'Only Murders in the Building' EP on the Killer's Comeback on the Season 4 Finale, Addressing Plot Holes and Preparing to 'Pay Respect' to Season 5 Victims

Spoiler alert: The following contains spoilers for the season 4 finale of “Only Murders in the Building.”

Goodbye, Sazz.

“Only Murders in the Building” bids a final farewell to a fan-favorite character with Monday's Season 4 finale, which concludes the investigation into the murder of Charles-Hayden Savage's (Steve Martin), a flirtatious lesbian stunt double, Saz Pataki (Jane Lynch). After following several threads throughout the season, including the question of whether or not Charles was actually the bullet's intended purpose, Charles, Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) discover that Sage was killed by Marshall P. Shot by Pope (Jin Ha), whose real name is revealed to be Rex. Marshall is the screenwriter credited for the “Only Murders” movie they've been involved in all season, but in a bitter twist, they learn that it was actually Saj who wrote the script in honor of her friendship with Charles. Marshall, then an aspiring writer who served as Sazz's stunt protégé, stole his work and got a greenlight, then killed him after threatening to expose him.

But when the trio realizes what Marshall has done, Mabel is sitting alone with him in the Arconia unit and he threatens her life. But thanks to a distraction from the Westies — a group of people who live in Arconia's west tower and were initially suspected of Saj's murder before the trio realized they were only guilty of plotting to illegally sublet rent-controlled apartments — Charles and Oliver sneak into the apartment through a window to save her. enter They manage to get a hold of Marshall's gun, but things look bleak when he gets it back, until he falls forward and starts bleeding. The trio look out the window and find Jan (Amy Ryan), who shot Marshall from Charles' apartment on the other side of Arconia, where he's been hiding all season through a secret passageway. Jan was dating Charles before being revealed as the season 1 murderer, and then dating Sazz, so as a favor to Charles and as revenge for her lost boyfriend, Marshall took out the doubles.

The trio can't celebrate their solved murder for long. They soon discover the body of their janitor Lester (Teddy Kaluka) in the Arconia fountain. As in previous seasons, her death sparks a new investigation for Season 5 — a conversation with a woman named Sofia Casimelio (Tia Leoni), who urges the trio to investigate the disappearance of her husband Nicky “The Neck” Casimelio aka. Brooklyn's dry cleaning king, who also has ties to a notorious crime family. They decline their offer to hire them, as they focus on the murders in Arconia, although Sophia insists that her case “has everything to do with this building”.

“Just Murders” spoke with showrunner John Hoffman diversity About killing Marshall — and the importance of New York City's doorman.

Now that you can factor spoilers into your answer, how did the decision to kill Saj come together?

It was an idea from our executive producer Jess Rosenthal. He came to my office in New York when we were shooting Season 3, and said, “What do we think about this? And I said, “Well, that's the most terrifying idea, so that probably means we should go for it. Before we do anything, let's talk to Jane Lynch.” So I sat down with Jane, and she lit up. She was so game.

It offers a rare opportunity to explore a relationship we've used for humor — to understand and understand Charles for who he was to her and who he was to himself.

The series has always been a bit meta, critiquing the culture of true crime while the characters create a true crime podcast — then Season 4 is set in your own industry. What did you mean about Hollywood when the trio took part in the movie “Only Murders in the Building”?

It was really funny, this idea of ​​what Molly Shannon said in episode 1: “When I see a hot piece of IP that Horny rival studios are going crazy for, I get in there.” In the sense of, “What's out there, and how do I further commodify it?” And it was really fun for us to imagine who would play these parts and how that would expand into the natural frustration around the project and how intense it could be until the moment of the green light.

Reflecting back on podcasters, it's a story, and how you tell it is everything. If you can hold it as long as you can and have some control over it, it's the purest form of entertainment. It is a philosophy. It's a voice. It's a perspective that no one else would have in storytelling — and here they are, seeing their own story and connecting with people and trying to influence it, like Oliver trying to inspire Zach. This investment felt like comic fodder to us – and more personal reflection, until the sarcasm of the world overtakes it and feels more background. It's always about the connection between our trio and how the story is being told. In the finale, they have a sweet moment standing there with a new appreciation for this movie that their best friend has died. It was a great opportunity to find our own way to tell a Hollywood story.

Compared to the first three seasons, Marshall may be the criminal who garners the most sympathy, as you see how his Hollywood failures drive him insane and eventually lead to his death. What did he want to represent? And why were you killed by Jan instead of arresting the previous murderers?

It was pretty quick that we landed on this author once we understood the details of that mentor-relationship. He became a stunt double, so you got a skill understanding with Sazz, and that more personal relationship where he helped him become a screenwriter and was inspired by Charles. And I tend to come at it all from a humanistic perspective, both for the victim and the perpetrator and everything in between. I like to wonder. I love seeing people's more unexpected qualities and their backstories.

And we forgot about Jan. We thought it would be really interesting if Jan never left, and she was only in those passages, so the idea is that she's the one who finally brings out the killer after her relationship with Zaj. After the relationship with her, and Charles, it all felt exciting and surprising and right. But I wasn't prepared for what it would be like when we shot it, because we never killed [the killer]. It was very difficult to watch that scene. But then he has this gun, and he shoots, and he makes this gesture [a small wave to Charles]And Amy came up with all that on her own. And I thought, “This is hysterical. But maybe it's too much?” Because it was making me laugh and happy. I'm like, “Do we need an alter? Do we have one where he's not ta-da?” But we took three more, and he did it every time, and I was like, “That's it. I am committed to it.”

To me, the wave read almost like an apology. Like, “I've ruined your life so many times, so let me take care of this murderer for you.”

I think this is one of my favorite scenes. And after that, when they come back and she and Charles are having that exchange, and she's palpitating. He is very excited by the idea of ​​their being the last game. This is what motivated him, so it seemed like a great success to him that he could release an apology

It's really nice that the Westies finally help the trio with the Marshall that they had success with in episode 8, where Mabel promises not to tell their story on the podcast, so they don't go to jail for what they did. Keep their rent cheap. How did you reach that conclusion for the relationship?

When you're living in a building in New York and you look out the window, you see the whole family and life and existence, and you find a connection in some way. You make a judgment about what you see. This is an interesting little movie that is happening in different windows every day. You don't want to be a snoopster, but you find yourself – i am Find yourself — watching, going, “What are they doing? Are they playing a game?” So that felt right for the show. But when we got into the scheme going on around the Dudenoff apartment, what I needed was some truth beneath the story. And our great writer Madeleine George is our New York Wikipedia. She's this Researched all the things people do to keep their rent down and those stories are more extreme than what we did. People just want to fulfill a dream and they can't afford it anymore, so what do you do? Mabel, at the end, when she walks out of that apartment in episode 8 and says, “We were three lonely people in Arconia. I'm not going to put them on our podcast,” I loved her for that.

This brings me to Helga (Alexandra Templar)Westie who helps find “plot holes” in previous podcasts that were pointed out earlier in the season. Were you always aware that there were loose threads in previous seasons that you wanted to come back to and address later? Was it always your plan to return them?

I came to terms in Season 1 that there were things we built up that were just loose ends. The things you punch in don't necessarily make sense for the crime you're trying to solve, but wait a minute, what happened there? Who really poisoned Winnie? I thought, “If we're lucky enough to get a second season, a third season, we'll collect a lot of these things.” We keep a tab in our writers room – a big list of our loose ends. We will spend a whole morning on loose ends. So in some ways, this season, it feels like we're getting closer to figuring out all those loose ends, but I'm not sure it's final. A lot more happened this season that adds to this loose end collection as well. I'm really intrigued by the idea that you probably feel like you don't have that answer yet, and that seems right to me.

Tell us how the writing for Season 5 is going. Do you already know who is responsible for killing Lester and dumping his body in Arconia Fountain? And what about Tea Leoni, who plays a woman who asks three men to investigate her husband's death? Is it safe to assume that murder is involved?

I know the murderer. I know the story. We're now breaking the fourth episode of season 5, so we have a pretty good handle on it. There is always a desire to look at a new world, and hope with a real New York twist. The show has always been classic-meets-modern. Season 5 is taking shape in the microcosm of our building in New York, and modernizing, and struggling with that. The victim was a janitor, and that's a very rich lineage and tradition in New York City — what that job is and the association around that job — and there's a level of respect involved. Now we have to honor Lester by finding out exactly what happened. That old-school nature of piety that you still find in New York, meets the modern.

And T Leoni, I love her so much. We discussed the most about his character and what's going on with him. And why can Lester have a relationship with that fountain!

This interview has been edited and condensed.