Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 2 Review: Gates of Heaven

While Charles processes the death of his beloved friend, Oliver and Mabel start investigating the West Tower residents on Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 2, “Gates of Heaven.”

The introduction of the west tower and its renters is a smart move on Only Murders in the Building‘s part. We are very familiar with a lot of the tenants of the building — after all, they’ve been suspects in how many murders now? — but the show’s never explored the other tower.

By having the west tower be full of renters, we’re able to meet some characters from different demographics, adding in more variety. The tenants we meet are a fun bunch, and it’s amusing to see just how different they are compared to Charles’ opinion of them.

Let’s hope he gets to pay a visit to the west tower soon. It’ll be an eye-opening experience for him.

However, Oliver and Mabel’s time in the west tower is unsuccessful. They do manage to find where the shot came from and a rogue pig, so case-wise, they make decent progress, but it doesn’t quite work out for us.

The tone of their scenes, especially the ones playing Oh Hell, is just strange, and it doesn’t appear to be intentional.

It’s hard to put a finger on why it doesn’t fully work, but it doesn’t. Some lines could come across as menacing, like the scenes involving the knife and the bathroom, but those don’t land as either threatening or funny.

It’s all just odd, and while I’d like to believe that everything is purposely off-putting, it just doesn’t seem likely.

The highlight and saving grace of this episode is Charles processing and mourning the death of his oldest friend, Sazz.

The comedic notes work — Oliver and Mabel being unphased that he’s hallucinating because they’ve both been there is too good — but the emotional ones are where this episode shines.

Charles has a lot to come to terms with, including the fact that Sazz may have died because the killer mistook her for Charles. A thirty-minute episode is nowhere near enough time to have a character fully grieve, but Only Murders in the Building does a decent job of letting Charles have some space to process before he has to tap in.

Jan breaking out to check on Sazz and potentially murder Charles is not entirely unexpected. It’s a very Jan thing to do. However, the only worrisome thing is that she might be at large for the entirety of the season. If that’s the case, then she’s a threat we have to keep in mind.

While she obviously didn’t kill Sazz, killing Charles is always on her mind, and that’s not something I’m all too eager to have the show focus on again. Hopefully, Detective Williams and the NYPD capture her quickly.

Stray Thoughts

• Detective Williams showing up and then the 9-1-1 operator picking up is just perfect comedic timing.
• The show is going to have to share the rules of Oh Hell. I want to achieve.
• First Grave-y, and now a pig, what animal will appear in the building next?

What did you think of this episode of Only Murders in the Building? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

New episodes of Only Murders in the Building premiere on Tuesdays on Hulu.

Follow us on X and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!