Only Murders In The Building needs to stop relying on lazy coincidences

It’s one step forward and two steps back with Only Murders In The Building this season, huh? After last week’s outing stepped up the show's game, episode six is a meandering 30 minutes about the Brothers sisters. As someone who’s watched and enjoyed this Hulu comedy from the beginning, I know a certain amount of disbelief is a given. Yet season four’s Hollywood escapades have challenged me. I love that Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy, and Zach Galifianakis are roaming around the Arconia’s corridors, as unrealistic as that feels. The Westies are a hit or miss, but it’s alright because the show’s draw is its main trio. But even I get annoyed by too many coincidences.   

The big twist of fate in “Blow-Up” is that the twin sisters have a connection to the podcast trio—well, sort of. They only agreed to direct the OMITB movie to reconnect with none other than Milton Dudenoff, their former film professor and resident of Arconia West. Isn’t that an eye-roll-worthy happenstance? Trina (Catherine Cohen) and Tawny (Siena Werber) Brothers don’t realize that M. Dudenoff has apparently retired and moved to Portugal. They lost touch with their beloved mentor three years ago because he disapproved of their desire to move to L.A. and make money by directing blockbusters. So to mend fences now, they thought an OMITB movie set in the Arconia might do the trick? Sure. 

Anyway, Tawny and Trina wanted to see how Dudenoff was doing. It’s why they were at his empty apartment the night Sazz Pataki died. They’re not the murderers, the twins claim; they just happened to be in the same location as whoever shot Sazz from there later. Look, I don’t think it’s a fallacy because these two are obvious distractions. “Blow-Up” is about Tawny and Trina’s bizarreness and it establishes their affinity for the grotesque. The twins even describe their filmmaking aesthetic as a cross between voyeurism and body horror. (They’d love Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance.) We also see an early film they made with Dudenoff’s encouragement. It’s called The Desecration Of Alice, a Frankenstein-esque horror story in which both sisters star alongside Vince freaking Fish (Richard Kind). Enter: unbelievable coincidence No. 500. 

Tawny and Trina are familiar with all the Westies already, much to Mabel, Charles, and Oliver’s shock. The trio questions Vince and Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani) about it, learning they all met in Dudenoff’s film class. Rudy says the Brothers sisters were the favorite students, and Vince reveals he only did The Desecration Of Alice as a favor to them. It’s a little too unbelievable that Tawny and Trina haven’t brought this up yet, right? Or that the Westies conveniently didn’t mention it either? This subplot doesn’t feel mapped out. Instead, the vibe is the writers threw darts at the board, coming up with an easy way to connect OMITB’s true-crime and Hollywood worlds. 

While this aspect of the episode did not land at all, “Blow-Up” has some great stuff going for it. The half-hour is filmed almost entirely as if it’s a documentary, which is pretty neat. Various camera perspectives follow Charles, Mabel, and Oliver in the aftermath of episode five’s cliffhanger shooting. Don’t worry: Oliver gets out of the gunfire unscathed. Much to Detective Williams’ (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) relief, Zach Galifianakis is only slightly injured. However, Glen Stubbins (Paul Rudd) is in serious condition. The poor guy cannot catch a break, can he?  

The trio is spooked because two out of the three of them have now almost died. What if Mabel’s next? To document their investigation and use the footage as evidence in case something happens, Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) keeps filming them, so he captures the exact moment the trio uncovers a huge secret. It turns out that Sazz wasn’t the only one burnt to a crisp in the Arconia incinerator. Among her charred remains, they find two left shoulder replacement joints, which means there’s a second body. Detective Williams confirms it belongs to—dun dun dun—Milton Dudenoff! 

So the big suspect so far is a victim himself. Dudenoff isn’t on the run in Europe, leaving his apartment vacant for Mabel to squat in. He’s been dead this whole time (only murders in this building indeed). The trio has to solve two deaths now, and it looks like the killer is closer than they think. 

By the end of “Blow-Up,” they find out someone has hidden cameras all around their apartment, secretly spying on Charles, Mabel, and Oliver for who knows how long. Then, each of them receives a text with a photo of the words “I’m Watching You.” Is it just me or did this image look eerily similar to the note Jan (Amy Ryan) found pinned to her door in season one, which also said “I’m Watching You"? This forces the trio to flee from New York City and go someplace safe. We’ll find out where next week, but I suspect we’re about to meet Charles’ sister, who's played by Melissa McCarthy. Bring it on!  

Stray observations

• • Martin Short gets the funniest lines, as always. Oliver’s “Nobody around here shoots the right people” after Uma yells at the trio was excellent. Ditto the “Charles, we could die at any moment. Please make your fun facts funner.” 
• • Howard: “You’re supposed to ignore the camera.”
  Oliver: “It loves me. That would be wrong.” 
• • As soon I saw Oliver removing multiple big jars of dips to watch The Desecration Of Alice, I wrote, “Oh, thank goodness” in my notes. My man is eating!
• • Here’s a little more interesting background on Tawny and Trina: They stole their first camera at age nine; they did not fit in with others in their high school; and they attended Sheepshead Bay Community College, which is where they first met Dudenoff. 
• • Speaking of this mysterious figure, we finally have a face attached to the name. Welcome to the OMITB guest star list, Griffin Dunne! 
• • The Westies have to be the ones cashing Dudenoff’s social security checks at the nearby bodega, right? 
• • Oliver’s big regret after nearly dying is that he hasn’t professed his undying love to Loretta. So he calls her up on the set of her Grey’s Anatomy spin-off and word vomits that he almost proposed to her in L.A,, and it’s an idea he’s still entertaining because she’s his soulmate. Her response to his heartfelt confession: “Ugh.” He doesn’t know Loretta’s face is covered in gauze as part of her shot and is unable to speak. I hope this means Meryl Streep shows up soon to discuss their relationship! 
• • I do love that so many cool films were referenced in this episode, from The Princess Bride to Moonstruck. 
• • One of the reasons Rudy finds the Brothers sisters weird is he spotted them eating a whole apple, including the seeds and the sticker. I can see why he’s still not over it. 
• • Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s exasperated delivery of “Do you hear me? The fuck?” wins line reading of the week.