Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth season of Hulu’s ‘Only Murders in the Building’ raises the stakes as the danger slips closer to Charles, Oliver, and Mabel. Sazz’s murder in the finale of Season 3 comes to light in the first episode, leaving the trio completely perplexed. It doesn’t take them much to realize that they need to figure out what happened to their friend, and fast, because if the murderer is not caught in time, someone else could die, turning the trio into a duo. The second episode of the season takes major steps in that direction. SPOILERS AHEAD
The Investigation Begins
The previous episode ends with Charles rifling through the ashes in the incinerator to discover the Bulgarian metal joints as the only thing left from Sazz’s body. This episode begins with his hands full of ash while he ponders what to do about it. He doesn’t want to simply wash his hands off it. It would be a terrible disrespect to his best friend if Charles were to let her ashes go down the drain. So, he washes his hands in a bowl and then unloads it in a mason jar to spread or rather pour the ashes someplace good, someplace Sazz would have liked. But that’s for later.
Sazz’s death in his own apartment and the insinuation that Sazz might have taken the hit meant for him make Charles lose his mind. For starters, he starts seeing Sazz, like Mabel saw her old friend, Tim Kono while investigating his murder. Oliver and Mabel, on the other hand, are fully ready to tackle the case and want to investigate the people in the building before the cops are called in. As their experience suggests, the cops never really get the right guy, or at least not on their first try, so Oliver and Mabel decide to have a headstart.
Luckily, they get it when they place a call to 911 but are put on hold because there are about 80 other emergency callers ahead of them. A preliminary evaluation reveals that the bullet came from outside of the building, and considering the location of Saez’s dead body in the room, it seems that the culprit resides somewhere on the 14th floor of the West Tower of Arconia. Charles points out a couple of people he believes hate him or at least had the vantage point to make the killing shot.
Knowing Thy Neighbours
It’s time to get to know the Westies. There is Stink-Eye Joe, whom Charles often finds starting through his window and giving him the stink-eye. There is “the Sauce family,” who are also always looking out the window while marinating at least three sauces at all times. There is the Christmas guy who is always working out and is dressed for Christmas (including all the decorations in his apartment) all year round. And then there is the mystery neighbor, who never opens their blinds, so there is no way to know exactly who they are.
Seeing Charles lose his mind, Oliver and Mabel decide that he should sit this one out. They let him make the murder board and order Luminol to make the blood glow and find out exactly where Sazz fell when she was hit by the bullet. In the meantime, they go to the West Tower and meet two of the four neighbors. The first on the list is Stink-Eye Joe, who, it turns out, hasn’t been giving Charles the stink-eye. He has anti-biotic-resistant pink eye, which explains his “stink-eye” thing. Moreover, the window of his place is also bolted shut, so there is no way the shooting happened from his apartment.
Joe leads the duo to the Sauce family, and it turns out that they think about Charles what he thinks about them. The lady of the house has a crush on Brazzos, and she is flattered by the fact that he is always staring out his window at her. This makes her husband a little jealous, but is it enough for him to want to kill Charles? Apart from a ham in the bathroom, the only thing of note that the duo discovers is that the guy who never opens his blinds is called “Dudenoff,” whose name they’d found in Sazz’s notes.
Jan Returns from Prison
While Oliver and Mabel are busy socializing, Charles gets a surprise visit. Earlier, when talking about suspects, he mentioned Jan, but the idea was rejected because she has been in prison since the events of the Season 1 finale. It turns out that she escaped prison with a “mix of parkour and psychosexual manipulation” and navigated the building using the secret tunnels, all thanks to the second season of Charles’ podcast. And it wasn’t all for naught. She has been worried about Sazz, who hasn’t called her in a week. Jan is worried because the last time they talked, Sazz told her that there was another murderer in the building. When Charles tells her what has happened, Jan is heartbroken, but does it mean that she is telling the truth? Can she be believed?
While it is difficult to trust Jan, there is the point of her alibi. She was in prison when Sazz was murdered, and because Sazz hadn’t yet broken up with her, Jan had no reason whatsoever to kill her. There is also the part about how Jan hates assassins and believes that there is no point in killing unless you get to see the final moments of your victim and feel the release, which is the main point of killing, according to her, at least. She leaves just as easily as she arrived. When Charles tells Oliver and Mabel about her, they don’t believe him. However, when the cops come knocking on Charles’ door, telling him that Jan has escaped using a “mix of parkour and psychosexual manipulation,” Oliver and Mabel have to accept that they judged their friend too harshly.
Only Murders in the Building S4E02 Ending: What Does Sazz’s Message Mean?
When Sazz died, she used her blood to write a message for Charles. The message, along with the blood and every other evidence of a murder, was removed by the killer. But using Luminol, it all comes to light. The last words that Sazz left for Charles were “Tap in.” It was a codeword they used for forty years on set. Every time Sazz took over from Charles to perform his stunts for the screen, she would say, “Tap in.” This meant that Charles could go away to relative safety while she took whatever danger was headed his way. Leaving that message for him in her blood confirms that this time, as well, she took the hit that was meant for Charles, confirming that he was the one meant to die that night, not her.
The fact that Charles was supposed to be the victim is not a revelation. Charles himself considered this possibility, but he didn’t want it to be true because that would mean that Sazz died because of him, and he couldn’t take the guilt. The Sazz that he hallucinates is the manifestation of his guilt, and he tries to make sense of the situation by telling himself that he wasn’t the one the bullet was meant for. At least, not until Sazz herself tells him so. Her final words wash away any doubt he might have had about it. Now that he has clarity on the matter, he can actively start looking for the murderer, avenge his friend, and save himself.
Read More: Why is Jesse Williams’ Tobert Not in Only Murders in the Building Season 4?
