Spoilers below.
In the penultimate Only Murders in the Building episode, we found out who killed Sazz Pataki; in the finale, we learn how. That’s the thing with murder mysteries: the identity of the killer usually isn’t as fascinating as how—or why—the killing took place.
The Only Murders in the Building movie screenwriter, Marshall P. Pope, was a stuntman named Rex Bailey in a past life, during which he befriended and was mentored by Sazz. When he was fired by Ron Howard on The Ronkonkoma Project, she helped him see the silver lining: He could use the free time to focus on his true love: writing. But his scripts weren’t quite clicking. It wasn’t for lack of drama; Marshall had plenty of childhood trauma to tap into. For example, his father, a hunter, pressured him to follow in his footsteps and abandon writing, but Marshall couldn’t seem to stay away. The premise sounds for a great film, right? But no one would pick it up. “It’s not my fault Hollywood is broken,” Marshall says, looking back. Among all the industry commentary OMITB has slipped into this season, from the behind-the-scenes happenings of a film to studio board meetings, this is perhaps its most pointed. But this show has the privilege to make such a statement, because it has an A-list cast and guest stars, plus an approachable premise that any streaming algorithm would favor. It’s also worth noting the irony of watching this on a streamer with a parent company that loves IP, superhero franchises, remakes, and prequels.
While all this was happening, Sazz was dabbling in screenwriting as well. Though she loved doing stunts, writing did not irritate her Osteoporosis like flips and combat did. She was inspired by Charles’s podcast, Only Murders in the Building, and tried adapting it for the big screen. She hadn’t even told her dear friend about it, but decided she would ask his permission before shopping out the script. Trusting in Rex, she showed him her draft—he’s the first person to read it—and to his surprise, Sazz’s writing is amazing. But he’s so consumed with envy that he plots to take it away from her. He tells her the script is bad, he makes a copy, and sells it as his own under a different name (Marshall P. Pope). While he claims that he was merely searching for an agent, the script fell into the hands of Paramount’s Bev Mellon, and she quickly greenlit the film. Sazz soon caught wind and furiously confronted Rex/Marshall (and his fake beard). He urges her not to tell anyone of his deceit; but Sazz insists that she’ll fly to New York the next day and tell Charles everything.
Sure enough, that next night was when she was killed in Charles’s apartment. Marshall posted up in Dudenoff’s place across the courtyard, sniper in hand, and waited for Sazz to come into view. While at first, he couldn’t bring himself to kill her, he convinced himself that maybe this would help his writing process. Maybe had to be a killer in order to be a writer. He shot when he saw Sazz in Charles’s apartment, but she didn’t die right away. To ensure the deed was done, he scaled the apartment building’s walls—his stuntman background coming in handy—and snuck into Charles’s apartment to watch Sazz die. Before her last breath, she managed to write “Tap In” with her own blood on the floor and threaten Marshall that her “number one” will come after him. After that, he disposed of her body in the incinerator.
Marshall (Jin Ha), as Rex, trades scripts with Sazz.
Marshall reveals all this to Charles, Oliver, and Mabel in the Dudenoff apartment. Once he realized in the previous episode that they figured out he was the killer, he held Mabel hostage, threatening to kill her if Charles and Oliver came to her door or called the police. As a workaround, Charles and Oliver did some wall-scaling themselves to break into the unit’s window (see? not the door!) to save her. But now, face-to-face with a stuntman-turned serial killer in a tiny studio apartment, the trio are in even more danger—and not even Eva Longoria’s 19-setting multi-tool could save them. As Marshall holds the threesome at gunpoint, someone shoots him in the back through the window, and he collapses, presumably dead. Surprise! Jan had been watching from Charles’s apartment, with an impressive view through the slits in his blinds, and shot Marshall in the knick of time. Jan, by the way, had been hiding in Charles’s closet and in the Arconia’s secret passageways for weeks since she returned earlier in the season. She was just waiting for Charles and his friends to solve the case so she could jump in and enact her vengeance on Sazz’s killer. Phew.
It took a few seasons, but Charles, Mabel, and Oliver have finally noticed a pattern: Every time they solve a murder, another body drops. Oliver frets his bride Loretta is the next target, but they happily wed in the Arconia courtyard without bloodshed. The only bad news is that Loretta has to film her next show in New Zealand, and she doesn’t want to keep her husband away from his best friends, so they’ll continue on with their long-distance relationship for now. (I fear this means less Meryl Streep cameos in season 5.)
Téa Leoni enters as Sofia.
The series continues to pepper in hints for the next iteration: Charles and Mabel encounter a mysterious but glamorous woman named Sofia Caccimelio (Téa Leoni), who offers to hire them to urgently investigate the death of her husband, Nicky. She hopes they can accomplish what the police couldn’t, and what she couldn’t safely handle alone, for a fat check. Charles says they only investigate murders within the Arconia, but Sofia responds that her husband’s death “has everything to do with the building.” (Ominous!) She leaves them her card in case they change their mind.
As Charles, Mabel, and Oliver conclude another podcast recording while strolling through the courtyard, they find the fountain water is turning red with blood. Lester, the building’s poor doorman, is lying dead in the water. The trio cry for help, but it’s already too late. Lester has perished and will surely be the focus of the following season.
Teddy Coluca as Lester (R.I.P.)
Charles and Oliver haven’t had the best parting words with the sweet doorman, unfortunately. The last time they saw him, earlier in the finale, he was sweeping the floor outside Charles’s apartment. They were in a rush to save Mabel, so they didn’t have time to chat. Oliver, anxious about his wedding day, said that “all [Lester] does is let in murderers.” And Charles brushed off Lester’s anecdotes about his own wedding in the courtyard, during which he and his wife exchanged vows under the stars with just “the fountain as our witness.” (That landmark might be key to solving the case of his death.) And did you notice that when Sofia found Charles and Mabel after Oliver’s wedding, she mentioned there was no doorman on duty? Poor Lester must have been soaking in the fountain overnight.
After hitting the big time in Hollywood this season, it looks like Only Murders will be going back to its New York roots in the next chapter. Let’s hope it can still stay fresh while returning to the familiar.
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.