Only Murders In The Building Episode 6 Delivers A Clever New Perspective For Fans

Dare I say, episode six is the most creative, beautifully shot, clever episode of Only Murders in the Building to date. The entire episode leans into the Hollywood motif that’s loomed over the entire season. From the second the episode started, the usual tone and shooting style of the mystery show was thrown out the window, or in this story’s case: the incinerator. After episode five’s dramatic, heart-stopping ending, this episode opens with an unsettling message from the Brothers sisters. The sisters reveal to the camera that they’ve been filming a documentary to coincide with the film production, and they preface the episode by letting the audience know that they will be viewing this inside look in today’s episode. They reveal that audiences will see a true account of the film production and the murder investigation from the perspective of several found footage tapes, hidden cameras, and surveillance footage.

Following the introduction by the sisters, the story picks up mere seconds after the fateful gunshots that blasted at the end of the previous episode. The footage was shot from Howard’s video camera on behalf of the sisters. The bullets struck Paul Rudd’s Glenn Stubbins and Zack Galifianakis. Both men survived and luckily Oliver (Martin Short) was spared any bullets. However, given that both victims were dressed identically to Oliver, just like Sazz was for Charles (Steve Martin), it seems evident that this killer is after the podcast team. Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver, Charles, and Howard run to a cab to escape the killer with Howard recording it all. As they wait for the cab to get them home, the tone of the vehicle is chaos and confusion. They are convinced the Brothers sisters fired the gun. The only question is, why?

Back at the Arconia, the gang begins to theorize all the possibilities, with Howard pledging to record every second of their lives just in case the killer succeeds in killing one of them. Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s Detective Williams struts into the apartment, and once again delivers perfect comedic relief and much needed exposition. She orders Howard to cut the cameras, which he does. The show then cleverly cuts to grainy hidden camera feeds that the characters are oblivious to, given that the Brothers sisters hid them throughout all their apartments. Williams reveals that all the “proof” Charles has to incriminate the Brothers sisters is purely circumstantial and she needs much more to create a warrant. Most importantly, she gifts Sazz’s remains to Charles and reveals that Dudenoff is back in the country cashing checks at a bodega in New York.

We cut back to Howards video camera as Charles unpacks Sazz’s remains. The team travels to an emergency production meeting by Molly Shannon’s Bev Melon. She reveals Glenn and Zack are fine and the film won’t be in jeopardy. From security camera footage, we see Mabel learn from the screenwriter that the Brothers sisters have always made disturbing films, even as college film students. Oliver, Mabel, and Charles watch their student films for clues, where they shockingly find Stink Eye Joe, also known as Vince as a starring character in the most disturbing one.

While a convenient plot point, this connection furthers the mystery along. The team questions Vince who finally gives more information about Dudenoff. Richard Kind and Kumail Nanjiani guest star in this episode as the wacky west wing tenants, and they deliver excellent information for the case. It turns out that Dudenoff was a film professor and the Brothers sisters were his students. Apparently the sisters idolized Dudenoff to a seemingly creepy level.

The show cuts back to another hidden camera recording Mabel and Charles in Oliver’s apartment. Howard’s dog knocks Sazz’s remains over. As Mabel and the boys rush to clean it up, they realize amongst the remains are two left shoulder replacement joints. It’d be physically impossible to have two left shoulders, which the gang quickly realizes. Sazz wasn’t the only murder victim in the incinerator. Is this perhaps a double homicide?

While the team waits for Williams to run the serial number on the extra joint, Charles proposes that they confront the Brothers sisters. The climactic scene of the episode cuts seamlessly between the sister’s super eight film cameras, Howard’s digital camera, and hilariously through Oliver’s faulty VHS. The sisters reveal that Dudenoff was their only supporter and he inspired them to make daring films. Right then, Williams texts Mabel that the joint belonged to Dudenoff. With this new information, the team knows that Dudenoff was also murdered. In a fit of despair, the sisters admit that they only signed on to direct the podcast film to get close to Dudenoff again since he lived in the same building, but they could never get in contact with him. Charles then discovers a case of small cameras, thus leading to the sisters admitting they’ve been filming them all this time.

Determined to honor Dudenoff’s memory, the sisters vow to keep filming the mystery as a way to investigate his murder. The sisters follow the team to their respective apartments to remove all of their hidden cameras — but Charles finds a hidden camera that they claim is not theirs. Oliver, Mabel, and Charles simultaneously receive terrifying messages from Sazz’s number that they’re being watched with video footage of each of them. The murderer has been watching the podcasters this entire time. The final moments of the episode deliver a chilling tone as Mabel and the men rush out of the Arconia and take refuge in a getaway car. The Brothers sisters narrate the scene revealing that their behind the scenes documentary has become a found footage film that will help them solve Dudenoff’s murder.

This episode of season four dared to break boundaries set from prior episodes. The actors regularly broke the fourth wall to speak to the camera and the integration of several video formats made the episode seem invasive and more intimate. Audience members felt like they were closer than ever to the characters and the daring camera work made this episode absolutely enthralling. Whether audiences saw the scene play out from Howard’s camera, a Snapchat video, grainy security footage, super eights, or even drone footage, the episode progressed seamlessly to reach its final scene. Gomez and Short particularly shined in this format. Mabel regularly interacted with the camera and Oliver’s comedic timing and obsession with theatrics worked beautifully with the constant video surveillance following him. This episode raised the bar for the series which always tries to tell their stories in creative ways.

With two murder victims and our trio on the run, the show has descended into chaos. The stakes have never been higher for the podcast team, as it’s become clear that someone wants them all dead. Let’s all hope that they can solve this case and make it out alive.

Only Murders in the Building is streaming on Hulu with new episodes every Tuesday.