'Only Murders in the Building' Season 4 Review: No Changes!

If you didn’t like “Only Murders in the Building” before, the latest episodes aren’t going to change your mind.

Hulu’s hit crime comedy, about amateur sleuths and podcasters investigating a disturbing number of murders in their Manhattan apartment building, is returning for a fourth season that’s nearly identical to the first three. For some viewers, that’s the best news they’ll ever hear. But for anyone hoping for a little more nuance, a little more comedy, or just a little more depth of the Emmy-nominated series, as I was, it’s not encouraging.

But who can blame producers John Hoffman and Dan Fogelman for keeping things together? The show has been riding on vibes alone for four straight seasons, garnering praise and Emmy nominations. As long as it has the core trio of Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez), a revolving door of celebrity cameos and a murder mystery, nothing can go wrong. Unless the audience tires of them.

Season 4 of Only Murders (airing Tuesdays, ★★ on Four) can be a bit dull, as can season three. But unlike that dull outing about the murder of the star of Oliver’s great Broadway play, season 4 has a bit more spice to the proceedings. Yes, it’s just Martin, Short and Gomez jostling for the camera with over-the-top physical comedy and punchlines about the generation gap as they try to solve a very serious crime. But there are some very funny gags from this year’s parade of guest stars, including Eva Longoria and Molly Shannon, and maybe an interesting mystery to solve. Maybe that’s enough to forgive a few too many lame jokes from Short and some dull line readings from Gomez. Maybe.

The new episodes revolve around the murder of Sazz (Jane Lynch), Charles’ former understudy and friend. It’s unclear whether Sazz’s death is connected to the Arconia building or an upcoming movie based on the trio’s podcast. That movie is moving along nicely, led by Hollywood superstar Bev Melon (Shannon, as usual, a delight) and starring Longoria, Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Levy as the trio (the actors play themselves, which Longoria is particularly pleased about). Charles, Mabel and Oliver are caught in the middle of a Hollywood production, a criminal conspiracy in the building and their own personal and romantic failures, all while trying to figure out what happened to Sazz.

How to find it: ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4: Release Date, Time, Cast, Where to Watch the Crime Comedy

But four murders in four years in one apartment building? At this point, even the characters are pointing out the strangeness of the situation. It’s just one of many self-referential passages. Some of the jokes are great, but “Murders” goes too far with meta-references and self-congratulatory cameos and winks. By the time Melissa McCarthy shows up as Charles’ much younger sister who has a crush on Oliver, the show is about to jump the proverbial shark.

But it’s a good thing Longoria is here to be a better Mabel than Gomez ever was (sorry, Selena fans), and Galifianakis is as willing as ever to come off as a jerk. And now that the murder victim is someone close to Charles, Mabel, and Oliver, they care a little more. It’s harder to be casual about death when you’re holding the urn.

In the seven episodes (out of ten) that have been submitted for review, it’s clear that the show doesn’t stray from its usual path. The recipe is actually quite simple: Take a murder in the same damn building for some reason; add at least one celebrity pretending to be an unflattering version of themselves; add a motive (Season 4 is cinema; last year, it was Broadway); a half-baked third act; and, bam! You’ve written another season of this show.

Maybe I’m oversimplifying, but is that really the case? Formula doesn’t necessarily mean a bad show, but it can get stale. Your appetite for more depends entirely on your taste for the three leads. If you can’t get enough of the kitschy humor of Gomez, Martin, and Short, you’d probably be happy to see dozens of people killed in that apartment building in many more seasons to come.

But if that particular thing is starting to get boring, well, Season 4 is a mystery you don’t need to solve.