The second and third episodes of the new season deal with Charles (Steve Martin) coming to terms with the murder of Sazz (Jane Lynch, who appears as a ghost only Charles can see working through his grief), and the trio beginning an investigation into her murder starting with the residents across the courtyard in the less-prestigious West tower of the Arconia. The suspects include the eyepatched Vince (Richard Kind), the Christmas-obsessed Rudy (Kumail Nanjiani), and the family of Alfonso (Desmin Borges), Inez (Daphne Rubin-Vega), and Ana (Lilian Rebelo).
“Helping” them eliminate a couple of suspects are Zach Galifianakis, Eugene Levy, and Eva Longoria as the locals split off with their acting buddies leading to some mutual respect between Charles and Eugene, the combustible pairing of Mable and Eva, and, after pretending to find something in common with Oliver, Zach finally finding a connection with the character he didn’t see before thanks to a little help from Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton). The other side of the building also produces some odd clues in ham radios and actual ham (both living and dead) that may or may not help the investigation.
There’s a nice mix of wacky antics and genuine concern for Charles over the pair of episodes, and by the “Two for the Road” the invesitagion has begun in earnest. The episodes also bring back Detective Williams (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), who has some interactions with our trio before turning the case over to the FBI, and also Jan (Amy Ryan) who breaks out of prison but doesn’t appear to be a good suspect to our podcasters. We also get the discovery of a missing neighbor and an empty apartment which was where the sniper shot from which Mabel takes as her own choosing to squat there both as part of the investigation and taking a queue from the (horribly wrong in all of her assumptions) Eva in asserting herself.
