Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 1 Clues Breakdown: Who Shot Sazz?
Here are the major clues about Sazz's killer in "Once Upon a Time in the West."
[This article contains spoilers for Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 1, "Once Upon a Time in the West."] Who killed Sazz? That's the burning question in Tuesday's season premiere of Only Murders in the Building, which whisks the trio of Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez) away to Los Angeles when Hollywood producer Bev Melon (Molly Shannon) options the movie rights to their Only Murders podcast. But the true crime happened back at the Arconia at the end of season 3: Charles' Brazzos stunt double and friend Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) was shot and killed in his apartment — apparently by an assassin gunning for the actor and "Angel in Flip Flops" singer.
In a twist, the sleuths don't learn of Sazz's fate until the end of the episode. When they return to Charles' crime-scene apartment, the viewer is led to believe that they're about to stumble on Sazz... but Sazz's body is missing, there's no trace of the letter she began to write in blood, and evidence of her murder — blood splatter in the kitchen and a bullet hole in the window — initially go unnoticed.
Jane Lynch as Only Murders in the Building season 4 victim Sazz Pataki.
- Hulu)It's only after Howard's (Michael Cyril Creighton) newly-adopted retired cadaver dog, "Gravey," picks up a scent that Charles, Oliver, and Mabel find out what happened to the missing Sazz: someone shot her in Charles' apartment, covered up the murder scene, and disposed of her body in the Arconia's supposedly out-of-order incinerator.
Sifting through the ashes inside the incinerator, Charles finds the Bulgaria-made metal joints that Sazz had replaced over her career as a stunt woman (the x-rays of which were proudly displayed in her Los Angeles apartment). Charles suddenly realizes that he was right to be worried about the uncharacteristically unresponsive Sazz — and that she didn't send the text claiming Sazz flew out west to double for Scott Bakula (appearing as himself, resembling Charles/Sazz). When Charles texts Sazz's number asking "Who is this?," the killer replies: "Not your f—ing friend."
After covering up the crime scene, the killer — posing as Charles — sent Arconia doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca) a note instructing him to replace the bullet-stricken kitchen window (the source of the incessant whistling sound that Charles can't seem to shake). But it's Sazz's clue-covered apartment containing hints suggesting the killer may be tying up loose ends from past seasons.
There's a mutual funds envelope with the words "Looking at Charles" and a partially obscured slip of paper from La Cienega Heights with "Sick Pup" (seemingly referencing the unanswered question of who poisoned Winnie, Oliver's beloved bulldog, back in the first season with the threatening note once left on Oliver's door: "End the podcast or I end you." That first season episode, titled "How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?," included this line: "Your most well-known neighbor might be the one you know the least.") It should be noted that the season 1 killer was eventually revealed to be bassoonist Jan Bellows (Amy Ryan), who dated both Charles and Sazz, and who is currently in prison.
Other potential clues on Sazz's desk include a mention of the Arconia's West Tower; a reminder to cancel a doctor's appointment at 10 a.m. on Thursday; a Stunt Worker's Union 2023 calendar and "Stunt Woman's Workout" book; a plane ticket from LAX to JFK (gate 65, group A, seat 5A) with the name "HELGA" written in red marker; a deli receipt; what appears to be an invitation with an underlined "Dudenoff ???" written in black marker, and an attached sticky note with the number "773440"; a napkin with the numbers "11 13 26? 14? 86?"; and a score card for the 5½ Lesbian Brothers Invitational Golf Tournament, which is scrawled with the words "LONG GAME."
"Lesbian Brothers" suggests a link to the Brothers sisters, the Only Murders in the Building Movie directing duo of Tawny (Siena Werber) and Trina Brothers (Catherine Cohen). The trio met the"identical" twins at Paramount Studios alongside producer Bev and writer Marshall Peepope (Jin Ha), who has a habit of eavesdropping on conversations to capture the "voices" of his characters.
But the final clue could be the theme of the season: the concept of doppelgängers, as Charles' double was murdered in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
While in Hollywood, Charles has a face-to-face with his and Sazz's doppelganger, Scott Bakula, and the trio encounter the (mostly) lookalike stars who have been cast to portray them in the movie: actors Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek) as Charles, Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) as an aged-up Mabel, and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) as Oliver.
"Season three was a season built around the theater, so I'm excited by the connections we found for a 10-episode arc that deals with doppelgängers," showrunner John Hoffman told Vanity Fair. "Looking at reflections of yourself on film, reflections of yourself in a doppelgänger playing you in a film, reflections of yourself in a script written about you, a podcast you created about murder that has now affected a very close dear friend—all of that felt like really interesting territory."
"We all do the same thing: If you look out the window [at your neighbors], you immediately contextualize someone based on what you see them doing every day," Hoffman continued. "You put a stamp on who those people are, and then the fun of it is when you go in those apartments and dimensionalize them. Once we knew there was a shot that took out a beloved character at the end of season three, we quickly went to: Where did that shot come from, and what part of that building have we not explored?"
The answer is the west side of the Arconia, home to the "Westies": West Tower residents to be played by Richard Kind, Daphne Rubin-Vega, and Kumail Nanjiani.
New episodes of Only Murders in the Building season 4 premiere Tuesdays on Hulu.
