'Only Murders in the Building' S1, Ep. 4: This Should be on a Podcast

"Embrace The Mess" could be an interesting mantra for some people. In the fourth episode of Only Murders in the Building, entitled "The Sting," our trio of crime-solvers - Charles, Oliver, and Mabel - decide to act on some big hunches with clever, albeit messy, planning and execution. It mostly flames out, but the journey was well worth it for the audience's sake. This show continues to deliver such pleasant, simple comedy that feels completely in rhythm with the show (as opposed to a contrived, "set-up, punchline" cadence).

The key scene of the episode is when the trio delivers a cooked turkey to Sting's house. Yes, they think Sting may be the murderer after seeing him at the victim's funeral and learning how much he dislikes dogs, which could mean that Sting - and only Sting - could be responsible for the death of Oliver's dog (revealed at the end of Episode 3). The trio, though, wasn't sure of a good plan to infiltrate Sting's apartment to look for clues, so they turn to the only place they know.

They used their connections to set up an appointment with none other than Cindy, the voice of the true-crime podcast they all listen to. Cindy - played by Tina Fey (another comedy genius) gives them a piece of advice to help with their investigation. Fey immediately protruded such a cheeky approach to such a serious character; I was getting Will Ferrell vibes. In the show, Cindy is in the middle of a $30 million deal to get acquired from an unknown high roller (more on that later), but she already acted like she was hot stuff, which fit perfectly with Charles and Oliver.

Prior to meeting with Cindy, the two old guys try to get Mabel to understand who Sting is, but she doesn't get any of the major song references. I'm glad the writers aren't forgetting to remind us how odd this trio working together really is. And yes, we get the generational differences. I love those kinds of jokes, but I hope they don't get too carried with those.

Later on, the group is finally ready to trojan horse Sting's apartment. They bring a cooked turkey, and Charles plays the role of bumbling idiot by prancing into his apartment uninvited to get them all in. Turns out, Sting just happens to have moved up his upcoming concert to get out of town sooner, and he will have his apartment remodeled while he's gone, suggesting he has something to hide. Sting apparently fired Tim, the victim, shortly before his death. He even had a funny confession as he bared his guilty feelings. I mean, Sting really tried hard to get a little emotional (who could've guessed?!). Then, just as suddenly, Sting turns a 180 as was incredibly relieved when he finds out Tim was murdered (suggesting, of course, Sting is not the actual murderer).

Even though Sting is seemingly out of the picture, we get other twists that could lead to drama. Oliver's son reveals to the two old guys that Mabel knew who Tim was (they were childhood friends, which we, as the audience, have seen already). This knowledge should add an interesting twist moving forward. Will Charles and Oliver confront Mabel about this? Will it throw off their investigation? Near the end of this episode, the audience also sees Mabel putting together a couple of clues that appear to give her a new lead, but she probably won't tell the guys in this instance, either. Her motivation to solve this case continues to appear more personal, almost as if she was involved somehow.

In the first couple of episodes, we saw some vulnerable moments with Oliver. This week's side story focused on Charles, who has a flirty side suitable for someone his age. We've seen the woman already; Jan is the tenant who was with the trio in the elevator last week. She plays the bassoon (which I honestly had no idea was even a real instrument prior to this show) by her window for all tenants to hear. But Charles decides to play along with her using his accordion, which was adorable.

Their dinner date was a disaster, but not in the comical way you'd expect. No real physical comedy; instead, Steve Martin actually showed some acting chops by making everyone (including the audience) feel incredibly uncomfortable; clearly he isn't good as this first-date thing. The way he unraveled was so funny even when he wasn't trying to be funny (another skill of a good comedy actor). Despite his hiccups, he was mostly fine until he decided not to be even the slightest bit vulnerable and share some stories that would give Jan insight into who he is.

But he gives himself a second chance. The next day, he storms Jan's front door and blurts out a huge, personal story about how his last relationship ended (which accounted for psychologically-driven imaginary Bug Bunny and Porky Pig he apparently dragged with him whenever he was alone). Works like a charm, even when there is no charm. It'll be a cute story to follow the rest of the way.

For me, though, the most interesting story to follow now is how Cindy plays into all of this. We get a flash forward scene where she's recording a podcast about a new murder, and it apparently involves our trio! Does one of them die? Do they ever solve Tim's case? My initial guess was that it was a misdirect: if Oliver's podcast blows up, maybe Cindy will want to team up with them, or maybe she joins their podcast as a guest. But the conspiracy theorist in me is hoping that Cindy is involved with Tim's death because she's trying to drum up business/content for her own show. Silly, I know, but that's my dark-horse prediction. The $30 million acquisition will play a much bigger factor than the audience may have been led onto in this episode, at least, so I hope. The other twist to all this is when Cindy states "Only Murderers in the Building," which is a slight tweak on Oliver's title. Maybe they compromise on the title down the line? Lots of questions that need answering, and undoubtedly won't come until the end of the season. Keep them coming, then!