Who was the cautionary voice on the ham radio? The answer to last week’s Only Murders in the Building cliffhanger is answered in the fourth episode of Season 4, titled “The Stunt Man.” Is Sazz Pataki’s murderer in this episode? We’ll know someday. For now, let’s recap.
(Disney/Patrick Harbron)
Episode 4: “The Stunt Man” – Written by Madeline George
This episode’s narration comes from a mystery voice with a Scottish accent (speaker to be revealed shortly). They describe actos as egotistical maniacs, while stunt people are simply maniacs. As the narration plays, we experience a dream with Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin). He follows Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) through a black-and-white forest, the only bit of color being the gunshot wound on her chest. Charles asks Sazz where she’s going. “Paradise,” she says.
Unable to get back to bed, Charles made a detailed board all about Sazz’s investigation. Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), who left her squatted apartment guarded by Howard Morris (Michael Cyril Creighton), who is also pigsitting, thinks it’s brilliant, but she asks what “Paradise” means. Charles tells her about the dream and talks about how he and Sazz shared everything, including a girlfriend and a rare blood type.
Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) is exhausted as they talk, revealing that he was up all night because he noticed a mystery muscular arm in many of Loretta’s recent Instagram posts. He also created a “Finsta” (fake Insta), posing as Loretta’s biggest fan, Ronnie. As he shows them his girlfriend’s social media account, Mabel notices that Sazz followed Loretta. Clicking on Sazz’s profile, she sees that Sazz was at a place called Concussions the day she died. Oliver knows it to be a stuntman bar in New York City.
At Concussions, Charles tells the bartender (Michael McFadden) that Sazz was his double. “You were her face,” he corrects the actor. The entire bar is upset that they haven’t been able to give Sazz a proper sendoff without her body. The door to a backroom opens, and out stumbles Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd)… No, wait, it’s Glenn Stubbins (also Paul Rudd), the late actor’s out-of-work stunt person and this episode’s narrator. The bartender kicks Charles, Oliver, and Mabel out, and as they leave, Mabel notices a purple neon sign in the backroom that she recognizes from Sazz’s photo.
Outside, Glenn Stubbins apologizes and asks Charles for a job on the Only Murders movie. Mabel says they can make that happen if he can get them into the back room, which is a chiropractor’s office. Charles didn’t know Sazz was in pain, and asks if he can go alone with Glenn. Mabel and Oliver go back to The Arconia.
In the back room of Concussions, Dr. Maggie (Veanne Cox) tells Charles he’s too stiff and that if he wants to talk, he needs to get on her table. She recalls her last conversation with Sazz, who was making plans to retire from being a stunt person and start a new career. Sazz also talked about needing to get out of a bad relationship. Charles worries that Sazz’s bad relationship was with him. Dr. Maggie doesn’t recall Sazz mentioning “Paradise.”
(Disney/Patrick Harbron)
While Mabel was away, a flier slipped under the squatted apartment’s door, listing an open casting call for the Only Murders movie. Howard was unable to resist the opportunity for his big screen debut, so he left the West Tower to go to the penthouse apartment (formerly occupied by Sting, Amy Schumer, and Ben Glenroy) for his audition in front of directors Trina (Catherine Cohen) and Tawny Brothers (Siena Werber), plus producer Bev Melon (Molly Shannon). Howard learns that Josh Gad is playing his part, but the Brothers want to nurture him.
(Disney/Patrick Harbron)
When Mabel learns that her squatted apartment is left vacant, she rushes to the West Tower to find her room occupied by The Westies – Vince Fish (Richard Kind), Rudy Thurber (Kumail Nanjiani), Alfonso (Desmin Borges), Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega), and Ana (Lilian Rebelo). She asks about their cult, and they come clean, saying they’re actually just renting low-cost, rent-controlled apartments from Dudenoff for $200 per month. Their landlord, who retired to Portugal, sends them ham once a month as a thank-you. They offer to let Mabel in on the deal in exchange for keeping that information private. Mabel asks about the woman warning them on the ham radio. They say that was Rudy’s crazy ex-girlfriend Helga from Finland. Vince says they never met Sazz.
Mabel goes to Charles’ apartment, playing Oh hell with him and Oliver as they talk about their day. She convinces Oliver to delete Ronnie, and they give her a mock funeral. This gives Charles an idea.
Charles returns to Concussions to be Sazz’s double so the other stunt people can give her a proper funeral. Laying on the bar’s pool table, the bartender pulls out breakaway bottles, and stunt performers line up to say their goodbyes, breaking the bottles over Charles’ head. Glenn Stubbins’ bottle ends up being real, which knocks Charles unconscious, but it triggers a memory.
Flashback
Charles and Sazz have wrapped a location shoot on Brazzos in New Jersey. Sazz tells him about a secret dream to own a trampoline park someday where she can train the next generation of stunt people. Charles noticed that this spot is for sale and suggests she do it here. Sazz tells him to keep it a secret because the other stunt guys would laugh at her for it.
Oliver’s 1973 Peugeot 504, aka Aphrodite, arrives at the New Jersey location where Charles once filmed an episode of Brazzos in Paradise, New Jersey. A sign announces that the “Sazz Pataki Impact Academy” is coming soon. They hear a noise inside the shed and open the door to find Bev Melon holding a gun pointed at them, warning nobody to move!
Only Murders in the Building returns next Tuesday, September 24th, with the fifth episode of Season 4, titled “Adaptation.”
The trio face off against a collection of individuals who deceive, manipulate, and threaten as second nature – a Hollywood cast & crew.