There’s one thing ‘Only Murders in the Building’ needs to fix in season 5

Only Murders in the Building season 4 is nearly at its end. Episode 9, “Escape from Planet Klongo,” revealed Sazz Pataki’s real killer—or so we’ve been led to believe. In case you haven’t seen it yet, I won’t reveal any names, but there’s still a chance they weren’t working alone. There has to be a twin, right? We’ll find out soon enough.

While the season 4 finale will undoubtedly revolve around the killer’s reveal and the where, how, who, what, and why of it all, I also expect to find out who will die next. It’s an Only Murders tradition to reveal the next victim in the season finale, after all; Bunny Folger in season 1, Ben Glenroy in season 2, and Sazz Pataki in season 3. Who will be next? Will it be someone close to our main trio? Or will it be someone new, introduced at Oliver and Loretta’s upcoming Arconia wedding? Given the name of the show, I assume that’s where the next victim will turn up.

Personally, I hope it’s the former. As this season has proven, the series is at its best when there’s an emotional connection between our podcasters and the victims they’re investigating. It makes the story much richer and more cathartic and gives the narrative a chance to dive deep into these characters’ psyches and pasts. Their pasts are what I’m especially interested in, and they deserve more exploration. While Only Murders in the Building has always had one eye trained on its future, setting up its next mystery, the past has sometimes been neglected or forgotten entirely.

Of course, this season has partially been about filling in the show’s (and the podcast’s) plot holes, like who poisoned Oliver’s dog Winnie in season 1. It’s clever storytelling, and clearly, the murders and mysteries are tied together more closely than we thought. It’s not just the investigations I’m interested in when I watch this show, though. It’s the characters that populate the Arconia and Oliver, Charles, and Mabel’s chaotic lives that I love getting to know, too.

Where is everyone?

This season, apart from Howard—who has been conspicuously absent in the last two episodes—most of the other residents of the Arconia have been largely ignored or not seen at all. The same goes for the most important people in our favorite trio’s personal lives. Loretta has returned, of course (who wouldn’t want to bring back Meryl Streep?) and Sazz is the main focus, but other than that, almost all the secondary characters in this season are completely new. Detective Williams has shown up less than a handful of times to yell at her frenemies and provide them with some crucial info, but what about her family? How’s her baby doing?

Where is Oliver’s son? What about Mabel’s mother, or her friend Oscar? What about Charles’ kind-of-sort-of stepdaughter Lucy? Where is Teddy’s son, Theo, who Mabel was developing a genuine friendship with in season 3? Why have we barely seen Uma in the building this time around? These minor characters make Oliver, Charles, and Mabel’s lives seem more real and lived-in. Sure, Jan briefly returned to scare the crap out of Charles, but she’s now in the wind. We’re left with a new roster of interesting characters, certainly, but the trio’s lives feel slightly more empty. These three unlikely friends may sometimes feel like all they have is each other, but that’s not actually true. The show seems to have forgotten that.

Instead, what we’ve been given this season is a string of (admittedly charming) celebrity cameos, Kumail Nanjiani in a slew of ugly Christmas sweaters, and plenty of characters we’re unlikely to see again once this season ends. We may have been introduced to Charles’ sister, Doreen, played by a delightfully unhinged Melissa McCarthy, but will she ever turn up again? Lucy hasn’t made another appearance, so why should we believe Doreen will? And even if Mabel keeps living in her west-side squat, will the Westies ever return? Somehow, I doubt it.

Of course, Oliver and Loretta’s wedding is the perfect opportunity for the show to bring back these familiar faces, and I’m sure it will. One episode isn’t enough, though, as most of the finale’s runtime will understandably be dedicated to unraveling the mystery of Sazz’s death and revealing the show’s next victim. It definitely won’t be enough if the upcoming season forgets that these loveable minor characters exist all over again. Hopefully, Only Murders in the Building season 5 will remember how important these people are to the Only Murders crew before it’s too late.