The Sting

"The Sting"
"The Sting" title-card
Season	1
Episode	4
Director	Gillian Robespierre
Writer	Kristin Newman
Editor	Julie Monroe
Production code	1DWB04
Original air date	September 7, 2021
Running time	33 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous	"How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?"
Next →	"Twist"

"The Sting" is the fourth episode of the first season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Amy Ryan. It originally aired on September 7, 2021, on Hulu.

Short Summary

Believing the murderer might be a famous resident who is difficult to access, the group seeks advice from a renowned podcasting host.

Full Summary

Cinda prepares to record her podcast.

Charles looks at the evidence board. He puts black xes on a picture of Evelyn. He opens a card from Lucy saying he's her favorite person. He's haunted by Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig.

Oliver races to let Will in to help Winnie.

Mabel wonders who G.M. is. She puts the note on the calendar on the 31st. Her phone starts buzzing.

Charles checks his phone and finds a text from Oliver saying that the killer came for his family.

Charles and Mabel go to Oliver, who tells them the killer poisoned his dog. Will has her. She recovered, but they've clearly sent a message. He shows them the note. It's clear whoever poisoned Winnie killed Tim. Oliver records as he tells them he thinks it was Sting. Charles doesn't think so. Mabel finds that Sting lost millions when his money was mismanaged by an investment firm, the same firm Tim worked for. They remember that Tim got fired over that. Mabel thinks it seems too simple. Charles says Sting is on the list of people in the building the night he was murdered and the list of people who stayed during the fire alarm. They finally have something real. If they're going down this road, they need advice. They need Cinda Canning. Mabel's not sure how they'd get her to talk to them. Charles thinks he has a way.

Charles goes to see Arnav Kapoor, who says that Anaya was just FaceTiming Lucy, who asked about Charles. Charles remembers that Arnav is parent-friends with Cinda Canning through Circus Arts class on Tuesday mornings. Charles tells Arnav about the podcast. Arnav says they're not that close, but agrees to help Charles get a meeting with her. Charles asks if Lucy seems happy and Arnav says she does.

Mabel and Oliver are excited that Charles got them the meeting. He wants to run it because he wants it to go smoothly. The elevator stops and Jan gets on. Jan notices Charles is dressed up and asks if he's going to see a woman. He says he is and Oliver clarifies that it's a business meeting. Things get more awkward until they all get off and Jan leaves. Mabel and Oliver say Charles should ask her out. Charles says it's not the right time.

Charles, Oliver, and Mabel admire the poster in Cinda's office. Cinda comes in and they all fawn over her. Poppy White, Cinda's assistant, tells them Cinda won the Peabody in 2018 and again in 2020. Cindy then comes in to tell Cinda she has a call on line 2. Oliver and Charles are creeped out by the resemblance between Cinda, Cindy, and Poppy. Cinda apologizes for taking the call, but says they might be getting purchased for $30 million. She turns away to talk. They ask Poppy what it means for her to get bought if she'll stop making podcasts. Poppy says they're buying Cinda. Cinda turns back and directs them to a class, but Oliver says they're not complete novices. They're actually already working on a podcast. Charles wants to go back to the $30 million. Cinda says they've been acquired. She wants to get back to their podcast. They said they were onto something big. They tell her about Sting and their theory. Cinda asks Poppy to give her a tagline for a podcast where Sting is the killer. Poppy says, "We should have suspected when he entered the hornet's nest we wouldn't escape without a Sting." Charles says they want Cinda's advice for getting Sting to sit down with them. Cinda says to enter in a way that disarms him. She was able to get a confession from the Mayor in All Is Not OK in Oklahoma by showing up at his house with a fully cooked turkey. He couldn't turn her away. She also tells them to embrace the mess.

Charles adds Cinda's advice to the board. He's still being haunted by Porky and Bugs. He hears the bassoon playing Dream a Dream and goes to his window to hear better. He takes his accordion and duets with her. Next, they play, "If You're Happy and You Know It." Jan then starts "Do You Think I'm Sexy" and he plays along. Charles plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" next, but Jan leaves her chair, so he stops. A note is slipped under his door. It's Jan, asking him to have dinner with her.

Mabel and Oliver are talking about dips. Oliver maintains that dips are an actual meal and there's not dishwashing because it's all containers and fingers. Mabel finds that gross.

Charles finishes getting dressed and turns to see Bugs and Porky watching him. He tells them to leave. He answers his door to find Mabel and Oliver ready to brainstorm what their turkey should be. Charles says he has plans. Mabel asks if he asked Jan out. She and Oliver are happy for him. Charles admits he finds dating exhausting. It's all scary. Mabel tells him to relax and have fun. Oliver gives him advice as well, but Mabel shuts it all down. She tells Charles she's glad he's going out. She and Oliver leave.

Jan tells Charles she had two childhoods: one in which she was a happy only child with married parents and another where she had an absent father and a new half-sister who could do no wrong and told her father and the flute, leaving her to pick up the bassoon. Jan is very comfortable around Charles. She took a class on body language and finds him trustworthy. Being second is a theme in her life. She asks Charles about his childhood. Charles says his parents were great, and his last girlfriend was perfectly nice. It ended well. He changes topics to her purse, but Jan calls him out on not reciprocating her storytelling. He starts to stumble over his words. The waiter comes by and asks if they want another round. Charles does, but Jan is finished.

Charles is woken up by his doorbell. Oliver comes in with a turkey, saying that's what they're going with. He needs Charles's oven because his conked out two hours in. Oliver forgot Charles had a date and asks if Jan is there. Charles says no and wants Oliver to catch him up. Oliver says Sting moved his tour up so he's leaving in two days. And he's renovating his apartment while he's gone to get a fresh start. They need to bring the turkey to him early in the morning. Charles says it'll work because it's surprising. He likes it because it'll fill his days. They're embracing the mess.

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver go to Sting's door and knock. Sting asks Anita if they were expecting a turkey. She says there isn't one on his schedule. Mabel explains that they live in the building and thought it would be a great community builder to make a turkey and bring it to a neighbor each week. They ask where they should put it. Charles enters Sting's apartment.

Charles admits that this is their first time doing this, and now they realize how weird it is that they didn't bring yams. Sting remembers Oliver's the one doing the podcast. He apologizes for how he was with Winnie. He was having a rough day. Mabel says they heard he knew Tim Kono. She asks if he was a good guy. Sting says not personally, but Tim did work for him until he fired him, for personal reasons. Charles moves to sit next to Sting and tries to connect with him over being famous. After a moment, he moves back to his own chair. They think maybe Tim losing Sting's money may have made him snap. Sting admits that Tim's death is his fault. He's been so upset over it. The day before Tim died, he screamed at him, including saying he should kill himself. And then Tim did exactly that. Anita comes in and says Sting is not a murderer or a dog poisoner. Sting asks if they think Tim was murdered. Mabel knows he was. Sting is relieved to hear that. He thought Tim killed himself because of what Sting said. That's why he moved the tour up and why he's remodeling. It's given him an idea for a song. He picks up his guitar and starts to play a song. Anita thanks them for the turkey and asks them to stay away from Sting.

As they get on the elevator to leave, Oliver says he could use a drink and a dip. Mabel decides she'll go for a run. Charles has something to do first.

Charles knocks on Jan's door as Porky and Bugs watch him. When she answers, he tells her his last relationship lasted six years. They met at a hot spring in Iceland on a trip his sister dragged him on. He hates nature and traveling, but he didn't tell Emma, his ex, that. She thought she was getting an adventurous actor guy. So she moved in and brought her seven-year-old daughter, Lucy, with her. He tried to give Lucy some stability. He cooked her favorite omelet every morning and they both loved it. But Emma didn't. He booked a Caribbean cruise for their anniversary. Emma thought it would be romantic, but Charles booked a family fun cruise. On day three, there was an island tour. He and Lucy wanted to skip it, but Emma insisted that Lucy go and they never came back. They flew home from St. Croix. So he stayed on the cruise alone for the next five days, except for Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. He'd paid extra to have them at their anniversary dinner.

Charles eats alone, with Porky and Bugs dancing around him.

Emma thought a hard break would be best for Lucy, so he hasn't spoken to her since and it's been haunting him. He doesn't share this because it embarrasses him, but he's telling her because he likes her and he'd like a second date. She tells him that was a lot, but agrees to a second date. He says he'll call her.

Mabel reaches down beside her bed and picks up one of the Hardy Boys books, The Shore Road Mystery. She drops it back to the floor and searches online for the book. It's about the Hardy Boys trying to catch a car thief named Gus Montrose. She looks at the note on her calendar. She searches for that name and Tim's together then just Gus Montrose and jewelry. She finds Montrose Gems in New Jersey.

Oliver opens his door to find Oliver there. Oliver says he shared and he got a second date. Now he needs to sleep for a month. He collapses onto Oliver's couch. Oliver asks him to tell him everything, but Charles isn't up for that. Will comes in with Winnie, who is healthy again. Oliver introduces Charles and Will. Will listened to the podcast and informs Oliver and Charles that Mabel used to stay at the Arconia during breaks and hung out with a group of kids. One of those kids was Tim Kono. They're shocked that she knew Tim Kono and wonder why she didn't tell them. Will says maybe she thought it would look suspicious, especially since the last time she was there, one of the other friends died from getting pushed off the roof. He says Mabel is bad news. Oliver grabs a microphone and asks Will to say that again.

Mabel passes Lester as she leaves. A person in a tie-dyed hoodie follows her.

A Few Months From Now

Cinda records an intro for a new podcast she's doing called "Only Murderers in the Building," coming this fall and based on Charles, Mabel, and Oliver.

Cast

Starring

• Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage
• Martin Short as Oliver Putnam
• Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora
• Aaron Dominguez as Oscar Torres (credit only)
• Amy Ryan as Jan Bellows

Guest Starring

• Ryan Broussard as Will Putnam
• Tina Fey as Cinda Canning
• Maulik Pancholy as Arnav Kapoor
• Sting as Himself
• Adina Verson as Poppy White

Co-Starring

• Riley Barnes as Porky
• Jonathan Burke as Waiter
• Teddy Coluca as Lester
• Meredith Holzman as Anita
• Richard Michael Maguire as Bugs
• Anne Stringfield as Cindy

Notes and Trivia

General

• The Easter egg in the opening sequence shows the setting sun changing different tie-dye colors as it sets.
• The scene where Jan and Charles play music together from different apartments was inspired by videos of Italian neighbors singing with each other from their balconies during COVID-19 lockdown in their city.
  • The scene was filmed on a green screen; they are not actually playing at the same time.
  • The songs Charles and Jan play are Pavane (Faure), If You're Happy and You Know It (traditional), Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? (Rod Stewart) and Take Me Out To The Ball Game (Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer)
• Writer Kristin Newman was unable to be on set for the shooting of this episode, but watched a private livestream set up by the crew members for the writers between takes.
  • Her husband suffers from anxiety nosebleeds, which inspired Charles' struggle with them.
• Cindy, Cinda Canning's assistant, is played by Steve Martin's real-life wife, Anne Stringfield.

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Craig Blankenhorn for Hulu.

Videos

Exclusive Clip- Only Murders in the Building - Episode 4

Exclusive Clip: Episode 4

The Trio Brings Sting a Turkey - Only Murders in the Building - Hulu

The Trio Brings Sting a Turkey

See also

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