‘Only Murders in the Building’: Everything to Remember Ahead of the Season 4 Finale

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 up until the unaired finale.

After nine episodes investigating the murder of Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), the “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 finale is on the horizon. Between their personal connection to the victim, adventures across the Arconia courtyard, and the simultaneous movie adaptation of their podcast, this season saw the “OMITB” trio of Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) pulled in various directions while trying to dig up the truth.

Episode 9, “Escape from Planet Klongo,” took another narrative turn, moving Marshall P. Pope (Jin Ha) into the position of prime suspect. But as it always is with “Only Murders,” expect at least one more killer twist up the sleeve of these storytellers in the Season 4 finale.

But before that episode premieres, here’s a quick refresher on some key elements of the season and how they could resurface when the truth of Sazz’s murder comes to light.

The Victim

Sazz has been around since “Only Murders” Season 1, introduced as Charles’s old stunt double from his days as a procedural TV cop on “Brazzos.” They’ve shared screen time, girlfriends, and a prickly but ultimately sweet friendship (not unlike Charles and Oliver). Sazz’s father was a stuntman and trained her since childhood, inspiring a lifelong love of chasing adrenaline and her desire to eventually open a stuntperson training facility and trampoline park. Sazz claimed to have critical information about the movie before she died, and something huge to tell Charles. Could both these things be related to the screenplay Mabel found in Episode 9, which credits Sazz for writing the “Only Murders” podcast movie?

The Westies

Season 4 introduced Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega), Alfonso (Desmin Borges), Ana (Lilian Rebelo), and Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani), the eccentric residents of the Arconia’s West tower who turn out to be collectively involved in a rent control scheme masterminded by a Milton Dudenoff (Griffin Dunne). Though now mostly absolved of any nefarious activity related to Sazz’s or Dudenoff’s death, the Westies were likely present when the assassin snuck into Dudenoff’s old studio to take a lethal shot at Sazz from across the courtyard…

But for now, they continue their rent control rituals as well as their consumption of bathroom ham and usage of HAM radios. They also play a card game called “Oh Hell” which has never been explained and could be a clue (or just fun to learn).

The Movie

Many people involved in the “Only Murders” podcast-to-movie adaptation have behaved suspiciously thus far, including studio head Bev Melon (Molly Shannon), directors Trina and Tawny Brothers (Catherine Cohen and Siena Werber), stand in Glen Stubbins (Paul Rudd), and now writer Marshall (Jin Ha).

But you know who’s escaped suspicion this entire time? The talent: Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy, and Zach Galifianakis. The trio of actors have become enmeshed in the lives of their “Only Murders” counterparts in an attempt to research their roles and now possibly solve a murder; wouldn’t they feel threatened if there was a problem with the movie, as one of Sazz’s final communications said? What lengths would they go to for these plum parts, or were did they go past studying murder podcasters and go full method on murder itself?

The Stuntmen

As suspicious as they are of outsiders, the stuntmen in Season 4 have raised quite a bit of suspicion themselves. The last two episodes have ended with a stuntman as the prime suspect, and though they appear to be fiercely protective of Sazz, they’ve been keeping secrets. The main bartender from the stuntman bar the trio visited earlier in the season shows up to pay his respects to Glen in the hospital — is it possible he came back before Glen was declared dead, even thought we’re meant to think it was Marshall?

The Rats

From the moment we met him up until his final moments in the hospital, Glen Stubbins has been going on about rats. He sees them everywhere and tries to stamp them out, but why is he haunted by such visions in the first place? Is it based on an irrational fear or actual occurrence — or even a stunt gone wrong? This isn’t “House of the Dragon,” but things did not go well on that show for the character muttering about unseen rodents…

“Only Murders in the Building” Season 4 concludes on October 29.