Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 2 recap and review: Gates of Heaven

The second episode of Only Murders in the Building’s fourth season picks up in the immediate fallout of Oliver, Mabel, and Charles discovering that Sazz has been murdered and, as you’d expect, the team wastes no time in putting their detective hats back on in hopes of trying to get some answers before the police show up to take over the case. The episode brings about several developments in the case and also features some amazing guest appearances from both new and returning faces. 

Warning: Spoilers from the second episode of Only Murders in the Building season 4 ahead! 

After discovering Sazz’s remains in the building incinerator, Charles is understandably still reeling and in shock what with being covered in Sazz’s ashes still. He doesn’t want to wash them off his hands, and after some spiraling, he decides to wash them off but collect the water with the ashes in a bowl and then put them in a mason jar. 

As Charles is washing off, Oliver and Mabel are trying to figure out the possible angle of the bullet and where exactly Sazz might have been shot. When Charles rejoins them, he tells them he wants to call the police but Oliver and Mabel are hoping to be able to gather some intel before the cops show up and everyone in the building puts their guards up. 

They’ve already made a bit of headway with Mabel discovering some glass shards on the window sill suggesting the bullet came from outside not from within the apartment and Oliver piecing together that Sazz’s body was dragged out of the apartment and to the garbage shoot by someone with access to the building. 

The group isn’t sure where exactly the shot came from, but it seems it came from the West Tower, most likely from the fourth floor. As Charles continues to hallucinate Sazz, Mabel, and Oliver begin to worry that it was Charles who was the target and not Sazz. Rather than accepting that he might have been the target, Charles begins looking into the notes from Sazz’s apartment which include a note that reads “Sick Pup,” a post-it with several random numbers on it, a piece of paper with the word “Dudenoff,” and a piece of paper which reads, “Looking at Charles.” 

As Charles calls 911 and ends up on hold, the team begins discussing potential suspects which is when Charles clues us in on the renters in the West Tower. There’s Stink Eye Joe, The Sauce Family, Christmas All The Time Guy, and a mystery tenant who never opens their blinds.  

Mabel and Oliver begin their investigation 

Leaving Charles behind in his apartment for his own safety, Mabel and Oliver set off to the West Tower to begin looking into their potential suspects. 

They first meet Stink Eye Joe and are welcomed into his apartment when they tell him they’re scouting potential locations for the studios to film their movie. Once inside, we find out his eye patch is the result of severe pink eye and lets them poke around which is when they discover the windows are painted over which prevents them from being opened. He then invites them to join him for a game with The Sauce Family. As they head out to the Sauce Family apartment, Mabel notices that the apartment between the two units has a high-tech lock box that requires a PIN code to unlock the door. 

Once they make it to the Sauce Family’s apartment, they officially meet the family made up of Brazzo’s superfan Inez; her husband, Alfonso; and their daughter, Ana. Mabel and Oliver join the group in playing their favorite card game Oh Hell, and things get weird when they keep excusing themselves to the bathroom to “take a hit” with a knife. When Oliver wins a round, we find out the hit they were talking about was apparently taking a stab at a ham hanging from the shower rod. 

It looks like the meeting might have been a bust until Ana mentions that the mystery apartment with the PIN code is the Dudenoff place. Mabel attempts to gather further intel, but everyone starts acting weird when she presses for information. 

Charles gets a surprise visit from a familiar face 

While Mabel and Oliver are in the West Tower investigating, Charles gets a surprise visit in the form of Jan who surprises Charles in the closet of his apartment. Apparently, she used Charles’ knowledge of the building’s secret passageways to sneak into his apartment undetected, but she was not there to kill him. 

Jan broke out of prison, killing a guard and stealing their uniform, as she had not heard from Sazz and wanted to see if Charles had heard from her. Charles finally breaks the news and tells Jan about Sazz being killed by a sniper, and Jan is in shock as she truly loved Sazz. In fact, it seems Sazz is the reason Jan never tried to kill Charles. 

She tells Charles that the last time Sazz had called her, Sazz mentioned that she was looking into Charles and that Sazz worried there was another murderer in the building. Just like Oliver and Mabel, Jan also believes that Charles was the real target telling him that there was no reason for the killer to try to cover up the murder if they had taken out their real target. 

Their conversation is cut short when Oliver and Mabel make their way back to the apartment, with Jan sneaking out via the passageways before she’s seen by the duo – who fail to believe Charles when he tells them both that Jan was there. 

Was Charles the real target? All signs point toward yes

Oliver and Mabel fill Charles in on the findings from their visit to the West Tower, namely that Dudenoff was the name of the owner of the apartment, and the blinds were always closed. Mabel then figures out that perhaps the numbers were the key to the apartment’s lock, and she and Oliver head back to the West Tower to see if the numbers Sazz had scribbled down were actually for the apartment which they indeed were. 

Once inside, Oliver and Mabel discover that the apartment is definitely not being lived in regularly and find a series of interesting pieces of evidence including a ham radio, a footprint by the window, paint chips that indicate the window had been pried open, a piece of what appears to be tinsel, and a pig in the tub. 

Their sleuthing is interrupted when they hear a banging at the door, but when they open it, they’re shocked to find no one is there – though the pig does get free and runs off. 

Back at Charles’ apartment, just as he’s about to head down to pick up the Luminol Spray the gang had ordered earlier in the episode to use to figure out where Sazz was killed, the police storm into the apartment led by Detective Donna. It turns out their arrival is connected to Jan’s escape, and they ironically arrive just as the 911 dispatch finally picks up and Charles tells the operator and Detective Donna about the murder of Sazz. 

As the cops go to look into the incinerator in the basement with Sazz’s remains, Charles, Oliver, and Mabel use the Luminol Spray to see where Sazz was shot. Upon using the spray, they discover she was shot in the kitchen but that’s not all they discover. It turns out the message Sazz wrote in her blood before her death was, “Tap In,” which happens to be the term she used when she’d tap in for Charles on set. 

Oliver accidentally knocks the Post-it with the numbers on the ground and realizes the numbers might actually be letters as they spell out “Oh Hell,” hinting that Sazz was indeed looking into someone in the West Tower. The episode closes with Charles accepting the reality that they’re no longer investigating Sazz’s murder, but rather are investigating his murder as he was the true target! 

Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 2 review

Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 2 was the perfect follow-up to last week’s season opener and really leaned into the strengths of the show: the core trio! This episode did a perfect job in helping to introduce us to the season’s new suspects – or at least the first batch of suspects — and also served up some amazing cameos from the show’s recurring cast. 

Getting to see Steve Martin and Jane Lynch play off of one another as Charles came to grips with the reality that Sazz’s death was the result of mistaken identity was perfection, and we loved getting to see Amy Ryan back as Jan and getting to play off them as well! And we absolutely loved the moment Da’Vine Joy Randolph literally crashed the party when leading the police force in bursting into Charles’ apartment looking for Jan only to find out that yet another murder has occurred… and that Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are once again at the heart of things. 

Of course, there is nothing better than watching the core trio investigate together and it was such a fun treat getting to see Oliver and Mabel tag-team this episode. Selena Gomez and Martin Short just play so phenomenally well off one another and we loved seeing the pair tagging up to look into the case while they left Charles to fend for himself in his apartment out of worry for their friend. 

But it was really the ending of the episode that reminded us why this show is so brilliant as it does such a great job of giving audiences pieces of the puzzle and strategically pieces them together as the episode unfolds. The episode certainly leaves us wanting more as the case has just begun unfolding and there are a lot of questions for the show to answer in the episodes ahead as Oliver, Charles, and Mabel work to figure out who was behind the murder of Sazz and therefore want Charles dead. 

Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 2 guest cast

The second episode of Only Murders in the Building season 4, “Gates of Heaven,” features yet another amazing guest ensemble comprised of both returning guest players as well as some new faces set to play a big role in the season ahead. 

We get to see Jane Lynch back as Sazz, Amy Ryan back as Jan, and Oscar-winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph back as Detective Donna. The trio has been a core part of the Only Murders family for several seasons now, and it’s always a good time when we get to see these incredible actresses back in the fold playing opposite the show’s talented lead trio! 

“Gates of Heaven,” also introduces fans to several new characters as we get to meet our first wave of suspects from the West Tower who are played by some amazing guest stars! 

There’s character actor Richard Kind as Vince Fish aka Stink Eye Joe, Kumail Nanjiani as Rudy Thurber aka Christmas All The Time Guy, and Desmin Borges as Alfonso, Daphne-Rubin Vega as Inez, and Lilian Rebelo as Ana, aka the Sauce Family. 

So where do you know some of these amazing guest stars from? 

Richard Kind is a character actor who has appeared in nearly 300 titles during his many decades in the industry so odds are he’s popped up in one of your favorite shows on more than one occasion, or perhaps voiced one of your favorite characters. Kind has appeared in far too many titles to rattle off but most recently has appeared in hits such as Evil, Girls5eva, Night Court, and Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie. He’s also lent his voice to Bing Bong in Inside Out, Al Tuttle in American Dad, Marty Glouberma in Big Mouth, and Cheezel and Sneezel in Mickey Mouse Funhouse. 

While his cameo was rather brief, we also got to see Kumail Nanjiani make his Only Murders debut in the episode and he’s no stranger to the big or small screen. Marvel fans will recognize him as Kingo from Eternals, Star Wars fans will spot him as Haja Estree from Obi-Wan Kenobi, and then there are the countless other shows and movies he’s appeared in including The Big Sick, Welcome to Chippendales, Silicon Valley, Franklin & Bash, and The Lovebirds.

As for the Sauce Family? Well, you might recognize Daphne Rubin-Vega from titles such as In the Heights, Katy Keene, tick, tick… BOOM!, and Accused, while Desmin Borges has had roles in many series including The Time Traveler’s Wife, Welcome to Flatch, Utopia, and You’re the Worst.

Don’t miss new episodes of Only Murders in the Building Tuesdays streaming on Hulu!