Spoilers

“Gates of Heaven”

Two episodes in and I am completely enthralled with this new season of Only Murders in the Building.

Steve Martin may be doing some of his best work of his long and illustrious career as Charles went through the episode trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he might have been the target of the murder attempt that claimed the life of his friend and stunt double, Sazz. Martin’s performance was beautiful as he spoke to the delusion he was seeing of Sazz. This was both sad as could be and relatable in a situation that just was crazy.

While Charles was breaking our hearts in his apartment (and kind of reuniting with escaped killer Jan), Oliver and Mabel went to investigate the Westies, people who could be the shooter in apartments across from Charles’ place, in the west end of the Arconia. These were some weirdos, led by Richard Kind’s “Stink Eye Joe” aka Vince Fish and his moving pink-eye. We also met a family who invite Oliver and Mabel to join them in a card game called Oh Hell. Some of the things that happen with the Westies are truly crazy and are either meant to throw us off or to highlight how crazy things are in this part of the Arconia. We certainly see that they know something more than they let us know.

We do not meet the Westie that Charles dubbed Christmas Guy, played by Kumail Nanjiani. Apparently, his apartment is decorated for Christmas year round. Oh, and by the way, when Oliver and Mabel were in the apartment where they believe that the shooter took the shot, Oliver found some tinsel. That clue may be too on the nose to be anything but a red herring, but you never can tell with this show.

I thought this was tremendous, with Steve Martin and Jane Lynch were amazing. I found the documentary that was the only time Sazz’s own face was on the screen packed a powerful wallop. Steve Martin’s moments at the beginning of the episode when he had Sazz’s ashes all over his hands and he did not know how to wash them off respectfully was both funny and crushing at the same time. His plan of washing off the ashes and catching the water in a bucket, putting the water in a Mason jar and allowing the water to evaporate to leave the ashes was never going to work, but it displayed the tremendous shock that Charles was suffering from.

I love the start of this season and I am thoroughly enjoying each episode so far. Only Murders in the Building airs on Hulu.