Previously on Only Murders – Charles (Steve Martin), Mabel (Selena Gomez), and Oliver (Martin Short) investigate a murder. Last season, the victim was actor Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) and one of the suspects is co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep). Because she’s both innocent and talented, Loretta is free and is in LA working.

Loretta’s move to LA complicates her relationship with Oliver especially because of…reasons, but the gang has bigger problems. Charles’ best friend and stunt double Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch) is the show’s fourth victim, dying as part of last season’s tense cliffhanger. There’s also a lot complicating this multi-targeted whodunit.

Sazz may or may not be the killer’s main target so the Arconians accordingly investigate. They cast a wide net, including New York’s stunt community which includes Ben’s double Glenn Stubbins (also Rudd, but with an Irish accent). Casting a wider net also gets them familiar friends like Detective Wilson (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and new ones from LA.

Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building sees the Arconia Three lose their funding for their musical. But they also get a movie deal where three actors play versions of themselves. The three have varying relationships with these actors (Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, and Zach Galifianakis) with their own motivations. Despite their differences, the six buddy up.

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver think that Sazz may not be the real target and the killer can come from either coast. The Arconia Three and their new friends agree that the killer may be on the other side of the Arconia. Among those new cast members are Daphne Rubin-Vega, Kumail Najniani, and Richard Kind.

Pardon that long synopsis but I do have to cover a lot of things this season. But even with these new changes, all I have to hear is Siddharta Kolsa’s piano heavy score. That’s all I need to bring viewers back to the show’s beautiful melancholy. And then Kumail Nanjiani shows up in a Christmas sweater and I’m laughing again in a good way.

There’s also a push and pull with the first seven episodes that Disney allowed us to see, as the first episode made viewers want the Arconia three to discover that someone murdered Sazz. The reveal of that postmortem, though, feels like one of the most horrific things I’ve ever seen. The show, thankfully, handles that reveal sensitively.

The long synopsis also helps me introduce Richard Kind who is one of the cast’s new aces, as the second episode has him introducing his character’s side of the Arconia and their ‘fresh meat’. There’s also a scene with Kind, Levy, and Martin that reminds us that this show is a comedy.

I’m a cinephile but this season’s theme of cinema is my only real nitpick this season. It’s just another way for the show to introduce ‘fans’, which wasn’t too bad in previous seasons. Episode 6, though, is when the season does a multi-camera episode which isn’t as distracting as it seems.

Only Murders treats its actors equally, varying from character actors like Michael Cyril Creighton and Meryl Streep. Streep feels like she’s playing with the cast’s new members like Melissa McCarthy and Molly Shannon. It’s her best work since Web Therapy. But this show is like most genre mashups. It brings its viewers back to the mystery part of the show in ways that will make us gasp.

Watch Only Murders in the Building starting August 27.