Diksha Sundriyal
The plot thickens in the fourth season of Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building’ following a series of startling revelations that completely unravel the investigation of Sazz Pataki’s murder. Told in a found footage documentary format, the previous episode leads Charles, Mabel, and Oliver to discover the Brothers sisters’ connection to Dudenoff. At first, they are considered the prime suspects and with all things in mind, it seems that they just might be the killers. But then, the entire theory comes tumbling down when it is discovered that Dudenoff was killed several years ago by another person, who most likely also killed Sazz. Not just this, the person has also been keeping an eye on the trio, which leads them to flee the Arconia and find refuge somewhere they will not be found. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Trio Seeks Refuge at an Unlikely Place
With no other option in sight, Charles, Mabel, and Oliver decide to go to Long Island with Charles’ sister, Doreen. There is some tension between the siblings, but that doesn’t stop Doreen from opening her house to the trio. Immediately, they start to wonder if it was a mistake, especially because they are overwhelmed by the number of dolls Doreen has all over the place. It also turns out that when Doreen was little, she got in an accident with Charles, which led her to lose her spleen, something she had held over Charles for all these years.
To make sure that someone knows of their whereabouts lest something happens to them, Mabel lets Howard know where they are going. This turns out to be a mistake when Howard tells Bev Melon where they are. The Hollywood producer is worried that all the trouble surrounding the trio and the recent dangers it had wrought upon the production and the people working on it will lead the movie to be shelved permanently. While the Brothers sisters have been let off the hook, things won’t calm down until the killer is found. To make matters more chaotic, the actor trio (Eugene Levy, Zach Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria) also come to Doreen’s house because they are worried they might be targeted next.
The Actors Come to the Rescue
Mabel thought that hiding away in Doreen’s house would be an opportunity to put her mind to the case and solve it once and for all. But with Bev Melon and the actors arriving, she finds herself in the middle of chaos that she is desperate to get out of. At the same time, Loretta also arrives at the house. In the last episode, Oliver calls her to tell her how close he has come to proposing to her, but her indifferent reaction leads him to reconsider their relationship. Instead of talking to her, he broke up with her over text, which is what brings Loretta to Long Island to clear things up with him.
It turns out that the person who picked up the call was Loretta’s double. With the misunderstanding cleared up, the couple is back on good terms. At the same time, Loretta also advises Mabel to use the actors and their abilities to solve the case rather than push them away. With no other option in sight, Mabel lays down all that they know so far in front of the actors and gives them the space to come up with any theories or conclusions if they can. In the meantime, Doreen’s advances towards Oliver cause tension, and eventually a fight, between her and Loretta. When things calm down, Loretta proposes to Oliver, and they decide to get married.
As things calm down a bit, the actors reveal that they have come up with a theory, having found several loopholes in a previous case. It turns out that the first case that the trio ever solved had quite a lot of loose ends. For example, they never found out who poisoned Oliver’s dog, Winnie. They never found out who left the notes on his and Jan’s door, which is interesting, considering that the note on Jan’s door said exactly what the text from the killer said in the last episode. Charles, Mabel, and Oliver thought that the poisoning and the notes were Jan’s doing, but it is pointed out that the writing couldn’t be Jan’s because she is a righty while the person who wrote those notes is a lefty. If there was any doubt about the fact that the killer has been there since the beginning and has been keeping an eye on them, it is completely removed now. But that’s not even the most interesting find of the episode.
Who’s Been Cashing Dudenoff’s Cheques? Did the Westies Kill Him?
In the previous episode, Detective Williams told the trio that Dudenoff, who was believed to be in Portugal, was back in New York because he had been cashing his cheques at a bodega. Later, it turns out that Dudenoff died several years ago, which begs the question of who has been cashing his cheques. Because they cannot themselves investigate it, Mabel sends Howard to the bodega to figure out who has been doing it. After going through the accounts and viewing the security footage, Howard discovers that it is the Westies who have been cashing the cheques. Not only this, they also seem to have Dudenoff’s phone, or at least, the number that Dudenoff’s supposed to have given while cashing his cheques.
This development brings the Westies back under suspicion and more so than before because this means that they have known about Dudenoff’s disappearance and possibly his death and have been keeping it a secret while profiting from it. The revelation of his death would strip them of the apartments they’ve been living in for peanuts. So, they kept up the facade, kept sending him the cheques, and then got back their money by cashing the cheques under Dudenoff’s name. To keep things going their way, they even offered Mabel to live in one of the abandoned apartments. While this surely means that they have been keeping this and more, is it enough to prove that they murdered Dudenoff?
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