'Only Murders In The Building' is ruined by tricky guest stars – could a fifth season save the whole thing?

It's a trick that few have perfected. Breaking Bad, which concluded its five seasons with a thoroughly satisfying finale, is a lesson in how to do it right.

The Maid's Tale, On the other hand, it is the best example of how to do it wrong. After the upcoming sixth season, it's finally coming to an end, eight and a half years since the first and long after many viewers – including this one – have lost all interest.

A fifth season of Just murders in the building was already confirmed before the fourth one was shown.

After the finale (Disney+, Tuesday, October 29th), which, without revealing any spoilers, crowned an extremely disappointing fourth season, one would have wished that Disney+ had waited a little longer to make the decision.

It feels like it's almost time to finally leave the Arconia building, where amateur detectives and podcasters Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) live.

The further the series got away from Arconia feeling like a character in its own right, the more it lost touch with who she was

It hurts me to say this because Just murders was one of my favorite shows on television in recent years, but lost a lot of its luster in its fourth season. To be honest, there were signs in the baggy third season that the rot was already setting in.

It was a novel idea to set up the season so that Oliver had to adapt his crime play into a full-scale Broadway musical.

However, the flashy musical interludes often took you out of the story and seemed to be just a chance for the stars – and well-known guest star Meryl Streep – to flex their singing and dancing muscles.

Still, the change on Broadway at least made sense. Oliver is, after all, a down-and-out theater director who dreams of a return to the bright lights.

The appointment of this season's murder victim as Charles' girlfriend and longtime stunt double Sazz (Jane Lynch), who is shot by a sniper while retrieving a bottle of wine from Charles' apartment, seemed to signal a return to the simpler pleasures of the first two seasons .

But then Charles, Oliver and Mabel were kidnapped to Hollywood, where a film based on their podcast had been greenlit.

Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria appear, playing themselves as Charles, Oliver and Mabel. Of the three, only Longoria received material funny enough to make something of her appearance.

First Broadway and now Tinseltown. The further the series moved away from the Arconia, which felt like a character in its own right, the more it lost touch with what it was all about: the close relationship between Charles, Oliver and Mabel and the building's unique ecosystem.

We were introduced to the “Westies,” a group of misfits who live in the less glamorous west side of the building and for a while looked like they murdered Sazz. But apart from a brief scene with the wonderfully cantankerous Uma (Jackie Hoffman), the only one from the original side gang to appear in the fourth season was the annoying but lovable Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton), who has become an unofficial member of the Scooby Gait occurred throughout.

The spaces these characters once filled have been taken over by an invasion of big-name guest stars, sometimes playing exaggerated versions of themselves, sometimes not.

It was a real coup for the producers last time to get Streep to play Loretta, Oliver's lover, so you can understand why they wanted to stick with her. But also bring back Paul Rudd, who played season three victim, obnoxious actor Ben Gilroy, as the character's Irish stunt double felt gimmicky.

As if all that wasn't enough, there were guest appearances from Mel Brooks, Scott Bakula, John McEnroe and, in last week's episode, Ron Howard, who, as it turns out, has vital information for the investigation.

The most egregious episode was with Melissa McCarthy as Charles' drunken, pushy sister. When McCarthy is good, she is hilarious. If she isn't, well, that was one of those nothings.

It seems to appear in Just murders gives celebrities the same cachet in which they appear The Simpsons done once. They undoubtedly enjoy it, but it ruins a great series.

End it with the fifth season.