Two murders to solve, a podcast to make and a wedding to organize is a substantial to do list on Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 8. Luckily, a confrontation with the Westies means Oliver (Martin Short), Charles (Steve Martin) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) can tick the Professor Dudenoff (Griffin Dunne) mystery off their docket. Not only do they discover how Dudenoff died, but they also get another big clue about Sazz’s (Jane Lynch) demise.
After their brief trip out of the city to Long Island to hideout at Charles' sister house, the trio returns to New York to confront the Westies about cashing Dudenoff's social security checks. They think Sazz was killed because she stumbled onto the Westies' crimes. The trio also has to contend with the actors, who all insist on partaking in this investigation.
Let's break down the key details of Only Murders in the Building season 4 episode 8, "Lifeboat."
Planning an ambush
The Arconia still feels unsafe, so the trio wants to strategize somewhere off the Westie radar. While they don't relish teaming up with the actors, Eugene comes up with a place to brainstorm that looks eerily familiar. Yep, they end up at the studio in a recreation of Charles' apartment that is not entirely accurate, much to Charles' chagrin. He complains the vinyl albums aren't alphabetized and someone (gasp!) put a first-edition book next to a second edition.
Several suggestions are vetoed, such as Eugene's plan to lure the Westies with the promise of Tony Danza — later, it becomes clear that Danza would be an enticing draw for Alfonso (Desmin Borges). Eva wants to use a soap opera trick of a "ding dong," explaining this is a "sexy surprise" like someone a long-lost relative reappearing. Eventually they settle on inviting the Westies to a star-studded game of "Oh Hell" at Oliver's apartment.
The Westies explain their scam
When the Westies arrive at Oliver's, they immediately threaten the trio and the actors with their ham-carving knife; it seems like they are killers after all. But to prove their innocence, they explain their stories about how they each came into Dudenoff's orbit and ended up living in the West Tower of the Arconia.
In flashbacks, we see how a lonely Dudenoff connected with each of them in the wake of his wife's death, whether ordering food from Alfonso's and Inez's (Daphne Rubin-Vega) restaurant or through his film class with Vince (Richard Fish) and Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani) as students.
Dudenoff's wife was a music teacher, and each time a unit on their floor opened up, they grabbed it so she could use it as a teaching space or as a place for the students to stay. After she died, Dudenoff couldn't bear to part with these apartments, so he devised a scheme to sublet to the family he had made for himself via the Friday night game of Oh Hell.
Vince's story about joining the class so he didn't become a sad old man gave Dudenoff the idea to no longer live in isolation. However, Vince explains he also dreamed of living in Portugal, so when Dudenoff emigrated, the Westies kept cashing his checks so their scheme could continue (all with Dudenoff's blessing).
It's Ding Dong Time!
After hearing the Westies stories, it's time for the "ding dong" (yep, they took Eva's suggestion seriously). The surprise latecomer is Helga (Alexandra Templer), whom we first heard on the ham radio in episode 3. Flashbacks show she inherited her father's locksmith business and met Dudenoff when she was installing the keypad on his apartment door because he kept losing his keys. They bonded over Perfect Strangers and Oh Hell; Helga was part of the Friday night game and another resident — not Rudy's girlfriend.
Helga found a note from Dudenoff on her door that said he was moving to Portugal. The power surges as she reads the note, which she knows it is a quirk of the old incinerator. Helga said the others became distant and started acting off when the first season of the Only Murders podcast came out. While Helga had no proof, she began to suspect her friends of murder and moved out.
The others continue to stick to the Portugal story, but Mabel reveals they have Dudenoff's shoulder replacement and know Dudenoff is dead.
One final movie
A film canister hidden under Vince's floorboards reveals how Dudenoff died: there was zero foul play. The same night Helga received her goodbye note, the others found invitations to Dudenoff's funeral in the basement. Dudenoff reveals he only has a few months to live, and when he dies it will break up their dream cast.
As a workaround, Dudenoff wants them to burn his body in the incinerator, say he moved to Portugal and continue to cash his social security checks. It's too late to stop the professor as he has already taken a lot of pills. Dudenoff shoots one last movie for Helga to explain why he left her out of this (because of how rough she found it after her dad died).
The dilemma now is whether to share this information. Eva reveals she recorded the whole thing, but Mabel sees the Westies as kindred spirits and immediately deletes it. Their story will not be fodder for the Only Murders podcast listeners. One mystery is solved, but they seem to be back to square one with Sazz. Or are they?
Helga stops by to say she had been talking to Sazz on the ham radio about the plotholes in the podcast's first season. She adds a new clue: Sazz said a former stunt protege was harassing her, and it appears the person with the answers is the currently comatose Glenn Stubbins (Paul Rudd). Did someone in the stunt community kill Sazz?
New episodes of Only Murders in the Building season 4 release Tuesdays on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
