The trailer for the new season of "Only Murders in the Building" offers clues on how two characters played by actors with Philadelphia ties fit into the show's latest mystery.
Philly native Da'Vine Joy Randolph is back as the no-nonsense, ever-snarky Detective Williams. Season 4 also includes a new, seemingly sinister character played by Richard Kind, who grew up in Bucks County. The first episode of the new season premieres Tuesday, Aug. 27, on Hulu.
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"Only Murders" — which has been nominated for 49 Emmys and won 4 since debuting in 2021 — centers on Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), who team up to solve murders in their luxurious New York City apartment building, the Arconia, while recording podcasts about their sleuthing misadventures.
This season, the trio heads to Los Angeles, where their now-infamous podcast is being adapted into a movie. They're being portrayed by celebrities: Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis and Eugene Levy. But their Hollywood dreams are short-lived when they find out that another murder was committed at the Arconia — this time Charles' friend and stunt double Sazz (Jane Lynch) was killed.
The trailer shows Detective Williams by the trio's side as they try to solve the murder. As the series has progressed, the detective's tough exterior has been softened. She has gone from working against the trio to becoming a reluctant ally after she and her wife welcomed a baby boy. Randolph, A Temple University alum who earned her first Oscar this year for "The Holdovers," received an Emmy nomination for her work in the third season of "Only Murders."
Who might the killer be? The trailer insinuates Kind's character is among the suspects, as he glowers ominously out the window, and he later appears to punch Levy while wearing an eyepatch.
Kind is no stranger to playing creepy characters, if his role in Netflix thriller "The Watcher" is any indication. Kind, who grew up in Yardley and graduated from Pennsbury High School in 1974, has transformed himself for many TV, movie and theater roles. So, there's not telling what types of surprises his "Only Murders" character has up his sleeve.
The star-studded Season 4 also welcomes Molly Shannon, Kumail Nanjiani and Melissa McCarthy, and sees the return of Meryl Streep. And though the series is gaining a local actor in Kind, it may be losing one, too. It's unclear whether Tina Fey, an Upper Darby native, will return this season as rival podcaster Cinda Canning. She wasn't in the trailer, but we wouldn't put it past the ever-conniving Cinda to make a surprise appearance if she sniffs out another lucrative podcast opportunity, especially now that a new murder has been committed.
Watch the full trailer for Season 4 below:
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