‘Only Murders in the Building’: How Did the Finale Set Up Season 4?

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Only Murders in the Building, Season 3, Episode 10, “Opening Night.”]

Only Murders in the Building has uncovered its Season 3 murderer, solving the mystery behind Ben Glenroy’s (Paul Rudd) untimely death.

As it turns out, Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel’s (Selena Gomez) theory that producer Donna DeMeo (Linda Emond) was responsible for poisoning Ben was accurate but not a fully-baked theory. Sure, she provided Ben with a Schmakary’s cookie sprinkled with rat poison, but her son Clifford DeMeo (Wesley Taylor) gave Ben the final push down an elevator shaft at the Arconia.

At first, Donna confesses to it all, claiming she killed Ben, but Mabel notices the protective nature of her confession, which includes the fact that she’d only intended to knock Ben out after reading a bad review for the play. Realizing Donna initially intended to protect her son, Mabel observes the mother-son duo from afar, noticing that he begins to cry after she has a conversation with him.

(Credit: Patrick Harbron/Hulu)

Despite Donna agreeing to turn herself in, further validating the promise by noting she has stage four lung cancer and isn’t a flight risk, Mabel follows Clifford to the theater rafters as Oliver’s play-turned-musical opens on Broadway. Confronting Clifford, Mabel learns he did push Ben after realizing his mother was responsible for poisoning the actor.

Instead of turning himself in at first, Clifford threatens to throw himself down to the stage from the ceiling, adding to the season’s body count. Donna manages to get upstairs and convince Clifford otherwise, but the pair ultimately turn themselves in, making this Mabel, Oliver, and Charles’ third-solved murder.

Celebrating the show’s opening (finally), Oliver and Loretta (Meryl Streep) discuss the future, and she decides to pursue her newfound fame to tackle new opportunities in Los Angeles and build a relationship with her son Dickie (Jeremy Shamos). Likewise, Mabel’s flame, Tobert (Jesse Williams), opts to take a gig in Los Angeles and wishes she’d join him, but she still has things to figure out in New York.

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But don’t think that’s all that happened. As with past seasons of the series, Only Murders in the Building unveiled its next murder mystery at the end of the finale episode, setting up its newly announced fourth season. So, who was the unlucky individual this time? It was Charles’ body double Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch)!

Visiting the crew to celebrate the musical opening, Sazz goes to retrieve a wine bottle from Charles’ apartment only to wind up shot and bleeding out on the floor of his kitchen. Someone seems to have it out for Charles as Sazz was looking identical to her old colleague in his darkened place.

When will they discover Sazz’s body? And who is going after Charles? We’ll have to wait until Season 4, but in the meantime, let the theories begin to spiral. Let us know what you think of the Season 4 setup in the comments section, below, and stay tuned for updates on the show’s upcoming chapter.

Only Murders in the Building, Season 4 Premiere, TBA, Hulu