Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 6 ‘Blow-Up’ Review:
Get ready to take a peek into the minds of the Brothers Sisters with their latest production, episode six, titled “Blow Up.” This installment of Only Murders in the Building is filmed using Howard’s camera and others the Brothers Sisters planted around the Arconia.
Right from the start, everything does in fact “blow up,” as Oliver – and the other Olivers on set – are shot at. Zach Galifianakis and the stunt double go down, and before long, the others rush back to their apartment to figure out how and why the Brothers Sisters are behind this. We also discover that Dudenoff isn’t in Portugal, but instead has been cashing social security checks in NYC. While Charles wants to run and get out of town, Mabel convinces them they have a case to solve.
As the true crime trio goes to investigate further, Marshall (Jin Ha, Pachinko) clues Mabel in to the twins’ past. We learn about their student film (and also hear more about their history from themselves, as they narrate parts of the episode). They’ve been filmmaking for years and the only person who believed in them was their professor.
The trio watch their student film, only to discover none other than Vince Fish (Richard Kind, Inside Out) starring in their movie. When they pay him a visit, his pink eye’s eyepatch is on the wrong side, but he just explains it away with “it hops.” That does seem suspicious, but nothing much comes of it yet – except that we find out Dudenoff was also his, and Rudy’s (Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick), film professor. Dudenoff’s favorites were the twins, which connects the Brothers Sisters to Dudenoff after all.
Meanwhile, Oliver also tries calling and telling Loretta he wanted to propose to her, but she gives almost no response, other than some slightly disgusted muffled noises. We discover that she’s filming a movie in which she’s totally covered up in a cast, but Oliver doesn’t know that, and it’s sad to see him so down about it. But there’s not much time to wallow in the sadness, as Howard’s dog knocks over Sazz’s ashes, and the trio find two left shoulders in the mess. This can only mean one thing: there was another body in the incinerator. And Sazz wasn’t the only murder in the building!
It truly wouldn’t be Only Murders in the Building if there weren’t constantly more, well, murders in the building. They confront the Brothers Sisters at last, asking if they would do anything for Dudenoff – even kill. While they admit that they would, and that he was their mentor who understood their vision, did they actually kill for him?
Not quite. The crew gets an alert about the owner of the other left shoulder, and it’s none other than Dudenoff. That means he can’t be the murderer, and the Brother Sisters would never have done it. And someone has been pretending to be Dudenoff, cashing checks at the bodega.
That’s far from the only reveal we get. It turns out the Brothers Sisters weren’t the only ones putting their cameras to work. Other cameras were planted in the trio’s apartments, watching their every move. They also receive messages from an unknown source – the same person texting from Sazz’s phone – letting them know they’re being watched. It’s very Pretty Little Liars, and a gripping conclusion to this episode, as Charles, Mabel, and Oliver decide they need to leave the city.
We’ll have to wait until the next episode to find out more about their secret texter, but the crew officially has two murders on their hands now and no sure suspects. It’s going to be a race to the finish to find out who killed Sazz and Dudenoff – and why.
Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 7, ‘Valley of the Dolls’ Review
If you thought Only Murders in the Building couldn’t get even more star-studded, buckle up, because this episode features the most amount of famous faces we’ve seen yet, all within the span of forty minutes. And this time, they’re all in on the crime solving – both the crime and the solving parts.
We last saw our trio fleeing the city in hopes of refuge. They decide to hide out at Charles’ sister Doreen’s place in Suffolk, and she’s played by none other than Melissa McCarthy. It’s always fun to see the show sneak in another cameo.
Once they arrive, they’re greeted by Doreen and her many, unsettling dolls, which she uses as a substitute for her kids, after they all moved on with their lives. Her cop husband also is currently living in a boat in the driveway, as him and Doreen are on the outs; this sparks Doreen’s newfound crush on Oliver, who – as we all know – is still reeling from Loretta’s (Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada) supposed rejection. In fact, he even breaks up with her over text on the way to Doreen’s, including about a dozen exclamation points in his message (…very classy).
Meanwhile, Mabel calls Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton, American Fiction) and asks him to go to the bodega to find out who is cashing Dudenoff’s checks. She lets him know they’re headed to Suffolk to hide from the murderer, and Howard then tells literally everyone else. The cast of characters we know show up periodically, including Bev Melon (Molly Shannon, Will & Grace), Loretta, and the three actors playing the crew in the film.
It’s wild to see all of these actors under one roof! But, they all have their own little side quests. Bev Melon gets drunk, curses everyone out, and lies down for a nap, while Loretta walks in on Doreen and Oliver in an accidentally compromising position. Oliver explains that it’s nothing, and Loretta reveals it was her double who answered the phone the other day – and that she’d never react to Oliver in such a harsh way. It’s nice to finally see Loretta and Oliver hash things out after last week’s misunderstanding, but they also get into an argument when Loretta realizes Oliver was catfishing as a fan on social media.
While it might seem like a potential breakup is on the horizon, all is not lost for the pair. Loretta and Doreen fight each other – literally, physically throw each other around in the living room – while the others stand by watching. Meryl Streep and Melissa McCarthy yanking each other’s hair in the middle of an Only Murders living room was not on our bingo card for the year, but they both pulled it off super well.
After this, Doreen has to confront a lot of the things that have made her upset over the years, including her past trauma from her and Charles’ parents. She’s finally able to have a heart to heart with Charles, and he confirms he’ll be visiting a lot more often. Doreen even makes up with her husband at the end of the episode, as the true crime trio all sit together in the driveway boat. How wholesome.
They’re not the only ones with a sweet conversation. Loretta and Oliver mend the tear in their relationship and are able to move past all of the chaos. In fact, Loretta wants to get married, and takes it upon herself to propose, with a doll’s tiny bracelet. And, of course, Oliver, hopelessly in love with her, says yes. This is so exciting, as it means we might have a wedding in the coming episodes, which only spells out more fun.
In the meantime, it’s up to a reluctant Mabel to babysit the actors who came knocking down Doreen’s door. It turns out they aren’t just good for wreaking havoc – these actors can bust some mean detective chops. They bring out their skills and, after one big, weird sleepover in Doreen’s doll house, they make their very own murder wall, complete with clues leading all the way back to season one.
Yup, you heard that right. This crime traces back to the early days of the podcast, and the note suspiciously left for Winnie, Oliver’s dog, after his death, and the one pasted on Jan’s door. This means someone has been after them for four seasons now, and it makes the crime that much bigger. Sazz was also piecing this together on her own before she died, which might have been what she was in a rush to tell Charles. Good job to the actors for putting that one together!
Howard is also on his detective game, as he goes to the bodega and finds Dudenoff’s name written in the book, cashing the checks – all in different handwriting. How strange. Then, he watches the security footage and sees a bunch of people coming in and out to sign off as Dudenoff. Let’s guess who it is, shall we? Here’s a hint: they live in the Arconia, and they rhyme with the Besties.
The Westies might actually be behind all of it from the start. There’s definitely always been a feeling that Vince Fish is hiding something and that the Westies are squirming a bit, but who knows if this is the real answer to the mystery. All we do know is that Vince picks up the phone when Howard calls the Dudenoff number from the bodega book and answers, “This is Milton Dudenoff.”
It’s hard to say what’s going on here – is it a case of a secret identity, or just an anagram? Has Dudenoff been in front of our eyes this whole time? Is Dudenoff even real, and was he really their film professor? Whose body is in the incinerator with Sazz’s, if Dudenoff really is Vince? Every episode leaves us with even more questions, but we’re getting closer and closer to unmasking the killer, and with so many characters involved, it might just be the most complicated reveal yet.
