In Only Murders in the Building Season 4, Episode 3 titled “Two for the Road”, the question of who killed Sazz Pataki is explored as Oliver, played by Steve Martin, Mabel, played by Selena Gomez, and Charles, played by Martin Short, work on the case. Fortunately, the help comes from the unexpected source – Detective Donna who gives some important pieces of advice; thus, the trio goes on solving the case.
The series starts with the three making their murder board in an attempt to look for any leads that would lead them to the killer. Suddenly, Detective Donna pays a visit with some fresh information on the case as well as with some resentment as she was recently relieved of her position by the federal agents in charge of the case. The federal investigation makes Donna skeptical, especially the notion that Jan was involved in Sazz’s death, and She shares her skepticism towards them with the group.
Donna reveals a significant piece of information: the feds saw a shell casing in Apartment 14F whose occupants are M. Dudenoff who is a retired professor. Everyone in the neighborhood thinks that Dudenoff is actually in Portugal and, because of this, Donna wonders whether Sazz died by accident; in fact, she strongly feels that the intended victim was Charles instead. This clue contributes another twist to the story and they postulated that the attack on Charles could have been an inside job.
When Donna is almost done, Hollywood actors Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Zach Galifianakis come to observe the OMITB team for research for the movie adaptation of the podcast. The three forces itself into being followed but they are soon sidetracked by the urge of the suspecting list. Two names rise to the top: Vince Fish also known as pink eye guy and Rudy Thurber who is popularly known as Mr. Christmas.
Mabel is fascinated to Rudy’s side fearing that he has it somehow against Charles. The suspicion originated from a neighborhood event in the past where Charles had lead a campaign to decorate the building with fake Christmas trees which Rudy, being a super pro-holiday, didn’t find quite amusing. Mabel likes to work alone but Eva, who is very keen to get a feel of the investigation insists on going with her.
When Mabel gets to Rudy’s apartment, she is surprised to see Eva, who is clearly looking for something in the boxes with Christmas ornaments. There is a glimpse of Eva’s temper as she breaks some of Rudy’s favourite ornaments and threatens him using a toy pistol. But the cheerful man, who is the main character of this story, named Rudy, says that he hates Christmas. But something that has become known to all, he only plays the part because he posted a workout video during Christmas and it became popular, so he decided to use the character and seek online clout.
For instance, Rudy even has his ‘naughty list’ which is etched on his abdominal muscles–this is jokes which make the movie murder mystery lighter than it actually is. Even more so, Rudy helps Mabel courtesy of a lead that he offers about the string of ‘tinsel’ that Mabel discovered at the crime scene. Well, as it soon becomes apparent, it is not actually tinsel since it does not burn like the real Christmas tinsel does. Also, Rudy has a ham radio; with that, Mabel finds another oddity—the music playing on a radio is the theme song from ‘Perfect Strangers.’
For his part Mabel and Eva interrogate Rudy while Charles partners with Eugene Levy to investigate Vince Fish commonly known as pink eye guy. Out of all the characters, Charles closely monitors Vince because of the eye patch that he wears, which he thinks is concealing a bruise as a result of a gun recoil other than an eye infection. Thus, two men decide to put forward a plan that would trick Vince to take out his patch by giving him eye drops. When that does not work, they try another routine, a spit-take, a cheap knock from comedy hoping to scare Vince and make him reveal his eye. The plan backfires when Vince punches Eugene in the nose, but the truth is finally revealed: Well, it is true that Vince has pink eye, thus eliminating chance of him being involved for now at least.
But before Charles can finally leave, he had one thing to do with Eugene – they realize something strange when they are about to go. In Vince’s apartment there is a photo that depicts Vince with his other neighbors from West Tower, that one particular person in the photo was erased by scratching out his face. This cryptic clue implies that possibly there is someone in the West Tower with a secret and that secret could be related the murder.
Returning to the events of the movie at Arconia, Oliver is focused on persuading Zach Galifianakis into an interest in the movie. Oliver’s attempts are depicted as painfully awkward until Howard jumps to the occasion and gives a rousing speech that seem to impress Zach at first. Luckily for Oliver, Zach becomes motivated by Oliver’s mishaps and starts viewing the film as a black comedy at the cost of his career.
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 3 Recap
The whole episode ends with the final showdown in Apartment 14F. Mabel has thought of a very dangerous idea of occupancy on the apartment whereby they wait for Dudenoff to react to their presence. Charles is worried for the life of Mabel and is not happy about the plan but the rest seem to agree that this is the best way to go about solving the case. While they stay put, Mabel begins humming the tune of the Perfect Strangers show, which has been causing her to sing the song for some unknown reasons after hearing it from Rudy’s ham radio.
Oliver remembers that same music from earlier in the day when he was recording the frequencies of the ham radio, and this seemingly innocent event triggers a memory. A weird broadcast that Howard had noticed featured a voice saying, “Meet me at 445.” Charles instantly makes the connection between this and the picture in Vince’s room, questioning whether the voice actually belonged to the guy whose face was removed.
Within no time the ham radio is switched to frequency 445 and the message sent. Suddenly, a woman with a foreign accent speaks, telling them to get away from the frequency. After shortly questioning her about Dudenoff and whether or not he has any involvement with the attempt on Charles’ life the tension rises. The woman’s ominous response sends chills down their spines: “The last person who asked these questions was killed. Drop it, or you’ll be next.”
The mystery thickens toward the end of the episode, leaving the audience and the three with more questions than answers. Suspense and humor are expertly combined in Episode 3, furthering the murder investigation as well as the OMITB movie adaption subplot. The stakes are higher than ever for Charles, Mabel, and Oliver as they get closer to solving Sazz’s murder thanks to fresh hints and a terrifying warning.
