How ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Sets Up a Season 4

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Only Murders in the Building Season 3 finale

This week saw both the Season 3 finale of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building and the announcement that the series will continue with a fourth season. The announcement was greatly appreciated by viewers, given that Season 3, like its predecessors, ended with a dramatic cliffhanger, immediately launching yet another murder mystery for podcast hosts Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short), and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), to investigate. In addition to solving Season 3’s crime and setting up Season 4’s mystery, the Season 3 finale of Only Murders in the Building also provided some hints at how the series’ main characters will continue to develop going forward and even teased a possible temporary change in setting. Let’s take a look at how the show has set up Season 4 so far.

‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 3’s Final Scene Sets up the Show’s Next Mystery

By the end of the season’s penultimate episode, the trio had begun to suspect that Donna DeMeo (Linda Emond), a producer of Oliver’s play, was behind the murder of the play’s initial leading actor, Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd). On opening night of the redesigned play, now a musical called Death Rattle Dazzle, they confront her with their suspicions, hoping to get her to confess while recording the conversation. Donna actually does confess, with surprisingly little resistance, saying that she had decided to kill Ben after reading an early review of the play that criticized his performance, hoping to stop the first play co-produced by her son Cliff (Wesley Taylor) from being a flop. The trio agree not to turn Donna in to the authorities until after the opening night performance but, after seeing her having a discussion with Cliff, Mabel becomes suspicious and follows him to the theater’s attic. There Cliff admits that although Donna was responsible for poisoning a cookie Ben ate, leading to his initial collapse, it was him that ultimately pushed him down the Arconia building’s elevator shaft. Cliff did so after getting into an altercation with Ben when the latter realized that Donna was behind the poisoning. Not wanting to go to prison, Cliff threatens to leap from the attic to his death but is stopped by Donna, with the pair then arrested.

With the mystery resolved, the trio and the rest of Oliver’s cast and crew celebrate the successful opening of the play back at the Arconia. Donna and Cliff’s arrests cleared Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep) of suspicion of being involved with the killing, so she and Oliver rekindle their romantic relationship. However, Dickie Glenroy (Jeremy Shamos), Ben’s adopted brother who is now working as Loretta’s agent, informs her of a pair of lucrative acting jobs being offered to her in Los Angeles. Although she is hesitant to leave New York, Oliver points out that this is an opportunity to follow her dream and make a fresh start with Dickie, who was recently revealed to be her biological son. Oliver also implies that they could maintain a long distance relationship, saying that he likes LA, “in small doses.” Ben’s former documentarian and Mabel’s new boyfriend, Tobert (Jesse Williams), who was set to go to LA to work on an indie film, repeats an offer for Mabel to join him, saying that it might help her deal with her recent feelings of being stuck in her current place in life. Although she says that she needs to stay in New York to make the kind of changes she wants, she also mentions liking LA in small doses.

Meanwhile, Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), Charles’ long-time stunt double and friend, arrives with wine to celebrate but also mentions having something serious she needs to discuss with Charles. While the party continues, Sazz goes into Charles’ dark apartment, where she is shot in the stomach by an unseen attacker. Using the blood on one of her hands, she attempts to make a kind of mark on the floor, which looks like it might be intended to be a letter, before seemingly dying.

RELATED: The Wild, Scandalous History of the Real-Life Arconia That Inspired ‘Only Murders in the Building’

‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4’s New Suspects

Obviously, it’s pretty much impossible to make any kind of accurate guess as to who killed Sazz at this point, as it could very well be an entirely new character who will be introduced in Season 4. Still, the closing scenes did provide some decent clues as to directions the next story might take. Probably the most significant of these is the idea that Sazz may not have been the intended victim. As Charles’ stunt double, Sazz’s resemblance to Charles is a key part of her character, with the two often dressing the same even when not working, including on the night of the party. The shooting is also crosscut with a scene of Charles rejoining Mabel, Oliver, and Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton) at the party, so the viewer initially thinks that it is Charles who was shot. There’s a good chance that the assailant meant to kill Charles, although given her ominous line about needing to talk to him, Sazz’s involvement with the new case may extend beyond a simple mistake on the killer’s part. For the most part, Charles was less emotionally involved with the Ben Glenroy mystery than Mabel and Oliver, so it makes sense for the next season to involve him more directly in the investigation.

There are also a couple of characters related to him who make for obvious suspects. At the party, Charles gets a text from his ex-girlfriend Joy (Andrea Martin), whom he had alienated when he suspected her of being involved with Ben’s murder. Charles optimistically hopes it is “a romantic feeler text,” believing they could get back together, but all it really says is, “Scott Bakula says hi,” suggesting that Joy hasn’t forgiven him. It’s possible that her grudge could have become severe enough that she wants Charles dead. And the shape Sazz makes with the blood does look like it could have been meant to be a “J,” but it isn’t complete enough to say for sure. But there is another suspect tied to Charles whose name starts with “J.” In the first season, he dated a bassoonist named Jan Bellows (Amy Ryan), who turned out to be that season’s murderer. Interestingly enough, earlier in Season 3, Sazz mentions that she is still in touch with Jan and that the two of them have actually entered into a relationship. It’s possible, then, that Jan is involved with the killing or will at least be suspected of it, which could lead to her return to the show.

Mabel and Oliver’s final scenes with Tobert and Loretta suggest that at least part of Season 4 will leave New York for Los Angeles. These scenes also raise the possibility of Tobert, Loretta, and maybe also Dickie continuing to appear on the series. Given how Loretta and Dickie’s story played out this season — and Meryl Streep’s fame — they might not work as suspects again, but they could still continue to play supporting roles. Tobert, on the other hand, would probably continue to be a major suspect if he reappeared, as many viewers expected him to be the killer this year, with the fact that he wasn’t involved with Ben’s death at all being Season 3’s biggest subversion of expectations. But whatever its resolution winds up being, viewers can assume based on the series’ track record that the mystery of Sazz’s death will be a good one, and it’s great to have more Only Murders in the Building to look forward to.