Only Murders in the Building is back with a bang for Season 4, and this time the sleuthing trio of Charles-Haden Savage, Oliver Putnam and Mabel Mora are rubbing shoulders with the Hollywood fraternity. Sticking to the show’s signature mix of comedy and mystery, this season kicks off with a thematic focus on doppelgangers and self-reflection. Here’s what happens in the first episode of Season 4, streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

A shocking opening

The episode begins with Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) wrapping up the latest episode of their true crime podcast, Only Murders in the Building. As Charles records the final voiceover a power surge disrupts the session, triggering Oliver to quip that a power outage hadn’t occurred since the building incinerator was last used. Later, the trio head to Charles’s apartment for a nightcap, only to find it eerily empty. The absence of Sazz Pataki (Jane Lynch), Charles’s stunt double who had earlier come to the apartment for some wine, strikes the trio as very odd.

Hollywood comes calling

The plot thickens as Charles, Oliver and Mabel discover that their podcast has inspired a screenplay, and Paramount Pictures is eager to turn their story into a movie. The studio’s producer, Beth Mellon (Molly Shannon), needs their signatures to proceed. While the trio are tuning into the frenetic pace of Hollywood, Charles is increasingly distressed for not being able to contact Sazz and the strange whistling sound he hears.

The episode introduces a tone of sarcasm as Charles, Oliver and Mabel mingle with the actors who will play them in the film at a star-studded party. Eugene Levy is cast as Charles, Eva Longoria as Mabel and Zach Galifianakis as Oliver, and there’s a lot of meta humour and self-deprecating jokes as the trio try to see themselves in the actors.

A discovery

While they are busy striking a deal with the studio in Hollywood, Charles receives a cryptic text from Sazz’s number, claiming that she is in LA for a job. The trio decide to head back to New York to scan Charles’s apartment for clues. They take the help of fellow building resident Howard’s (Michael Cyril Creighton) new dog, Gravey, who was a cadaver dog in the past. The search leads them to the building’s old incinerator where a heap of fresh ashes and steel plates confirms their worst fears: Sazz has been murdered.

An intriguing mystery ahead

The episode concludes with a text from Sazz’s number: ‘Not your f***ing friend’. This sets up the season’s central mystery — who is behind Sazz’s murder? Was she the target, or was Charles the intended victim? And how will the movie plot intertwine with the unfolding mystery?

A new episode of Only Murders in the Building will stream on Disney+ Hotstar every Tuesday at 12.30pm.