The Super Stars Become Super Sleuths In Only Murders In The Building Episode 3

The stars are on the case in episode 3 of Only Murders in the Building. Our trio reluctantly welcomes their acting counterparts to help them investigate Sazz’s murder. This installment of season 4 feels surreal as audiences are treated to Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria studying the podcasters. They start out as dramatized versions of the trio who ultimately help the main characters see their own strengths, weaknesses, and new perspectives.

The episode opens with Da’Vine Joy Randolph making a return as Detective Williams and it’s a startling appearance. Williams is usually hell bent on making sure the team never learns about her investigations, but this time she willingly hands over everything she knows about Sazz’s case since she’s no longer involved thanks to the FBI. She tells the team that she believes Jan hired someone to carry out the murder and that there was one shell casing found in an apartment that belongs to “M. Dudenoff,” who is a retired professor supposedly in Portugal. Williams also shares that the only resident in the west wing of the Arconia that heard the shotgun blast was bizarre Christmas influencer Rudy Thurber (Kumail Nanjiani).

Richard Kind returns as Pink Eye Joe who is actually named Vince. He’s investigated by Charles and Eugene Levy. The two compile a ridiculous plan to get to the bottom of Vince’s mysterious eye patch injury and what he knows about the fateful night of Sazz’s murder. Levy and Charles hilariously don their own black eyepatches to connect with Vince on a personal level. The duo go through hijinks to find out if he really suffers from pink eye, or if he’s concealing a bruise from the recoil of the gun from the night of the murder. Ultimately, Charles learns that Vince is just also just a socially awkward man like himself, with an off-putting energy. The two men hug it out and, as they do, Levy notices a picture of the west end residents with one unknown person scratched out of the picture. Could this be the elusive Dudenoff? Levy and Martin play off one another perfectly. They consistently build off each other to deliver quick witted one-liners and get to the bottom of the mystery. The choice to make Levy the only known Brazzo’s superfan was a fantastic, hilarious choice, which makes his character even more lovable.

Mabel sets out on a solo adventure to see if the tinsel she found at Dudenoff’s apartment belongs to the Christmas fanatic. Eva Longoria annoys Mabel as she hastily takes over the investigation of Christmas-obsessed resident Rudy. Selena Gomez and Eva Longoria work perfectly together on screen. Longoria plays a brash, eager version of herself who is pushing Mabel’s limits. While Mabel struggles with her personal identity, Longoria’s iteration of Mabel serves as an anxious tick that only elevates Mabel’s negative perception of herself. Nanjiani’s guest appearance as a wacky Christmas fanatic delivers a random twist when he reveals his love for Christmas is all a facade to keep his influencer status. He does give Mabel valuable insight into the investigation when he reveals the thought-to-be tinsel found at the scene of the crime is not tinsel at all. Getting that answer only gives audiences new questions. If it wasn’t tinsel, then what was it? With a superstar like Nanjiani in such a random role, one can’t help but wonder if he’s just a fun guest starring role, or if we will eventually see more of the him. Mabel ultimately takes a page out of Longoria’s book and acts boldly instead of overthinking. She breaks into Dudenoff’s abandoned apartment and takes control of the investigation.

Perhaps the most entertaining portion of this episode was the team up of Oliver and Zach Galifianakis, who openly despises Oliver throughout the entire season. Oliver desperately tries to win Galifianakis’ affection throughout this whole episode. Audiences were treated to a cheesy montage set to the theme song of Perfect Strangers where we finally see Zach and Oliver getting along and Zach taking interest in playing Oliver. However, when the pair returned to hear about Howard, the trusty Arconia tenant who was forced to listen to hours of the ham radio waves, this supposed peace treaty diminished nearly as quickly as it began. Oliver overhears Zach bashing him to his assistant and quickly learns Zach was only acting to like him the whole afternoon. Howard runs to Oliver’s defense. He stands up for Oliver and shames Zach for not appreciating how hard Oliver works for almost no credit. While Howard’s description of Oliver seemingly only makes Oliver look more pathetic, it’s finally the ammunition that makes Zach willing to play Oliver as a tragic hero, much to Oliver’s dismay.

While this episode gave us unexpected team ups and laughs, little seems to be solved about Sazz’s murder. It was entertaining to see Longoria, Levy, and Galifianakis step into Mabel, Charles, and Oliver’s shoes and this author hopes to see more of this Hollywood trio throughout the season. I would argue that splitting Mabel, Oliver, and Charles up for most of this episode made their reunion at the end that much more crucial to the development of this season. The team finally reunited in Dudenoff’s apartment for the final scene of the episode. Mabel enlightens herself on squatters rights in New York and takes it as the perfect opportunity to move into the abandoned Dudenoff residence. Is it the best idea to squat in a potential murderers apartment? Maybe not, but the team is desperate for answers about the elusive Dudenoff, and I won’t judge Mabel for taking advantage of some free rent. As the group recounts their days to one another, the tune of Perfect Strangers song is hummed by Mabel and Oliver. Oliver quickly realizes that the ham radios that belong to the residents of the west wing of the Arconia were playing Perfect Strangers throughout the day and he realizes Howard’s notes about the ham radios might be the key to their next lead. Mabel runs to the radio in Dudenoff’s apartment and channels it to the frequency Howard wrote down. The group hears a woman furious on the other end, threatening them to quit looking into Sazz’s death.

The episode ends on a cliffhanger that created hundreds of new questions. Could this be Dudenoff? What are the west wing residents hiding? Who is scratched out of the picture? What is the clue if it isn’t tinsel? Who would want Charles dead? Let’s hope we get all these answers and more when Only Murders in the Building returns next week.

You can stream Only Murders in the Building on Hulu, and be sure to catch the new episodes every Tuesday.