Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Episode 3.

Season 4 of Only Murders in the Building has proven in its first two episodes that it’s planning to be much darker than what came before. But Episode 3, “Two for the Road” livens things up a little and brings back the lighthearted humor that the show is so great at. While Sazz’s (Jane Lynch) murder is still at the forefront of the season, it takes a minor backseat as the Hollywood crew comes to town and thwarts the investigation. In their minds, they’re helping, and getting a front-row seat into the minds of the characters they’ll be playing, but to our favorite investigative trio, they’re nothing but a thorn in their side. They do, however, provide plenty of laughs for us the audience, and though we may not get much further in Sazz’s murder case, we do get a pretty solid episode regardless.

Hollywood Is Coming to Town In ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4
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The episode begins with Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short), and Charles (Steve Martin) adding new clues to their murder board, like “Who can carry Sazz’s body?” and “Who hates Charles?” Their murder board discussion is soon interrupted by Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). She’s there to give them an inside scoop, which elates Oliver and Charles, who can’t help but squeal about how this proves Detective Williams likes them. She goes on to say that the feds have taken over the case, and they believe Jan (Amy Ryan) had something to do with Sazz’s murder, theorizing that she hired someone to do it while she was in prison. The detective then reveals that a bullet casing was found in Dudenoff’s apartment, and that Dudenoff has been identified by his neighbors as a retired professor. His neighbors also claimed that they were playing cards and didn’t hear the gunshot — all the neighbors, that is, except for Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani), AKA, “Christmas All the Time Guy.” Before they can discuss things further with Detective Williams, their movie counterparts arrive; Eva Longoria, Eugene Levy, and Zach Galifianakis.

The actors claim they’re in town to follow the trio around and shadow them for the day to get a better grasp on who they’ll be playing. They obviously couldn’t have come at a worse time, but Eva doesn’t seem all that bothered by the prospect of a murder investigation. Rather, she seems thrilled by it and wholeheartedly believes that they’ll solve it by the end of the day. Mabel is very apprehensive about having the actors around and wants them to leave, at least for today. They have to investigate Rudy still, and there’s no telling how that will go. The last thing they need is to get these mega-stars caught in the crossfire if things go wrong. Oliver isn’t as keen on sending them away, as Zach still doesn’t seem to like him, and he wants to change that. Charles, on the other hand, doesn’t have much of an opinion on the matter — until Eugene compliments him on his looks and his brain, and then he’s suddenly very on board with the actors sticking around, much to Mabel’s chagrin.

It’s a Battle of the Mabels in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 Episode 3
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After determining their killer is a hunter based on the type of bullet used, each member of our trio pairs off with their actor counterparts for some respective investigation and character studies. Eva and Mabel make plans to go to Rudy’s apartment, as he was the only neighbor she didn’t meet in the last episode, but their constant bickering slows them down before they can truly begin. Mabel and Eva are very different people, which makes it easy for Eva to get on Mabel’s nerves, and quickly too. The final straw is when she asks Mabel if she can change her character’s name, opting for a more French-sounding pronunciation of “Mah-belle” — which, to her credit, she sticks to from then on. Mabel finally tells Eva that she works alone and storms off, but when she arrives at Rudy’s apartment sometime later and knocks on the door, it’s Eva who answers, having beaten her there. She tells Mabel that she informed Rudy she’s investigating the murder, which only frustrates Mabel more, as she believes this gives Rudy both motive and opportunity to hide anything that could tip them off to him being the killer.

Rudy is very warm and welcoming to Eva and Mabel, and though Mabel doesn’t find any tinsel in the apartment, she does see a gun on the wall, which is a red flag — since they know their killer is a hunter — and a ham radio which begins playing the Perfect Strangers theme song. Rudy is quick to get rid of the radio, which is shady, but there’s not much time to press him as Eva begins throwing stuff around. She has a dinner to get to with Michelle Obama, and the investigation is taking far too long for her liking! She starts throwing ornaments and snow globes, and eventually pulls the gun off of the wall and points it at Rudy — only, when she pulls the trigger, it ends up not being a real gun at all. This is when Rudy does finally reveal his secret, just not the one Mabel and Eva were expecting. Turns out he actually hates Christmas, and that he only keeps up with the facade of it because he did a Christmas-themed workout video once and it got him so many likes and views that now it’s all people want from him. Oh, and the gun? It’s the toy gun from A Christmas Story. Mabel asks him her final burning question about the tinsel, but once again gets an unexpected answer. He holds up a lighter to it and informs her that whatever it is isn’t tinsel because it didn’t catch on fire, and tinsel is highly flammable.

Everyone’s Got Pink Eye in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4 Episode 3
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While Eva and Mabel are looking into Christmas All The Time Guy, Eugene and Charles decide to take another look at Vince (Richard Kind) just to confirm that he really is covering up pinkeye behind his eye patch, and not a black eye from the butt of a gun. The two come up with a hilariously elaborate plan where they pretend to have pinkeye as well and show up at Vince’s apartment, claiming that Charles’ family invented some one-of-a-kind, revolutionary pinkeye antidote, in the hopes that he’ll take off his eye patch and try it in front of him.

When that plan fails, and Vince takes the drops out of sight, they decide to go with Eugene’s original plan of spitting water in Vince’s face, which results in Vince punching Eugene in the nose. But they do get their confirmation that Vince is telling the truth and that he really does have a bad case of pinkeye. Charles admits that he thought Vince hated him, to which Vince reiterates that he thought Charles hated him, making their silly rivalry through the window one big misunderstanding. They reconcile and hug it out, but right as they’re about to leave, they notice a framed picture of Vince and the neighbors, one of whom is holding a pig. The weird part? Their face is scratched out. Could this be the elusive Dudenoff?

Zach and Oliver Find Common Ground in ‘Only Murders In The Building’ Season 4
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While Charles and Mabel are off investigating with their actor counterparts, Oliver spends his time trying to get Zach to not only like him but to get excited about the movie in general. Oliver takes Zach under his wing for the day to help him get into character, something he proves he desperately needs when he answers “Lupone” to the question of who the better Mrs. Lovett is in Sweeney Todd. This earns him shocked gasps of horror from Oliver and Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton), but the pair actually have a great day together.

Oliver styles him similarly, and the two even have a great mini-musical montage to the Perfect Strangers theme. It really seems as though Zach is coming around — until Oliver and Howard overhear Zach talking to his agent about how awful his day was, going so far as to criticize his agent for booking him the role in the first place. It isn’t until Howard steps in and defends Oliver’s quirks and often narcissistic behavior that Zach seemingly comes around, saying he’ll embrace the lonely and pathetic version of him. It may not be what Oliver was hoping for, but it does seem like Zach is going to be sticking with the project now.

Mabel Finds a New Home in ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Season 4
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After investigating Rudy with Eva’s help, Mabel makes a quick stop at Dudenoff’s apartment, where she Googles “squatter’s rights.” Dudenoff has seemingly disappeared, and not even his neighbors know where he is. If she stays in the apartment long enough she could end up owning it, which would force Dudenoff to come back and come face to face with her to take it back for himself. It’s risky, but the apartment – and its owner – may hold some of the clues to solving Sazz’s murder. After moving her things in, she invites Charles and Oliver (and the pig) over for a housewarming party, and as the trio chat about the investigation and her move into Dudenoff’s apartment, she begins singing the theme of Perfect Strangers. She’s soon joined by Oliver, and he and Charles wonder how she even knows about that show, to which she informs them she heard the song on the ham radio. This sends a warning bell off in Oliver’s head, and he refers back to Howard’s notes from earlier when he was listening to the radio as Oliver bonded with Zach. In the notes there is a message that says to meet someone at “445,” they conclude that this is a radio frequency, and when they tune in they’re met with a chilling voice on the other end.

“You shouldn’t be on this frequency,” the voice says. Oliver, Mabel, and Charles begin shouting out a flurry of questions at the other person, things like “Who’s Dudenoff?” and “What’s with all the ham?” and “Who’s out to get Charles?” These are answered simply by the person telling them that the last person who asked this many questions got themselves killed. This is likely referring to Sazz, as we know she was listening to ham radios before her death. The person then delivers one final, chilling warning to the trio: “Drop this, or you’ll be next.”

Only Murders in the Building is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S. New episodes premiere every Tuesday.

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