concept plotting”, and “emotional sincerity”, the show is a product of the streaming era.
“And yet – plot twist! – ‘Only Murders in the Building’ is screamingly funny. In fact, it’s the funniest thing on TV at the moment”.
The show follows a trio of true crime podcasters and neighbours – Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) – who solve mysteries in their swanky New York apartment complex. Season four delves into the murder of Charles’ stunt double, Sazz, who was shot through the window of his apartment at the end of season three.
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But before the group has a chance to get drawn into their latest investigation, “Hollywood calls”. Paramount execs are “fast-tracking” a movie about the hit podcast, with real-life celebrities playing the trio: Eugene Levy is set to play Charles, Zach Galifianakis is Oliver and Eva Longoria has been cast as Selena Gomez’s Mabel.
Stars playing themselves can be “hit and miss”, said Ed Power in The Telegraph, but the new cast members are “a hoot” and the original trio “effortlessly reprise the screwball energy” of the preceding seasons. There “isn’t nearly enough” of Meryl Streep, though, who returns to the show as Oliver’s blossoming love interest.
Still, the “charm” of “Only Murders in the Building” goes way beyond its dazzling cast and “steady stream of one-liners”. At the heart of the show is a “compelling whodunnit” filled with twists that lay the groundwork for a “killer season”.
It’s “ingeniously” plotted, agreed Ben Dowell in The Times, and the “chemistry” between the trio is still “high wattage”. But when they return to New York to hunt for Sazz’s killer, the formula starts to feel “all too familiar”, and the show is “too in love with film culture to skewer that world properly”.
“I hate to say it”, added Maddy Mussen in the London Evening Standard, but Selena Gomez’s performance as Mabel felt particularly “wooden” in this series, and there was little character development for the leading trio.
Season four “isn’t perfect”, said Rachel Aroesti in The Guardian, but it’s certainly close: “the show remains an extremely rare example of a comedy-drama that does both equally, and incredibly, well”.
“Only Murders in the Building”, season four is streaming on Disney+
