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Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Review: No Changes!

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If you didn't like Only Murders in the Building so far, the latest episodes won't change your mind.

Hulu's hit crime comedy about amateur detectives and podcasters investigating a spooky number of murders in their Manhattan apartment building is returning with a fourth season that's almost identical to the first three. For some viewers, that's the best news they could hear. But for anyone who was hoping for a little more nuance, a little more comedy, or just a little more, depth of the Emmy-nominated series, as I was, this is not encouraging.

But who can blame producers John Hoffman and Dan Fogelman for fixing it all? The show has relied on its mood alone for four seasons, earning praise and Emmy nominations for it. As long as you have the main trio of Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez), a revolving door of A-list cameos and a murder mystery, nothing can go wrong. Unless audiences get fed up of it.

Season 4 of Only Murders (streaming Tuesdays, ★★ out of four) can be a bit dull, as was season three. But unlike the boring episode about the murder of the star of Oliver's big Broadway play, season 4 is a bit more engaging. Yes, it's just Martin, Short and Gomez posing for the camera with over-the-top physical comedy and punchlines about generational conflict while trying to solve a very serious crime. But there are some very funny gags from this year's parade of celebrity guest stars, including Eva Longoria and Molly Shannon, and maybe an interesting mystery to solve. Maybe that's enough to forgive Short a few too many bad jokes and Gomez boring lines. Maybe.

The new episodes revolve around the murder of Sazz (Jane Lynch), Charles' former stunt double and friend. It's unclear if Sazz's death is related to the Arconia building or has something to do with an upcoming movie based on the trio's podcast. That movie is moving quickly, helmed by Hollywood boss Bev Melon (Shannon, as always, a delight) and starring Longoria, Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Levy as the trio (the actors play themselves, something Longoria particularly delights in). Charles, Mabel and Oliver find themselves caught in the middle of a Hollywood production, a criminal conspiracy in the building and their own personal and romantic failures, all while trying to figure out what happened to Sazz.

How to find it: Only Murders in the Building Season 4: Release date, time, cast, where to watch the mystery comedy

But four murders in four years in one apartment building? At this point, even the characters are hinting at the sinister. It's just one of many self-referential bits. Some inside jokes are great, but “Murders” goes too far into meta-references and self-indulgent cameos and innuendos. By the time Melissa McCarthy shows up as Charles' much younger sister, who has a crush on Oliver, the series has almost reached its proverbial climax.

But it's good that Longoria is there to be a better Mabel than Gomez ever was (sorry, Selena fans), and Galifianakis is, as always, ready to make himself out to be a jerk. And now that the murder victim is someone close to Charles, Mabel, and Oliver, Care a little more. It is harder to deal with death lightly when you are holding the urn in your hand.

In the seven (of ten) episodes provided for review, it's clear that the show isn't straying from its usual course. The recipe is actually quite simple: Take a murder in the same damn building for some reason; add at least one celebrity pretending to be an unflattering version of themselves; add a motive (season 4 is cinema; last year it was Broadway); an ill-conceived third-act twist and, bam! You've written a new season of this show.

Maybe it's oversimplifying, but is it? Formulaic doesn't necessarily mean bad, but it can get boring. Whether you're left wanting more depends entirely on your taste in the three main characters. If you can't get enough of Gomez, Martin and Short's cheesy humor, then you'd probably be happy to see dozens of people killed in that apartment building for many more seasons.

But if you're getting bored of that particular stuff, well, Season 4 is a mystery you don't have to solve.

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