Adaptation

"Adaptation"
Season	4
Episode	5
Director	Jessica Yu
Writer	J.J. Philbin & Ella Robinson Brooks
Editor	Payton Koch
Original air date	September 24, 2024
Episode chronology
← Previous	"The Stunt Man"
Next →	"Blow-Up"

"Adaptation" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on September 24, 2024.

Short Summary

The trio face off against a collection of individuals who deceive, manipulate, and threaten as second nature - a Hollywood cast & crew.

Full Summary

Marshall P. Pope gets ready for his day. Part of that is gluing fake facial hair on. He pores over papers and struggles to write. Finally, he has a finished work.

Bev Melon reads Marshall's script. She calls Marshall, who celebrates. As he does so, his fake beard comes loose on one side and he puts it back on.

Bev holds her gun on Oliver, Mabel, and Charles. Oliver laments death coming for him in the prime of his life, but then resigns himself to it. Bev reaches back and turns on a light, then sighs in relief, seeing who it is. She apologizes, saying she's been on edge. Mabel asks her to put the gun down. Bev says it's not loaded, but then fires it and learns that it is. She drops it in horror. Mabel picks up the gun with a cloth and moves it away from Bev. They ask why she's there and whose gun that is. Bev says she thinks it's Sazz's. She found it in this sad shack. Mabel asks her if she killed Sazz. Bev loves seeing Mabel as an investigator and she's so excited for the movie. Charles repeats Mabel's question. Bev says she didn't kill Sazz, but she thinks someone working on the movie might have.

Charles asks Bev where she was the night Sazz was killed. Bev shows them pictures from that night, which show her at Variety's Power Women Party for the 100 Most Powerful Women Under 100. Sazz called Bev, but Bev didn't pick up because it was a random number. But Sazz left a voicemail. Bev plays it for them. It's Sazz, saying Bev needs to call her because there's a problem with her movie. Mabel sees the time stamp and says that was right after Sazz left to get the wine. Mabel asks if Bev ever called her back. Bev starts to call them new to Hollywood, which Oliver objects to. Bev says it's hard to get a movie made, so she wasn't interested in hearing about a problem. She took her time getting back to Sazz and then she heard Sazz was dead. Charles thinks that left Bev haunted by guilt, but she's really haunted by the fear of her movie falling apart. She passed on Barbie to make it. She needs to fix the problem before it takes down the whole movie. So she came to Sazz's trampoline park, but all she found were the gun and some sketches of trampolines. She can't believe she fired the gun, but asks for it back. It kind of turned her on and her notes to writers would land better if she had a gun. Mabel refuses to give her the gun. Bev's glad she bumped into them. She'll leave the search for the killer to them and she'll just focus on saving the movie.

Charles brings out a murder board to show Williams, who isn't impressed with them having three murder boards. Charles reminds her that they have solved three murders before the NYPD. He shares what they know about Sazz calling Bev, meaning someone on the movie killed Sazz. Just then, Mabel and Oliver come in. Oliver has a tabloid in his hands. The bicep in Loretta's picture belongs to Jack Jonk, who is in a 4-episode arc on Loretta's show as her love interest. Williams says Jack Jonk is a former Olympic swimmer. Oliver pretends not to be threatened by this, but Mabel is distracted by her life rights check. Charles's went directly to his accountant in Belize. Williams raises her eyebrows at that and he corrects that the accountant will return to the US to deposit it and pay full US taxes on it. Mabel still finds it weird to be paid for this. She doesn't even know what this is. She, Oliver, and Charles finally settle on her being a podcast producer. It sounds weird to say, which Williams attributes to them having so many suspects. While they work on that, she's going to get more information about the gun.

As Mabel, Charles, and Oliver enter, Tawny looks at them and says they should be in the photo shoot, too. They're doing marketing for the movie. They want full-frontal nudity, but Mabel immediately shuts that down. Instead, Trina suggests them drowning in their season one outfits, with the actors in identical looks. They say not to be late as they get on the elevator together. Bev finds Oliver and tells him he needs to warn Loretta she's about to get Jonked. She's going to need a hip replacement afterward. Oliver thinks he and Jonk are a lot alike, but Bev doesn't see it. Charles suddenly realizes his shoes are sticking to something. Howard tells him it's a tacky mat. It's a production thing. He knows all the words now because he works there. It gets the dust of their shoes so they don't track anything in. Eva gave them to them. She has a full line of sticky products. He excuses himself. Once he's gone, Mabel comments on how many suspects they have. Charles starts to use his phone to take pictures of everyone as he pretends to be on a phone call. Mabel subtly asks him to check if the camera is pointing the right way. He has to start over because it wasn't. They look for anyone who is nervous to have them around and see Marshall, who trips trying to get out of the room when he gets stuck on the mat.

Marshall is intimidated by Charles, Oliver, and Mabel. They start to ask him about Sazz and he asks if he's a suspect. He's relieved because he thought they were there to give him notes on the script. He asks them to ask where he was the night Sazz was murdered. Charles quickly takes his picture and says they can talk at his place. Bev comes in and holds Mabel back to talk to her while Oliver, Charles, and Marshall get on the elevator. She asks Mabel what she's planning to splurge on since her check came. Mabel says she's going to sink it into her business. She calls herself a podcast producer. Bev's looking for a hot new podcast to adapt for her next movie, so she asks Mabel to make suggestions. Mabel says she has lots of ideas, but they're not fully baked. She calls for the elevator, but Bev says Mabel only needs a hook. Mabel stammers through a vague idea about people and another about buttons. Bev loves them and offers to hook Mabel up with a contact in her company. Mabel tries to back out, but Bev tells her they're doing it.

Charles, Oliver, and Marshall arrive at Charles's place to find Glen knocking on his door. He has soda bread for Charles because he was able to get a job on the movie thanks to Charles. He's just doing odd jobs for now, but he'll be doubling for Oliver at the photo shoot. Oliver asks if Glen would consider him physically fit and Glen says Oliver's a Conor McGregor.

Marshall is excited to get grilled by the trio. He's spent months picturing how that would look. Mabel asks where he was the night Sazz died. Charles interrupts, telling Marshall his script is amazing. He's never seen himself portrayed so accurately before and quotes it. Oliver is less pleased with his own portrayal. Mabel sends him to print out the pictures they took at the production office. Marshall is overwhelmed with excitement over watching them bicker. Then he says he was trying standup the night Sazz died. He offers to pull it up on YouTube, but it's an hour long, so Mabel and Charles stop him. They decide to let him go, but before they do, Mabel asks if his beard is fake. He asks if it's that obvious because it's supposed to be high-quality hair. Mabel asks why. He admits he can't grow facial hair, but he wanted to sell himself as a real writer. The glasses are also fake. Mabel understands the imposter syndrome. She has it, too. He doesn't understand why she has it. They haven't missed yet. He's impressed with their murder boards. Charles offers to walk him through them. As he starts, Marshall starts to point out how chaotic their investigation is, since they don't even know who the intended victim was. Charles wants to focus on the How, which has an airtight timeline. Marshall says the timing indicates that someone shot Sazz from the West Tower and cleaned up the body in only about twelve minutes. Charles says it could totally happen. He's able to channel a killer to see how it could happen.

Charles acts out how the murder could possibly happen in the time allowed.

Marshall says in order for that timeline to work, the killer would have to be extremely fit. Oliver returns, saying that's him exactly. He offers to attempt to reenact the murder in twelve minutes. Mabel doesn't think that's a good idea, but Oliver insists he can do it. Mabel offers to test it instead or have Marshall do it. Oliver has nothing to prove. Oliver says he's just a man in his prime looking to prove a murder timeline. Mabel tries to talk Oliver up. Charles joins her, but Oliver says it has nothing to do with Jack Jonk. He leaves to find his athletic wear so he can do this.

Oliver uses an umbrella to act out the shot. Then he needs help getting down off the radiator so he can leave. He slides down the bannister, but hurts himself.

Mabel, Charles, and Marshall look through the pictures Charles took and wait.

Oliver finally makes it outside. He struggles to get around a line of preschoolers. John McEnroe yells at him for yelling at the children and starts chasing him as he runs away.

When Oliver finally makes it to Charles's place, Mabel tells him it's been 38 minutes. He says he's been on a journey and he failed in all the possible ways. Charles says it's not his fault. Only a superhuman could have done it in twelve minutes. The timeline is the only thing holding the murder board together and even that is wrong. Charles sees Marshall writing and begs him not to change Charles's character. A knock on the door interrupts and Marshall goes to answer it. Lester brings in the outfits for the photo shoot. It reminds Lester of some modeling he did. Oliver declares that he's not up for a photo shoot. Charles isn't either, but Mabel says they have to go. One of Charles' pictures shows a footprint in a tacky mat that matches the one from the Dudenoff apartment. The killer was there, which means they'll probably be at the photo shoot.

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver arrive at the photo shoot, dressed in their outfits. Trina and Tawny warn them this could be triggering as they enter. They step forward to see themselves surrounded by mirrors. Eugene, Eva, and Zach join them, dressed exactly like them. On the other side, Glen Stubbins leads in the other stand-ins. Bev is happy to see the trio there. She asks if they love the concept. They're all multiplied and now there are mirrors. She has them look in the mirrors together.

Trina has Oliver, Mabel, and Charles pretend to be Ron, Harry, and Hermione. Mabel has to tell Charles that's from Harry Potter before he knows what to do. Next it's Tawny saying to act out Godfather 1, 2, and 3. Oliver asks Mabel is she's sure her plan will work. She isn't, but she didn't have a better one on such short notice. Trina tells them to take five and sends Charles to makeup.

Nearby, Eva call to Howard, asking why the tacky mats aren't laid out. Howard says he'll lay them out, but he resents being spoken to like a PA. He's an on-set documentarian slash talent liaison. Howard gives a box of the mats to a PA and tells them to lay them out. Eva goes to Mabel, who thanks her for playing the crazy celebrity card. Eva says she has asked for crazier things. In season eight of Desperate Housewives, she told them she couldn't return unless they legalized gay marriage. And they did it. She tells the gays they're welcome. Mabel pulls out the picture of the footprint and compares it to one left on the mat. Oliver finally realizes what the plan is. Trina calls all the Olivers over. Oliver stands with Zach and Glen. Tawny sends Glen out and has Oliver and Zach get on their marks. Trina calls for a conference and she and Tawny look at each other. Zach asks Oliver if he's read the changes to the script, but Oliver didn't know there were any. Marshall has made Oliver more insecure. Oliver says it's about Jonk. Zach knows Jonk's reputation. They did a gender-bent Snow White and he jonked all seven dwarves. Oliver says Jonk is playing Oliver's girlfriend's love interest on her new show. Zach tries to backpedal. Trina then has them stand back to back. Then Tawny has them turn around, to stand wiener to wiener. When they hesitate, she has Glen come in to show them. He stands very close to Oliver.

Charles and Eugene have an awkward moment trying to pass each other by the makeup chairs. Charles realizes something and says his brain is back to thumping. Marshall watches this interaction.

Charles goes to Mabel and tells her he figured out the how. It wasn't a single murderer. It was two people working together. One took the shot and the other cleaned it up. Charles looks around for two people who could have done it. Mabel points out a matching footprint on the tacky mat. The shoe belongs to Tawny Brothers.

Tawny tells Trina Oliver is off his mark and asks her to move him. Trina picks him up easily and moves him over.

Tawny stands on the ledge and makes the shot. On the other side of the courtyard, Trina comes in and cleans up.

Mabel says Charles is right. Tawny and Trina could have done this. They look over and see Tawny, but Trina has disappeared. They hear two gunshots and then Howard says, "They've been shot!"

Cast

Starring

• Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
• Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
• Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
• Michael Cyril Creighton as Howard Morris

Special Guest Star

• Paul Rudd as Glen Stubbins
• Zach Galifianakis as Zach Galifianakis
• Eugene Levy as Eugene Levy
• Eva Longoria as Eva Longoria

Guest starring

• Catherine Cohen as Trina Brothers
• Teddy Coluca as Lester
• Jin Ha as Marshall P. Pope
• Jane Lynch as Sazz Pataki
• John McEnroe as John McEnroe
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Detective Donna Williams
• Molly Shannon as Bev Melon
• Siena Werber as Tawny Brothers

Notes and Trivia

Soundtrack

• "Song", performed by Artist
  Written by Composer

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Patrick Harbron for Hulu.

Behind the Scenes

Videos

Bev Defends Her Case - Only Murders In The Building- S4 Episode 5 Opening Scene - Hulu

See Also

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.