Reviewer Rating: 4/5.0
4
This is not an illusion. Saz is dead.
In Murder in the Building Season 4 Episode 2, Charles comes to the brutal realization that his best friend Saz is not going to suddenly show up safe and sound.
However, when Saz suddenly shows up, this is what it initially feels like: It’s just a joke, there’s no way the writers are going to kill off Jane Lynch, and someone else will take her place as this season’s murder victim.
But that’s not the case.
Saz does return, but as a ghost, not only to help Charles with his grief, but also to help him figure out who killed her and who is framing him.
lose a friend
Grief is a funny thing and people deal with it differently.
But one thing in common, especially after someone you love passes away, is trying to stay as close to that person as possible, whether it’s clothing, perfume or ashes.
Charles is still so shaken by the murder of his old friend that he can’t even bear to wash his hands of her ashes.
He didn’t want to disrespect her, but he wasn’t ready to let her go either.
Oliver and Mabel try their best to be compassionate toward Charles.
Even Oliver came out of himself and even though he said some stupid things, he immediately regretted them.
The team immediately tried to piece together clues brought back from Saz’s Los Angeles apartment and Charles’s apartment in Arconia.
Mabel and Oliver couldn’t see Saz, so they believed Charles was particularly sad about her death, which he was.
Sazz: You don’t have to feel bad. This is the show. I take the hits for my guy.
The two tried to comfort Charles as best they could, which is what true friends do, just like Saz did, by sticking by Charles’ side.
I think she’ll be with him all season long.
Oliver and Mabel don’t want Charles to get too involved in the murder investigation so he can deal with his grief, but they also don’t want him to suffer any more trauma than he already has.
They want to shoulder the burden of the investigation for him, but they also want to protect him from anyone who would try to murder him.
Charles did help by giving them information about possible murder suspects in the West Tower, four suspects to be exact, all of whom had perfectly “shot” into Charles’ apartment.
The “Western Region” seems to be less popular with “ordinary” Arconian residents.
They were looked down upon for a variety of reasons, including that they were “tenants.”
They’re all weirdos with weird names like “Stink-Eyed Joe,” “The Sauce Family,” and “Santa Claus.”
These were names that Charles came up with on his own because he didn’t want to know or get to know his neighbor across the street.
Again, this all comes back to the theme of perception, whether it’s what we think of ourselves, how we think of others, or how we think others see us, which I wrote in my Only Murder in the Building season 4 premiere review This was discussed in .
Surprise in the closet
As Mabel and Oliver set out to investigate the West, Charles is left alone to reflect on his friendship with Saz – and an old friend unexpectedly arrives for a visit.
Jane escapes from prison and uses the Arconia’s secret tunnels to break into Charles’ apartment.
But she wasn’t here to kill him.
So, that’s a possible suspect.
She visited Charles because she was worried about Saz, but she also gave him some additional information to help his investigation, although she didn’t specify it.
Jan: Snipers are jerks. What’s the point of killing if you don’t watch the release up close? This is the best part.
It’s a little silly that she shows up and then takes off, but her presence does put Det at ease. Williams joins the investigation.
I’m sure Charles’s take on New York’s 9-1-1 system was a joke, but since I don’t live in New York it fell a little flat, which is exactly what Jane’s sudden appearance felt like.
Just looks lazy.
western region
The Westies are a fun bunch who are a little obsessed with Mabel and Oliver’s looks.
That’s not just because the Arconia trio are about to make a movie about their podcast, but also because they hail from the East Building.
As mentioned, the “Westerners” are Arconian outcasts, so, of course, they’ll be excited by any attention from the other side, even if they don’t know they’re being investigated for murder.
What I’m trying to say is that “West End” refers to the old Irish gangsters from Hell’s Kitchen, which was a poor, working-class neighborhood.
Sauce Family’s favorite card game “Oh Hell” got me going in this direction.
This is also consistent with the disdain the East Tower Akenians have for the West Tower residents.
Is classism an underlying theme on this season of Murder in the Building? You never know what’s going on in Hollywood these days.
We do learn that Stink-Eyed Joe’s real name is Vince Fish (Richard Kind), and that the “Sauce Family” aren’t as scary as Charles makes them out to be, despite their strange habit of putting a Ham imported from Portugal is kept at home.
But what’s interesting is how Oliver and Mabel react whenever any of these characters do something fishy, like grabbing a knife and chopping up the leg of ham.
Although a piece of tinsel was found in Dudnov’s apartment, we’ve yet to meet “the guy who keeps having Christmas.”
main murder suspect
It was clear from the start that Dudnov would be the prime murder suspect.
I don’t remember if we were able to see the card with that name on Saaz’s desk in Once Upon a Time in the West, but when Charles said he would never see the inside of that apartment, Dudnoff moved in The top of my desk.
Plus, whoever stays in the apartment has a lockbox, which, along with all the other clues Mabel and Oliver find inside, makes it almost like Murder 101.
I don’t know what the pig in the bathtub represents, but maybe it will mean something later in the season. Maybe it has something to do with the ham hock in the sauce family. Maybe not.
Maybe Dudnoff is working with someone else in the West Wing, like “The Man Who Always Lives Christmas,” but if they are, we’re not there yet.
It seems the cast of the podcast movie hasn’t come to Arconia yet to follow their real-life counterparts.
It’ll be interesting when that happens.
Where is Howard?
It will be fun to bring the tomb with you as Mabel and Oliver investigate the West Building.
Next time.
While we get some clues about possible murder suspects, we don’t get any information as to why anyone would want to kill Charles.
We now know that Charles, not Saz, was the intended target, because whatever Saz wrote on the floor in her blood, Charles now takes the threat more seriously.
Death is nothing funny
I don’t think this episode was intended to have the kind of humor we saw in Murder in the Building.
There are definitely some laughs, but sometimes it’s hard to find the humor when someone close to you dies.
Charles: You’re not just a stuntman. You took care of me in the way one can take care of others. You are my oldest and best friend. What would I do without you?
We saw how important Szaz was to Charles’ life in Heaven’s Gate, and it’s surprising how important Charles was to Szaz through the documentary.
It also gives our trio another opportunity to grow, not just personally, but as friends and a team that we love.
So what, Arkoniacs? Is Dudnov your first choice?
Why do you think he or she wanted Charles dead?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
