The Stunt Man

"The Stunt Man"
Season	4
Episode	4
Director	Chris Koch
Writer	Madeleine George
Editor	Shelly Westerman
Original air date	September 17, 2024
Episode chronology
← Previous	"Two for the Road"
Next →	"Adaptation"

"The Stunt Man" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short. It originally aired on September 17, 2024.

Short Summary

Charles, Oliver & Mabel delve into the particular universe of stunt people. They encounter a suspect with an incredibly... familiar... face.

Full Summary

Charles wanders through the woods, following Sazz. He asks her where they're going. She turns and says Paradise.

Charles wakes up and sees that it's 3:02 AM.

Charles tells Mabel and Oliver that he's been up since 3:00 AM working. Not working the whole time, because he spent two hours looking for an all-night Staples. Then he made a second murder board, which he reveals to them. Oliver isn't pleased to have been called out of bed for this. Mabel points out that most adults are up by 8:00 AM. Charles says they need a separate board to consider Sazz as the target. The voice on the radio said she was killed because she was poking around. She was also a ham radio hobbyist. Mabel likes it. It'll be good for the podcast as they're not just searching for the killer, but also the victim. She asks Oliver to record it, but he is trying to fall back to sleep. Mabel sees a card on the board that says Paradise and asks about it. Charles says it's just something Sazz told him in his dream. Oliver thinks Charles has lost it. Charles says it's not important, but if Sazz was the target, they need to fill in the gaps in her life. She and Charles were very close, even sharing two girlfriends, a signature look, and a rare blood type. But Sazz never told him why she was asking questions about the West Tower. Mabel says she's hit a dead end. The voice on the radio has gone silent and the Westies are freezing her out because she's squatting there. Mabel takes a pair of binoculars to the window and looks across at Vince, who has an animal leg and is in his underwear. She says if they're not in a cult, they're at least cult-adjacent. Charles looks for himself and says it's a Portuguese flag. Charles invites Oliver to take a look, but Oliver is getting coffee. Charles asks why he's so tired and Oliver says he barely slept last night. Loretta called him after she finished filming for the day and they had nice chat. Then she had to run and he tumbled into a pit of despair. He shows Mabel her Instagram. On it is a picture of Loretta with a man's arm around her. Eleven of her last fourteen pictures have the same arm. She's spending a lot of time with this guy and Oliver has no way of finding out who he is. Mabel suggests asking Loretta, but Oliver thinks that'll just push Loretta away from him. Mabel sees that Sazz was following Loretta on Instagram. Charles didn't even know Sazz was on Instagram. She even posted from a place called Concussions on the day she died. Oliver looks it up and finds that it's a stunt guy bar. Charles wants to go there and see if anyone where knows why Sazz was asking questions about the West Tower. Oliver says they have trivia on Thursday and shows that to Mabel, who tells him to turn the brightness down on his tablet. He tries to do so by yelling at the tablet.

Mabel thanks Howard for watching the apartment and Hammy Faye Bakker. Howard asks her about the large, ornate bed she's brought in and Mabel tells him it was a re-gift from Eva Longoria, who told Mabel she didn't need two. Howard wants Mabel to work on his podcast with him. He plays part of a recording he's made for her. All he needs is to learn how to edit and post it. Mabel says she doesn't have time for that right now, but he reminds her that she's squatting and can't leave. She's trapped with him in a fun way. She says someone has to be there, but she needs to go follow a lead. Howard accuses her of not caring about Animal Jobs. Mabel says it's not that. Charles and Oliver need her and Howard is a self-starter. Howard says he isn't. He's a sad boy who hates being alone. Mabel says he's right where he's supposed to be and begs him not to leave until she gets back.

Charles warns Mabel and Oliver that stunt workers can be insular and provincial. Mabel asks if he's ever been to Hell's Kitchen and he makes a joke about Oliver's kitchen. Oliver's excited to get out and see the real New York. He also reveals that he's made a fake Instagram as a woman named Ronnie and is using it to talk to Loretta. Mabel says that's a disaster in the making.

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver arrive at Concussions. Oliver starts taking pictures until Mabel threatens to take his tablet away. Charles wants to start by talking to the bartender. Charles tries and fails to be cool as he does that. He orders a drink and Oliver does as well, but the bartender just looks at them. After a moment, he asks why they're really there. Mabel says they were hoping to ask some questions about Sazz Pataki. He says he won't talk to them. Charles tries to bribe him with $5 and then adds another $1. He asks the bartender to break a $20 so he can add more money to it. Three other stunt workers approach the bar and ask the bartender if the trio are giving him trouble. Charles introduces himself, but they don't know who he is. He adds that Sazz was his stunt double. One of the stunt guys says in this bar, he's Sazz's acting double. He's just a face and they don't like faces. Charles says he's not like other faces. Sazz was his friend. Mabel says they're trying to solve her murder. The bartender says they're doing it for their podcast. And the people who loved her can't even give her the proper stunt worker funeral she deserved. No body means no funeral. They hear some shouting and then Glen Stubbins tumbles into the room. They're shocked because he looks just like Ben Glenroy. In a strong Irish accent, he says Ben's dead and introduces himself. He was Ben's stunt double. He blames the trio for Ben dying. For fifteen years, he was Ben's double, taking hits for him. Ben was his number one. Glen hallucinates rats in the bar and starts stomping on them. As he continues stomping, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver watch a woman go through a door in the bar. On the other side is a purple light like in the background of Sazz's picture. Mabel wants to go into the room, but the stunt worker say they've been there long enough and it's time to leave. Glen says he'll get rid of them and moves to introduce them to Bono and The Edge, his fists. Mabel, Oliver, and Charles run in terror.

Outside, Glen stops them and apologizes. He asks if they can help him get a job on their movie. Charles lost his stunt double. Glen lost his acting double. They could make each other whole again. Charles says he doesn't need a double for the movie, which Glen takes as a challenge. He starts showing off what he can do. After a while, they stop him and tell him they'll get him a job on the movie on the condition that he tells them what's happening in the back room. They know Sazz was there the day she died. Glen says she was probably seeing Dr. Maggie. She's a miracle worker. She releases the pain demons that plague them. Oliver clarifies that she's a chiropractor. Sazz was always with her getting cracked. Mabel asks if he can get them in to see her, but Charles is surprised that Sazz was in pain. Glen says she was in a lot of pain thanks to Charles, but she never let on. Charles wants to go see Dr. Maggie alone. If there's something to be faced there, he should be the one to face it. Glen says he'll take Charles back.

Howard interviews Hammy Fake Bakker for his podcast. Someone comes to the door and he gets up to investigate, asking if it's Dudenoff. Someone slides a paper under the door and leaves. Howard picks it up and sees that it's a flyer about auditions for the movie. Howard debates with Hammy over leaving for the audition.

Howard starts his audition. After a few seconds, he flubs it and starts over. After he finishes his second attempt, Tawny and Trina ask what he's doing. Bev is also wondering. He says he's acting. Trina and Tawny have negative comments, but Bev flips it into saying they love him. When he says he's excited to be playing himself, Trina says Josh Gad will be playing him. But he's amazing and they're going to nurture him.

Glen brings Charles into the room to meet Dr. Maggie. Charles says he doesn't want an adjustment. He just wants to ask her some questions. While Glen gets on an inverted table, Charles says he wants to talk to Dr. Maggie about Sazz and he knows she's not protected by HIPAA because she's not a real doctor. He says chiropractics is a pseudoscience. She looks him over and says it physically hurts her to see a body so tense. She refuses to talk to him until he gets on her table. She grabs his shoulder to persuade him.

Mabel wonders where Dudenoff is. She's sure the neighbors have told him she's there. Oliver is distracted talking to Loretta as Ronnie. Mabel tells Oliver that this isn't the way to build trust in a relationship. Oliver finally admits that he almost proposed to Loretta in LA. He was right there and then he didn't do it. He's worried about the stigma of having two failed marriages. He's sure it'll fail because the glamorous life Loretta is living and because he always fails. Mabel gives Oliver his tablet back, but still believes nothing good can come of this. Howard comes in and says Mabel clearly doesn't have time to support his creative efforts, so he's ending their one-sided relationship. He hands her Hammy's leash and starts to leave. But then he turns around and tells Mabel about Hammy. After a moment, he changes his mind and takes Hammy with him, saying he can't trust Mabel. Mabel asks who's with the Dudenoff apartment if Howard is there. Mabel suddenly grabs her jacket and runs out.

Dr. Maggie tells Charles, who is face-down on the table, to ask his questions. As she starts her work, he asks her what Sazz talked about on the day she died. Dr. Maggie says she talked about her pain and how excited she was to retire. This is news to Charles, who wasn't aware she was retiring. Dr. Maggie says she was transitioning to a new career, but didn't say what. She was having trouble with a difficult relationship she was in, believing she was giving more than she was getting. Charles asks if Sazz ever mentioned Paradise. Dr. Maggie doesn't remember that. She warns Charles that releasing a back as tense as his can release a lot of feelings. Some even have an out-of-body experience. Charles isn't worried, but then she does it.

Charles is again in the woods following Sazz. She's even more beat up than before, but brushes it off as a scratch and says she's heading for Paradise.

Dr. Maggie tells Charles he blacked out for a minute and asks if he's okay. He moves his arms and says he's physically okay, but not emotionally. He's afraid Sazz's bad relationship was the one she had with him. Dr. Maggie has treatment for relationship troubles, but they're store in the pelvic floor, so Charles says no. He takes his coat and leaves.

Mabel races to the Dudenoff apartment. She goes inside and finds Inez, Ana, Alfonso, Vince, and Rudy moving her bed. She asks what they're doing and Vince says they could say the same to her.

Mabel threatens to call the cops on the Westies. Vince stops her and she asks what kind of cult they're in. Alfonso says they're not a cult, but Mabel doesn't believe it given the weird behaviors she's seen from them. When she starts to pull out her phone to call Detective Williams, Vince offers to tell her. Inez tries to stop him, but Alfonso proposes cutting Mabel in. They debate it for a minute and then Vince says what he's about to tell her could ruin many lives and must never leave this apartment. She says she's definitely telling Charles and Oliver. Vince sends Rudy to get something. Rudy opens a panel in the wall and comes back with papers. It's leases showing that they're all illegally subletting rent-controlled apartments. Alfonso says Professor Dudenoff rented every apartment on the floor years ago. They all met him at one point or another and they all needed a cheap place to live and he saw that they were weirdos. Professor Dudenoff had their backs. He retired to Portugal, but he still takes care of them every month. He sends them the ham and they send him rent. He lives like a king in Portugal and they get to live in the Arconia for peanuts. Mabel asks how much that is and they admit it's $200/month. That's what Mabel could pay, too, if she keeps this a secret. Mabel asks about the voice on the ham radio. Rudy says that was Helga, his ex-girlfriend. She's slightly unhinged. Mabel says she said Sazz got killed for asking questions about them. Vince says that's not true. He never even met Sazz. They say that Helga's working through some paranoia. Rudy blocked her number on his cell phone, but she keeps trying to reach him through the radio. They're just a family of weirdos and Helga's the wrong kind of weirdo. Mabel could be the right kind of weirdo.

As they play a game of Oh, Hell, Charles tells Oliver and Mabel he doesn't believe the Westies aren't part of some kind of cult. Mabel says their story is so crazy that she kind of believes it. And at $200/month, she can't afford not to. Mabel feels bad about Howard, believing she dropped the ball with him. Oliver says he'll come back around unlike Loretta. Charles says at least she's still alive. Sazz sacrificed everything for him and he didn't realize that until she was dead. Oliver wants to use Ronnie to do something, but Mabel says he needs to let go of Ronnie because he'll lose Loretta if she finds out. Oliver pulls out his tablet to delete the profile, but he can't do it, so he has Mabel do it. Mabel calling it a funeral reminds Charles of something and he thinks there's something he can still do for Sazz.

Charles enters Concussions. He says they need a body and he'll be their body.

Charles lies down on a table with his hat on his abdomen. Glen asks if he's sure he can handle it. Charles says Sazz stood in for him so many times. It's the least he can do for her. Glen gathers everyone around and starts things off with a stunt worker's margarita. They all take shots and then squeeze limes into their eyes. Then they line up to tell Sazz what she meant to them. The bartender brings out breakaway bottles and each of them talks to Sazz and then breaks one on Charles's head. Charles flinches after the first one and Glen reminds him to lie still because he's dead. Glen pays his tribute, but when he goes to break the bottle, it just thuds off Charles's head, revealing it's a real bottle. The others accuse Glen of using a real bottle on purpose and a fight ensues. Glen looks over at it fondly and says it's just like Sazz would have wanted.

On the set of Brazzos, Charles asks Sazz if she's okay because the last hit she took was pretty harsh. She says it was a piece of cake. Someday she won't be able to take the hits anymore. Then she'll open a trampoline park like the ones she used to go to with her dad, where a kid can learn how to fly and how to fall. She wants to call it The Sazz Pataki Impact Academy, where she'll train the next generation of stunt workers. He suggests the lot they're on to build it because the lot's for sale. Sazz says maybe. She asks Charles to keep it secret because the other stunt workers would laugh at her for it. She knows she can trust Charles because he's her number one.

Charles wakes up and smiles.

Charles, Mabel, and Oliver drive out to the lot. They see a sign proclaiming it the future home of The San Pataki Impact Academy. It's Sazz's Paradise: Paradise, New Jersey. Oliver asks if it's a toxic waste dump. Charles says it was, but the government cleaned it up. As they walk around, Charles says this was Sazz's dream. She got so close to it. They hear noise and Mabel goes inside a building. Oliver uses the flashlight on his tablet to illuminate the space. They look over and see Bev. They're relieved until she holds up a gun and tells them she'll shoot them if they move. She cocks the gun.

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

Guest starring

• Desmin Borges as Alfonso
• Catherine Cohen as Trina Brothers
• Veanne Cox as Dr. Maggie
• Richard Kind as Vince Fish
• Jane Lynch as Sazz Pataki
• Kumail Nanjiani as Rudy Thurber
• Lilian Rebelo as Ana
• Daphne Rubin-Vega as Inez
• Molly Shannon as Bev Melon
• Siena Werber as Tawny Brothers

Co-starring

• Jeanette Branch as Stunt Guy #1
• Vinny DeGennaro as Stunt Guy #2
• Robert Lil Bob McCall as Stunt Guy #3
• Michael McFadden as Bartender

Notes and Trivia

Soundtrack

• "Song", performed by Artist
  Written by Composer

Media

Episode Stills

Photography by Patrick Harbron for Hulu.

Videos

Charles's Dream Leads to Clues - Only Murders in the Building- Opening Scene S4 E4 - Hulu

See Also

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