OMITB Season 4 Ending Explained: Who Killed Lester? What’s Season 5 About?

The fourth season of Only Murders in the Building solved the mystery of Sazz’s murder — and revealed whose death is the focus of season 5.

The Hulu series premiered in August 2021 and follows Mabel (Selena Gomez), Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Steve Martin) as they solve mysterious deaths that take place in their New York City apartment building. Season 1 explored the death of Tim Kono (Julian Cihi), the sophomore season uncovered Bunny Folger’s (Jayne Houdyshell) murderer and season 3 featured Ben Glenroy’s death as the main mystery (Paul Rudd).

Season 4 picked up with Charles, Oliver and Mabel initially unaware that Charles’ stunt double, Sazz (Jane Lynch), was shot in his apartment. While the trio eventually realized what happened, the majority of the season was spent on trying to figure out whether Sazz was the target — or if the bullet was meant for Charles.

The penultimate episode revealed that Marshall P. Pope (Jin Ha) wasn’t just the person writing the script for the movie based on Charles, Oliver and Mabel’s lives. Marshall was Sazz’s prodigy until a stunt gone wrong forced Sazz to replace Marshall with Glen Stubbins (Rudd). In an act of revenge, Marshall killed Glen after shooting Sazz — and taking credit for her script.

During the Tuesday, October 29, season finale, Marshall confirmed that he acted alone and killed Sazz because she was going to tell Charles that she wrote the script. Marshall held Mabel — and by extension Oliver and Charles — hostage after they figured it out, but Jan (Amy Ryan) saved the day by shooting him from Charles’ apartment.

The trio thought their luck was on the up when Oliver’s wedding went off without a hitch. But by the next morning, they found Lester (Teddy Coluca) bleeding out in the fountain at the Arconia.

Keep scrolling to see where every Only Murders in the Building character ended up in season 4:

Charles Savage

Only Murders in the Building put Charles through the emotional wringer with Sazz’s death. He attempted to mourn her while solving her murder, which he thought might have been connected to him. Along the way, Charles learned more about Sazz’s life and developed a new appreciation for her friendship.

Charles was determined to track down who was responsible and that led him to Marshall. He even scaled the side of the building to get to Mabel when Marshall took her hostage and faced off again Sazz’s murderer. After Marshall’s death, Charles made sure Sazz got the credit she deserved on the script and planned to scatter her ashes at the spot she purchased for her future trampoline park.

Oliver Putnam

The main focus for Oliver in season 4 was getting back on track with his girlfriend, Loretta (Meryl Streep), after she made the move to Hollywood. A fake Instagram and a flirtationship with Charles’ sister, Doreen (Melissa McCarthy), later resulted in Oliver and Loretta’s engagement. Oliver was excited for the chance to get married again as the season came to an end.

The wedding seemed like it might not happen when Mabel was taken hostage and Loretta was told she would have to move to New Zealand for her job, but somehow everything came together and Oliver ended the season as a married man.

Mabel Mora

Season 4 found Mabel at a crossroads with no apartment and no stable job. She planned to use the money from the movie to invest in her professional future while squatting at an apartment to secure herself a place to live.

Mabel was also focused on uncovering who was responsible for Sazz’s death. After figuring out that it was Marshall, Mabel seemed inspired by Sazz’s journey. She hinted to Bev (Molly Shannon) that Sazz’s life could inspire her next project, but it remained unclear whether Mabel would pursue that. Her plans got even more sidetracked when a woman (Téa Leoni) came into the building asking for the trio to help her find her missing husband. They said no, and by the next morning, Lester was dead.

Howard Morris

Throughout the season, Howard was around to help Charles, Oliver and Mabel. He added a dog and a pig into his home, which inspired his idea for a podcast about different animal jobs.

Loretta Durkin

After falling in love with Oliver during season 3, Loretta continued to date him despite moving to Los Angeles. The couple faced their fair share of ups and downs but ultimately ended up engaged. Not everyone in their lives believed Loretta and Oliver would last but they were determined to make it down the aisle — and they did.

Sazz Pataki

Season 4 allowed viewers to learn more about Sazz’s journey to becoming a stunt double — and her friendship with Charles. Before her death, Sazz wrote a script about the murders in the Arconia and was planning to retire to open up a trampoline park. While writing Charles, Mabel and Oliver’s story, Sazz began to realize there were questions still unaccounted for from season 1 when she started writing a script about the Arconia. Sazz shared her writing with Marshall, but he took the credit from her. When Sazz was going to tell Charles about it, Marshall shot her but didn’t realize she left a copy of the script for Charles to find so he could put the pieces together. Charles also made sure Sazz received credit for her writing on the movie.

Marshall P. Pope

A flashback episode earlier in the season introduced Marshall as a screenwriter struggling with imposter syndrome. He occasionally helped the main trio out when they suffered setbacks in their investigation but it turned out that he was Sazz’s mysterious prodigy.

A stunt on a Ron Howard movie caused Sazz to replace Marshall. He didn’t take the news well but didn’t start to plan his revenge. He was actually excited to pivot back to writing until he read Sazz’s script and realized she was much better than he could ever be. Marshall stole her script and shopped it around as his own. Once Bev got him a movie deal, Marshall confessed to Sazz, but she wouldn’t let him take credit. That caused him to kill Sazz to keep his secret and later Glen because he recognized him. Marshall was also about to kill the trio, but Jan got to him before he could.

The Actors

When season 4 started, Charles, Mabel and Oliver traveled to Los Angeles to meet the famous actors playing them in a movie about their lives. Zach was cast as Oliver, Eugene as Charles and Eva as Mabel, which allowed the actors to spend time with the people who inspired their new roles.

Zach, Eugene and Eva helped the main trio along the way and were able to film the movie successfully.

The Westies

The group of people living on the other side of the Arconia were the first suspects in Sazz’s murder. Slowly everyone was ruled out once Charles, Mabel and Oliver realized the group was keeping another secret from them. The Westies were brought together by Professor Dudenoff (Griffin Dunne), who offered them cheap apartments on the same floor. They ultimately got caught up in Dudenoff’s plans to end his life and kept cashing his social security checks as a way to hide the truth of what happened to him.

By the finale, Vince and Rudy were helping the main trio take Marshall down by serving as a distraction.