The amateur sleuthing team of true-crime podcast enthusiasts and now creators of Only Murders in the Building is one step closer to figuring out who murdered their beloved doorman, Lester (Teddy Coluca). However, they were dealt a devastating blow when they realized just how powerful people with influence and, most importantly, money can be.
Although they sit down with the trio of billionaires they caught in the Arconia’s secret basement casino after Lester’s and Nicky’s (Bobby Cannavale) murders, the meeting doesn’t give them the answers they had hoped for. And they realize they might be out of their depth this time, facing adversaries unlike any other.
The Three Billionaires Clearly Have Something To Hide
Episode 4, “Dirty Birds,” begins with a glimpse into the lives of the three billionaires, about whom we learned some basic details in Episode 3, “Rigor.”
Camilla White Is a Revered but Ruthless Interior Design Mogul
Camilla White, played by Renée Zellweger, is a hotel magnate and interior design enthusiast, earning her the nickname “queen of decor.” Charles (Steve Martin) described her as the “human incarnation of a Nancy Meyers kitchen,” but she also comes across like a Martha Stewart type. She talks of her love for parlor games and of winning, suggesting she’s far more cunning than she seems behind her pastel-wearing surface.
Jay Pflug Is an Entitled Heir Born Into Wealth
The youngest of the trio, Jay Pflug, played by Logan Lerman, is the billionaire heir of a pharmaceutical magnate. Oliver (Martin Short) struggles with the dilemma: they make the medication he needs, yet they’ve also killed many people, leaving him uncertain how to feel. Jay is key to the investigation because, when they first saw him, they noticed that he had a bandage on his hand and was clearly missing a finger. In his introductory social media video, he sits on a park bench with his dog, claiming not to think about money and trying to present himself as an ordinary guy. But when the camera stops recording, he arrogantly has his security throw the ball for the dog, as if throwing it himself is too much work.
When they meet the trio, Mabel (Selena Gomez) tries to press Jay about his missing finger, but he isn’t giving up any information, being intentionally elusive. He’s also quite charming, leaving Mabel to wonder if he might really be a good guy after all. His staged videos, shown in the beginning, however, suggest that he’s arrogant, entitled, and selfish. So, viewers quickly pick up on the fact that he might not be as genuine as he’s trying to make himself look to the pretty young woman he has clearly taken a liking to.
Sebastian “Bash” Steed Is a Creepy, Eccentric Tech Innovator
The most oddball of the bunch is “Bash” (Christoph Waltz), a tech billionaire who has made incredible advancements in the field of longevity and AI. No one knows his actual age, and he appears to have a massive influence on the internet and all the data it contains. Charles realizes this when the two cook together, and he accidentally ruins the piece of paper with his mother’s recipe for Duck à l’Orange on it. Within seconds, Bash calls it up. Charles once talked about it in a TV interview years ago, and he was able to locate that information online and distill it down to the recipe.
Any one of these people could have had a reason to kill Lester if he posed a threat to their casino operations. Lester could have seen something, heard something, maybe refused to do something, and they needed to get him out of the way. However, the trio will never be able to press further because they have backed themselves into a corner without even realizing it.
One small detail earlier in the episode proves crucial. Mabel has a run-in with Thé (Beanie Feldstein) and feels inferior to her old friend, who has become a pop star. Casually in conversation, when details about the falling rankings for the podcast keep coming up (thanks to the new robot doorman LESTR), Mabel lies and claims they just signed a huge deal with Wondify for their podcast. Now having to follow through, Mabel sends a detailed pitch to the company and convinces Charles and Oliver that they need better digs to record their podcast anyway. This will be a good thing, or so she thinks.
The Trio Wins Information but Loses the Game
With suspicions about these three billionaires, particularly Jay, the trio seeks a way to bait them. So, they post a new season teaser for their podcast where they subtly mention the potential involvement of billionaires without using their names. The hope is that they’ll capture Jay’s attention so he’ll meet with them to clear his name before they talk more. This works, sort of, but it also backfires on them.
Sure enough, they get a message from Jay saying he’ll be visiting them at 7 p.m. to clear things up. He shows up, but to the trio’s surprise, the other two arrive as well. Bash tries to bully them into keeping their names out of the podcast, implying he would sue them for libel. But Mabel points out that mentioning they were sniffing around a crime scene isn’t libel, it’s simply factual information.
Charles, Oliver, and Mabel decide to divide and conquer, each interrogating one person to ensure they get straight stories about Jay’s missing finger and to try different tactics. Mabel sits down with Jay, and she opens up more than she should during their intimate conversation. She hopes that being forthcoming with him would make him comfortable enough to be open with her. He sounds genuine in revealing that he is aware he’s a nepo baby and is just desperate to prove that he isn’t a “f**k up.” She tells him about her issues with Thé and her lie about them inking a huge podcast deal to handle her insecurities with her former friend.
Eventually, Jay, Camilla, and Bash all tell their stories, and they have them straight. Nicky showed up enraged with a cleaver, and he chopped Jay’s finger off. They don’t know why, nor does he. But they all left after that, Jay claiming he left in such haste that he never retrieved his amputated appendage.
Wondify Is Their Downfall
This satisfies Charles, Oliver, and Mabel for now, although they still need to investigate who placed the finger in the shrimp. They still need to figure out why Nicky would have done what he allegedly did, if he really killed Lester, and who killed him. For now, at least, there’s good news because Wondify has called with an offer based on Mabel’s pitch.
When they meet with Wondify and are taken on a tour of the swanky studio, staff, and amenities, they are impressed. They decide it’s worth pursuing this deal. But the information Mabel revealed about this potential deal in passing to Jay comes back to bite them. After signing the Wondify contracts, they learn that the billionaires have recently purchased a majority stake in the podcast company, and one of the stipulations in their agreement is that they cannot discuss management due to a conflict of interest. In one fell swoop, the trio learned that even if they discovered damning evidence against Jay, Camilla, or Bash, they could not discuss it on their podcast.
Of course, they can still investigate privately, discuss matters among themselves, or contact the police if they uncover evidence implicating any of them. But they can’t reveal this information in their true-crime podcast about the case, which really puts a damper on things.
It’s just before this revelation that Mabel also notices something. The severed finger they found in the shrimp was from the opposite hand of the one that Jay was missing. That means that while he was indeed missing a finger, the one that was planted for them to discover was not Jay’s, but someone else’s. That raises even more questions about what really went on that night and what these three elusive billionaires had to do with it.
“You’re family now,” the Wondify executive tells them happily, the contracts officially signed. “And will remain so exclusively for three years.” The stakes are higher now, as the podcasters and amateur sleuths must investigate the trio in secret, without revealing their findings to their listeners.
“They’re all dirty,” Oliver declares in shock when they realize they have effectively been muzzled. The investigation continues. However, they have learned a valuable lesson about whom they can and can’t trust, and never to play games against rich and powerful individuals who always know how to rig the outcome in their favor. Stream Only Murders in the Building on Hulu.
Source link
Add Comment