‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 Ending Explained: Who Killed Sazz Pataki?

After solving the case, Charles, Mabel and Oliver are left with a new mystery on their hands as another resident of the Arconia is found dead 

Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short in "Only Murders in the Building." (Disney/Patrick Harbron)

Note: The following story contains spoilers from “Only Murders in the Building” Season 4, Episode 10.

Charles, Mabel and Oliver successfully took down Sazz’s killer in the Season 4 finale of “Only Murders in the Building,” titled “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” But Tuesday’s episode left some unanswered questions behind and yet another murder for the trio to solve next year after a beloved resident of the Arconia is killed.  

After learning in last week’s episode that Marshall Pope/Rex Bailey is Sazz’s stunt double protege, Charles and Oliver returned to the Arconia looking for Mabel, but she didn’t answer the phone. That is until a text comes in from her phone that reads: “Call the police and come anywhere near her door and I’ll kill her.”

The pair quickly opened the blinds on their window and looked across the way into Mabel’s apartment, where she was standing at the window holding Sazz’s “Only Murders in the Building” movie script with Rex standing next to her before he shut the blinds.

As Mabel confronted Rex for stealing the script, he admitted that he was responsible for Glen Stubbins’ death in the hospital but that he didn’t want to kill him (nor did he want to accidentally shoot Zach Galifianakis). As she tried to move toward him, he pointed a gun at her telling her not to move. As a way to buy time, Mabel started going through Rex’s latest script — prompting him to wait until after they finished the rewrite to kill her. 

Meanwhile, Charles realized that the only way that Rex could’ve killed Sazz was by walking out on the ledge of the Arconia and using it to get around the building to dispose of Sazz’s body within 12 minutes. And it turns out, that’s the only way they could save Mabel. As Charles started to climb out the window, Oliver said he should just use Vince Fish’s apartment window since it’s right next door. 

Steve Martin and Martin Short in “Only Murders in the Building.” (Disney/Patrick Harbron)

On the way to the West Tower, the pair bumped into Lester, who informed Oliver that the chuppah for his wedding had arrived and wanted to know where to put it. Before brushing him off, Oliver put him in charge of organizing how the wedding looked, but warned him if he gets anything wrong he will “destroy” him. Oliver then met Loretta in the courtyard of the Arconia, where she said she can’t marry him because her television show is moving production to New Zealand. After saying she can’t quit, Oliver said he would be willing to move to New Zealand with her and told her to go to his apartment, lock the door and not answer it for anyone.

Charles and Oliver enter Vince Fish’s apartment as he and Rudy were in the middle of an exercise session. As Charles climbed out onto the ledge, he looked down at the drop and was afraid to move (During a flashback earlier in the episode, he revealed he’s still working on getting over a fear of heights). As he called out for Sazz to tap in and admitted he can’t do it by himself, he’s tapped on the shoulder by Oliver, who decided to join him out on the ledge after previously saying he wouldn’t. Oliver told Charles to turn around and face the wall in order to keep moving and said they’ll merengue the rest of the way to get to the apartment window to save Mabel.

As Charles and Oliver approached the window, Rudy and Vince knocked on the apartment door asking for ingredients to make sugar chicken in order to distract Rex. Mabel quickly opened the window and Charles ended up climbing into the apartment. Oliver asked him to get back out on the ledge so they could get away, but he decided to confront Rex for killing Sazz, grabbing Eva Longoria’s 19-in-1 multi-tool and firing off nails that landed in the door. The distraction allowed him to kick the gun out of Marshall’s hand as Oliver picks it up and points it at him. 

As they put him in a chair seeking answers for why he killed Sazz, Mabel revealed to Charles and Oliver that Sazz wrote the “Only Murders” movie and that Rex stole it from her. He said he tried to become a writer by monetizing his own trauma — a kid who wants to become a writer despite pressure from his father to become a hunter. Rex’s father gave him six months to make it in Hollywood and told him he’s a killer not a writer. Despite his efforts, Rex struggled to get anyone to read his work and was about to call it quits when he met Sazz. 

After the incident on Project Ronkonkoma, Sazz told Rex his stunt career was over but that he can get back to writing, and offers to read the latest draft of his screenplay. After being inspired by him, she decided to share her draft of the “Only Murders” movie with him asking for his thoughts in a moment of vulnerability. After reading it, Rex realized it’s better than anything he’d ever written. But he told her it’s not very good and that he’ll make a copy and come up with some fixes to which she agreed. He proceeded to change his name to Marshall Pope and sent it all around Hollywood, where it landed at Bev Mellon’s office, who decided to greenlight and fast track its development.

But Sazz quickly found out after being shown the script by some stunt friends and confronted Rex for lying to her, adding that she didn’t even tell Charles and wanted his permission before shopping the script. When Rex said it was his dream to work in Hollywood, Sazz said that her dream was to take the money from selling her script to build her trampoline park in New Jersey. Rex tried to convince her not to say anything, but she said she no longer trusts him and that she was heading to New York to see Charles make his Broadway debut and to tell him about the script and what happened before kicking him out of her apartment.

In an attempt to stop her, Rex booked a red eye and gained access to the Dudenoff apartment after it was mentioned in an earlier draft of Sazz’s script. As she walked through the courtyard of the Arconia, Rex struggled to pull the trigger. After trying to convince himself he’s a writer not a killer, he decided that he’s going to be a killer to become a writer. He’s given another chance to kill Sazz as she walked through Charles’ apartment and shoots her. He then climbed onto the radiator to get a better look and saw that Sazz was still alive and decides to walk the ledge around the Arconia to finish the job. In her last breath, Sazz warned Rex that her No. 1 is going to get him and she has written the words “tap in” in blood next to her. He got rid of the body by throwing Sazz down the trash chute into the incinerator.

Back in the present, an angry Charles threw Eva Longoria’s multi-tool at Rex, but missed and hit the wall, allowing Rex to parkour his way over to get the gun back from Oliver which he pointed at the trio. Just as he’s about to kill them, he’s shot in the back through the window by Jan (Amy Ryan), who was standing in Charles’ apartment holding a sniper. Upon returning to Charles’ apartment, Jan was arrested by the police and revealed that she never left the Arconia after visiting Charles earlier in the season. 

After solving the case, Charles, Mabel and Oliver watch Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria and Zach Galifianakis act out a scene in the “Only Murders” movie as Sazz wrote it. After the doppelgänger trio congratulated themselves for helping the real trio solve the case, Bev Mellon approached Mabel to inform her she’s set up a pitch meeting to talk with her about her own ideas, but Mabel declined. Charles also got closure as he’s visited by Sazz’s ghost one more time, who congratulated him for solving the case.

It’s then time for celebration back at the Arconia, where Oliver and Loretta officially tied the knot. While the pair was dancing, Loretta told Oliver that he couldn’t move to New Zealand and leave Charles and Mabel behind, so she decides that she will leave by herself the next morning. As Charles and Mabel wait for the elevator after the wedding, the former revealed that he’s going to spread Sazz’s ashes in New Jersey where she planned to build her trampoline park.

The elevator door opened to reveal a woman named Sofia Caccimelio (Tea Leoni), who is looking to hire them to find her missing husband Nicky Caccimelio (His name is mentioned on a TV in the hospital where Glen Stubbins is being held in a blink and you’ll miss it moment in episode 9). But Charles says that they only investigate murders in the building and turn her down, to which she replied that her husband’s disappearance has everything to do with the Arconia and gives them her number if they change their minds.

The next day, Oliver said goodbye to Loretta, who was headed off to the airport to fly to New Zealand, while Charles and Mabel walked through the courtyard as the pair finish recording the latest podcast, noting that they got a happy ending and threw a whole wedding without another murder happening at the Arconia. But that celebration is short-lived, as blood pours out from the courtyard fountain, where they find Lester dead in the fountain. The camera zooms out from Lester’s body as the trio frantically yell his name and call 911.

Teddy Coluca in “Only Murders in the Building.” (Disney/Patrick Harbron)

Season 4 leaves viewers with several unanswered questions: How did Lester get in the fountain? Is there any connection between his murder and Sofia’s husband? And who was the person who’s been watching the trio all this time? We’ll have to wait and see what happens next when “Only Murders in the Building” returns for Season 5. 

All four seasons of “Only Murders in the Building” are available to stream now on Hulu.

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