Diksha Sundriyal
As the fourth season of Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building‘ nears its mid-mark, it is time to start getting some answers. For the past two episodes, the show has built quite a mystery around the residents of the West Wing, their connection to a certain Mr Dudenoff, and their obsession with ham (radio and otherwise). Tired of chasing after answers that are nowhere near in sight, Mabel decides to take things into her own hands. She moves into Dudenoff’s empty apartment, hoping that it will force him out of the shadows, but what she discovers is something that she has never even thought about. SPOILERS AHEAD
What is Going on With Dudenoff?
Dudenoff becomes an important part of the investigation when his name is found in Sazz’s notes in her LA apartment. His mysterious disappearance from his apartment and the use of the same apartment by the killer to make their shot and kill Sazz in Charles’ apartment raises several questions. Later, it is revealed that Dudenoff has been in Portugal for a long time, but it doesn’t make any sense to Mabel. So, she decides to squat in the apartment, and wait for Dudenoff to show up and throw her out of there. But it turns out she completely misjudged the situation.
Mabel moving into the empty apartment raises a lot of problems for other residents on the floor, and after a lot of careful consideration, they decide to give Mabel the whole picture. They show her the leases and reveal that, years ago, every apartment on that floor was bought by Mr. Dudenoff. This was when the place was still affordable. Over the years, Dudenoff met people who “marched to their own beat,” and he decided to help them. So he sublet the apartment to the Eye Patch Guy, aka Vince Fish, to Alfonso’s family and to the Christmas Guy.
Eventually, Mr. Dudenoff moved away to Portugal, which is where the ham in the bathroom came from. He is the one who sent it as a gift to the residents. But that’s not even the best part. The residents revealed that due to Mr. Dudenoff’s kindness and open heart, they are allowed to live in their apartments for the meager rent of $200. It is peanuts for someone like Dudenoff, but for the residents, it helps them enormously. Mable understands the implications of this because she herself has been looking for an affordable place and understands the allure of having her own apartment in the Arconia without having to pay an exorbitant sum for it.
Having told her the truth, the residents offer Mabel to live in the apartment, rather than squatting there. They don’t want her to attract attention and have the authorities involved because it would disrupt the delicate balance they have maintained over the years. In return for the truth, they ask her to have the apartment, just like them, enjoy the perks, and keep the trouble away, as it has been for so many years.
The Woman on the Phone Turns Out to be Someone Very Unexpected
While the Dudenoff mystery is solved, it still leaves the question of the lady on the ham radio who told Charles, Mabel, and Oliver to stay away. She even went ahead to warn them that the last person who came around asking questions ended up dead. Considering that they are currently solving the murder of Sazz, it makes sense that the trio believes that the woman is talking about Sazz, confirming that there is some connection between the murder and Dudenoff. But then, it turns out that there couldn’t be a connection, considering that the man hasn’t been in the country for a long time. Where does that leave the woman?
Turns out that woman is Helga, Rudy Thurber’s (aka the Christmas Guy) ex-girlfriend. She is one of the weirdos who briefly lived in the apartment, but she turns out to be too much of a weirdo, even for the Westies. What’s worse is that Helga had some mental health issues she needed to work on because she would be taken over by paranoia and end up concocting all sorts of theories, believing things that never even happened. Rudy reveals that this is because she is Swedish and has too much empty and dark space around her to fracture her sense of the world.
Basically, Mabel is told to ignore whatever Helga says to her because she is too unhinged to be taken seriously. Vince Fish claims that Sazz never came around in the West Wing asking any questions about anything, so there is no chance that she is the one that Helga was talking about. While the explanation convinces Mabel, it still leaves the question of why Dudenoff’s name was among her notes and why she had the ham radio, just like the Westies. Perhaps Helga is not as unhinged and paranoid as it seems. Perhaps there is some truth to her warnings.
Read More: Why is Jesse Williams’ Tobert Not in Only Murders in the Building Season 4?
