Only Murders in the Building (1×04) The Sting Review

For our review of the first three episodes of Only Murders in the Building, click here.

Synopsis: Believing the murderer might be a famous resident whom is difficult to access, the group seeks advice from a renowned podcasting host. (Disney)

For those who haven’t seen the third episode of Only Murders in The Building, the title of this latest episode is a pun based on a spoiler from that episode as it ended with an unlikely new suspect in the murder of Tim Kono and Oliver getting a message by the killer.

This episode, entitled The Sting, saw our trio go about how to approach such an infamous suspect, turning to their murder podcast idol (a funny cameo) and the one that brought them together initially for advice. Little did they know, how elaborate and lucrative her ridiculous operation was. Also, while the mystery and the investigation have been an engaging watch, seeing the series peel away the layers from Charles, Oliver, and Mabel has been just as compelling and this episode did more of the latter as Charles came out of his shell and shared some of his tragic past.

The overly-dramatic Oliver of course took his run-in with the killer with plenty of theatrics. Thanks to his veterinarian son Will (Ryan Broussard), his dog survived. Now it was all about getting closer to Sting for whom the team learned had plenty of motive to kill Tim Kono. The secret to getting closer to Sting or any high profile target was to disarm him and have him lower his guard but above all else, embrace the mess. Meanwhile, Charles found a potential love interest in a fellow Arconia resident, a bassoonist named Jan (Amy Ryan). Far removed from the dating scene, the usually socially-awkward Charles carried that over on their later date (the chemistry between Steve Martin and Amy Ryan was still a highlight). However, there was a reason for that as his last relationship ended tragically. Starting out of false pretenses, he established a routine that he continued to this day despite it falling apart. Charles was simply embarrassed and heartbroken.

When it came to Sting, he was cleared as a suspect rather quickly. He was having a bad day during his last encounter with Oliver and he certainly did not take the news of Kono’s murder very well in spite of the plausible he had to do it, even writing a song about it on the spot. While Mabel went to pursue a lead of her own about the stolen jewelry, the episode ended with Will revealing that Mabel knew Tim Kono and how a member of their group of friends died under mysterious circumstances as was eluded to in the previous episodes.

Now with everything seemingly in the open, how will it affect the dynamic of the team. It appears that the killer may be connected to Mabel and Tim’s circle of friends but that might just be a red herring.

still courtesy of Hulu

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.