Season 4 of “Only Murders in the Building” was so overstuffed with guest stars and characters I really thought it was done.
Remember the original premise of the Steve Martin-Martin Short-Selena Gomez comedy was sort of inspired by Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery.” These three kooky neighbors in a very old, grand Manhattan apartment building were going to solve a murder, start a podcast, and inadvertent career.
The first three seasons were very clever, although each year there was some diminishing of the novel set up. Then came Season 4, with an impossible to follow plot, no real laughs, a trip to Hollywood, real life star actors playing the main trio in a movie about them, Melissa McCarthy, Richard Kind, Griffin Dunne…
Stop, stop, stop!
Well, Steve Martin and co-creator John Hoffman really learned from their mistake. Hulu dropped three episodes last without much fanfare — no press release, no buzz — and just let the cards fall. I finally caught up with the new batch over the weekend and was so pleasantly surprised.
“Only Murders” has revived itself. At the end of season 4, when Short’s Oliver and married Meryl Streep (she’s great but has overstayed her welcome), the trio discovered the Arconia’s seemingly avuncular doorman, Lester, had been killed, shot left to bleed out in the entrance fountain.
As with the previous seasons, the murdered subject lives on through the rest of the episodes in flashbacks, so we’ll be seeing a lot of Lester. Indeed, with episode 2 of season, we see a parade of past victims from the past in a little gem of an episode that tells the origin story of everyone at the Arconia.
There are stars in Season 5, but they seem more judiciously used so far instead of being cudgels. So far, the big get is two time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest as Lester’s widow. But the spotlight — in episode 3 — is a superior Bobby Cannavale as a wisecracking failed mobster who literally gets taken to the cleaners. The very welcome Tea Leoni is his mob moll wife, who’s hired the main trio to find him.
Before episode 3 is over, Beanie Feldstein is introduced as an old friend of Selena Gomez’s droll Mabel. Beanie had a bad time on Broadway in “Funny Girl,” but I’m happy to say she’s back on track. I can’t wait to see more of her.
Just as the 3rd episode ends, another trio enters the picture– Renee Zellweger, Christoph Waltz, and Logan Lerman. They’re billionaires, identified as more dangerous than mobsters, and they will make trouble.
Did I tell you that the trio makes a trip to Staten Island to the home that was used for “The Godfather”? That’s worth everything.
There have already been a lot of clues about Lester’s killer, plus another murder I don’t want to ruin. The difference this season is that so far the writing is sharp, and actually funny. It doesn’t feel like everyone’s going through motions. As long as Hoffman keeps his eye on the ball, and sticks close to the main characters, we’re in for a good mystery.
And PS, I have a feeling Keegan Michael-Key as New York’s oily Mayor Tillman, may be more involved than we know.
Welcome back, “Only Murders.” There’s nothing better than being surprised.
