Only two episodes into its fourth season and Only Murders in the Building is already amping up its most recent mystery. While the Arconia has always had its secrets, a whole new side of the building was revealed in “Gates of Heaven.” Following the murder of Sazz (Jane Lynch), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) realize that the bullet that killed their friend was likely meant for Charles (Steve Martin). Thus, their investigation into the west side of the building gets underway. But what awaits them is something much darker and more twisted than anything they’ve experienced before, even in a building with so much murder. It’s the perfect way to heighten the mystery and up the ante of the show overall.
The West Side of the Arconia Introduces a New Cast of Characters
The Arconia has long been home to a fascinating and quirky set of personalities. From the main trio to Uma (Jackie Hoffman) to Sting. But the west side of the building sets up a whole new slew of players who take the oddities to new levels. Charles lines up several potential suspects for his friends to investigate. The two head over to the opposite end of the building to which they’d never before ventured and waste no time infiltrating the accused. They first meet Vince Fish (played by comedy legend Richard Kind). The eccentric new addition is the perfect way to set up the eccentricities that await them in this “strange new world.” Suffering from pink eye, he wears an eye patch and has an uncomfortable knowledge about the main trio. He’s certainly kind and accommodating, but almost to an off-putting extent. While many of the Arconia’s east side residents can be a bit cold, the overzealous welcome definitely makes him an interesting suspect. His aforementioned knowledge of the three, particularly Charles’ habits of watching the courtyard, also suggests that he knows much about the ever-mysterious building.
Vince introduces Oliver and Mabel to some neighbors, Alfonzo (Desmin Borges), Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega), and (Lilian Rubelo), inviting them to play a game aptly named “Oh Hell.” It’s both a comical and tense introduction for the characters, who all seem a little too tightly knit together. Alfonzo becomes an obvious suspect, thanks to his disdain for Charles, with whom his wife, Inez constantly attempts long-distance flirting. But the show throws one heck of a curveball when it introduces a weird tradition that the four participate in: eating from a ham hung up in the shower. For every nuance that the East Side characters, such as Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton), the Arconia’s west side characters are downright frightening at times (albeit incredibly funny at the same time). But for all their peculiarity, something even darker lurks just next door.
The Arconia’s West Holds a Frightening Secret
The building’s western tenants may be mysterious and quirky, but they also guard a strange secret. Upon entering the far side of the Arconia, Mabel and Oliver realize that one of the apartments, which Charles suspects, has a keypad door lock. Compared to the east side of the building, this half is not nearly as well-kept and appears to be stuck in time. While this adds to the eeriness, the more advanced security system sticks out like a sore thumb. Adding to the mystery, the newly introduced characters avoid speaking of the tenant, Dudenoff. So, naturally, Mabel and Oliver find a way in.
Though the show has explored the bowels of the building and a seemingly haunted theater, the mysterious apartment is one of the most off-putting locations yet. Its deteriorating and unsettling design is a brilliant way to up the ante with the Arconia. Adding to the mystery is a pig living in the bathtub. But the most important discovery is that the windows have been pried open recently and allow for a straight shot into Charles’ apartment. Then, someone arrives and aggressively tries to get into the apartment. And just when it seems like the heroes are caught, the unseen intruder vanishes. While the show has never failed to combine comedy with suspense, these few seconds exemplify that. Putting the main characters in a mysterious place and trapping them in a confined space with no way out while impending doom is banging on the door is genuinely frightening. It makes the entire west side, and by extension, the Arconia as a whole, feel truly dangerous and takes away the protection that home is supposed to represent.
Only Murders in the Building has a long history of surprising audiences with great twists, and its latest is no exception. The halls of the Arconia’s newly explored west side are filled with secrets and danger like never before. As the team sets out to find out who killed their beloved friend, Sazz (and with the recent announcement of a Season 5 on the way), the show has once again proved that there are still many more mysteries to uncover within the walls of the Arconia.
Only Murders in the Building is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
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