Have you ever wondered about the other Arconia residents that we haven’t met yet?
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 2 addresses this question, and many others, in ‘Gates of Heaven.’ New and old faces alike pop up on our screen this week as we follow Martin Short’s Oliver, Steve Martin’s Charles, and Selena Gomez’s Mabel on their quest for clues.
Well, Charles does take a backseat when it comes to investigating in this episode to cope with Sazz’s murder. We get a glimpse at just how much Sazz meant to Charles. Seeing their touching moments brings a whole new perspective to their friendship. Only Murders in the Building always does a great job at balancing the silly with the sentimental.
Not only do we get to see Sazz (Jane Lynch, Glee) again – in Charles’ hallucinations, of course – but another blonde is back in our lives. You guessed it: Jan (Amy Ryan, The Office) has returned! She escapes from prison and pays Charles a visit. Oliver and Mabel are mostly worried about him, since he is talking to an imaginary Sazz, after all, but Jan is really there and the two of them talk about their memories with Sazz. Charles also comes to accept that the killer wasn’t after Sazz, but wanted to kill him; they just mistakenly thought Sazz was Charles the night she was shot.
Meanwhile, we also see Oliver and Mabel on their hunt for the truth. Before the pair tell Charles to stay put, and before he puts together his clue board with all the papers from Sazz’s desk, Charles points out that the bullet came from the West side of the building – home to residents they call the “Westies.” We are introduced to an interesting cast of characters, from Stink-Eye Joe, to the Sauce family, to the Christmas-all-the-Time guy. There are also some laugh-out-loud moments in many of these scenes, which is another reminder of how well-balanced the show can be.
Oliver and Mabel head over to the Westies and get to see what they’re really like. It turns out Stink-Eye Joe is really Pink-Eye Joe, and more friendly than it seems. The Sauce Family is also different, and they all say that Charles is always looking at their apartments. However, the Westies are suspicious from the start, especially when they say odd, randomly violent things, or talk about the fact they have ham hanging in their bathroom, which all the Westies eat from.
Also, though the episode title is ‘Gates of Heaven,’ it’s more like, “Oh, Hell!” The Westies invite our podcast hosts to play a card game of the same title. They play along, but the vibe Oliver and Mabel get is strange, and it kicks up a notch when they investigate the locked door in the Westies’ wing. When the pair ask the Westies who lives there, they all come up with thinly-veiled lies. But they do reveal a name: Dudenoff.
Of course, Oliver and Mabel take that as a sign to snoop! “Dudenoff” was written on one of Sazz’s notes, along with a passcode to enter the room. The pair check it out, and creepy is an understatement. Though they don’t find much – other than a pig in the bathtub (another Westies connection?) – they do discover that the passcode, 773440, is actually “Oh Hell” upside down. Anyone else get chills?
It’s safe to say there’s a lot more to unpack here. First, Sazz wrote a message in her blood before dying, which the trio uncover at the end of the episode. We also have yet to meet Christmas-all-the-Time guy, but we do have a handful of new suspects on our hands. They are definitely connected to the mystery somehow, but it’s too early to say. Still, for now, it’s great to see the crew snooping around the Arconia again. A family that sleuths together stays together!
