Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 7 Review: Valley of the Dolls

Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 7, “Valley of the Dolls,” is a mediocre filler episode that offers some entertainment but is lackluster overall.

A lot happens outside of the case, and it’s a bit too much. Charles and Oliver have personal stuff happening, Charles’ sister (Doreen) gets a surprising amount of screen time for no real reason, Mabel tries to work on the case but never does, and then Bev and the actor trio show up.

Again, it’s a lot.

One of the reasons our trio goes to hide out at Doreen’s place is that her husband is a cop (and she lives nearby). Yet Big Mike doesn’t appear until the end and offers no help as a cop. He merely relays a message from Howard.

Charles and Loretta’s storyline has at least been building to this moment all season long. They needed to have a heart-to-heart and get on the same page about their relationship in a way that didn’t involve a finsta account or whatever crazy scheme Oliver would’ve come up with next.

Then there’s Doreen.

We get it. Melissa McCarthy is a national treasure; there’s no denying that. But, that doesn’t mean she needed to take over the bulk of this episode.

Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 7 follows Doreen as she works through her loneliness. We witness her flirting with Oliver and having a brawl with Loretta. She’s heavily featured throughout the episode.

If the show had focused more on the relationship between her and Charles and had her scenes primarily be with him, it would have worked a lot better. And then perhaps the show would have had more room to spend time on another storyline.

All the case progress happens thanks to someone other than our trio. With Howard, we still experience the joy of watching him put the pieces together and learn who has been cashing Dudenoff’s checks. We’re there every step of the way.

With the actor trio, we’re only there for the grand reveal, which is less entertaining.

Part of the joy of this show is tagging along as clues are discovered and put together. Sure, a reveal is fun every now and then, but sometimes half the joy is being there when the metaphorical lightbulb goes off.

We’re robbed of that on “Valley of the Dolls.”

Not only that but it could have been interesting to see the actors approach the evidence. They could have maybe attempted to be in character for part of it, or they could have been completely themselves and we could’ve seen a different approach to things.

To me, that’s a much more interesting storyline, but, we didn’t get to see it.

Stray Thoughts

• Howard is terrible at keeping things under wraps, but we love him anyway.
• I need more of Gazpacho the bodega security cat.
• Bev always keeps us on our toes.
• Eva giving Doreen fighting tips is superb.

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!