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Only Murders in the Building S4E9 Recap: “Escape from Planet Klongo” — It Wasn’t Glen

Selena Gomez and Martin Short in front of a board with things tacked to it in Only Murders in the Building S4E9
(Disney/Patrick Harbron)

The following recap contains spoilers for Only Murders in the Building S4E9, “Escape from Planet Klongo” (written by John Hoffman, Steve Martin & Ben Smith, and directed by James Babbit)


After learning last week that Glen Stubbins was the Sazz’s protege on Project Ronkonkoma, the trio rushes to the hospital with beer and corned beef in hopes that it will rouse him out of his coma. Unfortunately, the nurse stops them from entering his room, and, well, he isn’t the stunt guy they are looking for. But, I will get to that.

It Wasn’t Stubbins

The trio sits in the hall outside of Glen’s room. Oliver doesn’t know what to do with the beer, so Mabel gladly takes it off of his hands. The bartender from Concussions shows up just when the trio feels they are out of leads. He tells them that Glen wasn’t the guy involved in the Ronkonkoma project with Sazz, but someone else. He informs them that the guy messed up so badly that Sazz had blackballed him from Hollywood. Sounds like a motive for murder. Unfortunately, the only people who know the identity of said man, are Glen (in a coma) and the director, Ron Howard.

Back at Charles’s apartment, the trio brainstorms ways to contact Ron Howard. Oliver recalls a lunch date they had at a Chinese restaurant back in the ’80s, but while he does that, Mabel decides their best chance is Bev Melon. Bev knows that Ron Howard is working on a movie in the city and tells Mabel she will give her the address if Mabel will help rewrite some pages of the Only Murders script because it’s trash. Mabel somewhat agrees and she and the men head to Ron Howard.

Escape from Planet Klongo

The trio arrives at the movie set, but security won’t allow them in. They do manage to sneak by as one of the producers believes they are extras on the film. After a brief and awkward screaming audition, Oliver and Charles are picked to play aliens, and Mabel some sort of showgirl. Mabel doesn’t stay long though as she receives word from the hospital that Glen has woken up. The guys stay and try to gain Ron Howard’s attention but wind up getting kicked out after getting into a huge argument on set.

They go to the Chinese restaurant where Oliver claims he and Ron Howard had lunch once. Charles confesses to Oliver that he always assumed they would grow old together, but now he feels like a third wheel. This is why he didn’t want to throw him a bachelor party; he just wanted some alone time. Oliver is touched and reassures him that they can still grow old together.

Back at the hospital, an unknown person sneaks into Glen’s room and smothers him with a pillow. Mabel arrives too late. She goes back to her apartment where Marshall, the screenwriter of Only Murders movie, is waiting for her. He invites himself in, oblivious to Mabel’s distress, and wants to discuss parts of the script. As she opens the box of beers in the fridge, she finds a script in the box. She pulls it out and it reads, “Only Murders in the Building written by Sazz Pataki.”

Ron Howard, Steve Martin and Martin Short at a diner table in Only Murders in the Building
(Disney/Patrick Harbron)

At the same time, Ron Howard arrives at the Chinese restaurant for lunch and he is excited to spot Oliver, who it turns out really did have lunch with him back in the ’80s. Ron joins him and Charles at the table and the guys question him about Sazz and her protege. He recalls the man and the incident which led to him getting blackballed. He kept a photo on his phone and shows the guys who recognize it as Marshall, just without the beard. Oh boy.

Back at Mabel’s, she confronts Marshall with the script and asks why Sazz’s name is on it. He notices a ping on Mabel’s phone and reads the on-screen text from Charles where they announce that Marshall is the guy they are looking for. Then we are left with that little cliffhanger.

While I do believe Marshall stole the script from Sazz, I do not think he murdered her or Glen. It has been hinted at, or rather thrown at our faces, that the killer is someone who has wanted the trio dead since Season 1. Something tells me Marshall is just another red herring. I believe he held a grudge against Sazz. I think he stole her script and that was his revenge for losing out on the Hollywood life, but that’s as far as it goes. Why would he want the trio gone? We have one episode left and I believe this mystery won’t be solved, at least not completely. I personally don’t want this wrapped up in one episode as there is so much ground to cover and a lot of information to unpack. Hopefully, Oliver’s wedding goes off without a hitch next week, but something tells me it’s not that easy.

Written by Felicia Nickens

Lover of television, film, & the macabre.

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