How Many Times Is 'Only Murders in the Building' Going To Kill Paul Rudd?

Long live Glen Stubbins, gone much too soon. We can expect the trio to give Glen Stubbins (Paul Rudd) a proper stuntman funeral after all is said and done with the case, but I have a feeling that this won’t be the last time we see Paul Rudd’s face in the series. Only Murders in the Building has declared a Paul Rudd character dead three times now, so why not keep it going? Paul Rudd is a versatile, popular, and perpetually adorable actor with a lot of character to offer. His characters and deaths have created a throughline between the last three seasons of Only Murders that are arguably as strong as Sazz’s (Jane Lynch) ties with each season. And now that Sazz has died, he may be the last supporting beam.

This Isn’t the First (or the Second) Time Paul Rudd Has Met His Maker in ‘Only Murders in the Building’

The first time we met Ben Glenroy in the finale of Season 2, he died within minutes. In Season 3, we learned what kind of person Ben Glenroy really was. He was consistently disrespectful and selfish with a massive sense of entitlement. After being hospitalized from the rat poisoning on the cookie that killed him, Ben popped back into the land of the living to tell his Death Rattle cast, “I saw the light. That light, yes. The dead-person light.” And despite causing a scene and stealing the attention of the room yet again, he had set himself on a track to rebuilding relationships and redeeming himself of his former narcissistic behavior. But his resurrection was short-lived. He died for good after getting in a heated argument with Cliff (Wesley Taylor), who pushed him down an elevator shaft. He spent the rest of the season in flashback form, as well as briefly in the ghost form of his TV character from Girl Cop.

When Ben’s adorable Irish stunt double, Glen, stumbled into Season 4, I could not have been happier to see Paul Rudd’s face again. Glen Stubbins was much warmer and more entertaining than the brooding Ben Glenroy, with his persistent rat-stomping and pronunciation of the word “film.” But regardless of his exciting and honorable personality, he was not immune to the fate of an Only Murders Paul Rudd character. During a photo shoot for the Only Murders movie, Glen, along with Zach Galifianakis, was mysteriously shot, but he eventually began to rally while being treated in the hospital. In Episode 9 of Only Murder[ing Paul Rudd] in the Building, Glen was smothered in his hospital bed, just after he had sent for Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short).

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‘Only Murders in the Building’ Needs To Go Bigger With Paul Rudd

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It stands to reason we might expect to see Paul Rudd under a new name in Season 5, as series creator and executive producer John Hoffman told The Wrap, “I love Paul Rudd and Paul Rudd loves being on the show.” By now I’ve built a tolerance, scratch that, an expectation that Paul Rudd should reappear as a new character and fall on as many swords as necessary in every season of Only Murders in the Building. Each character should be more eccentric than the last – personally petitioning to officially make him the Rat King in his next life – and each “sword” also more ridiculous than the last. Maybe one of his characters is found dead on the toilet. Maybe another fatally slips on an ice cube. Death by bendy straws! Bring out the guillotine! It would make sense to sustain the running gag, too, that his characters never stay down the first time, making room for even more possibilities for him to creatively bite the dust.

Although they managed a clever way to connect Ben and Glen, if the Paul Rudd trend continues, I wouldn’t expect all of Ben Glenroy’s variants to have legitimately known him within the span of his life. He wasn’t completely without friends, as it was revealed that he had befriended a group of elderly women in a sewing group shortly before his death. So sure, Ben could have been really close with his plumber or his cousin’s cat-sitter, who also happened to look just like him. But it would be an impressive move to give every new iteration some kind of obscure relationship to the originalOnly Murders Paul Rudd character of Ben Glenroy.

Paul Rudd Has Been Just As Important as Jane Lynch in ‘Only Murders in the Building’

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Season 4 of Only Murders focuses on our favorite friend of the trio, Sazz Pataki. Jane Lynch's Sazz has never not been a welcome presence, but now that her character presumably won’t be around, the next closest lovable supporting actor to act as a throughline across seasons is Paul Rudd. Sazz has always looked out for Charles and, by extension, the rest of the gang, especially involving herself in their cases on the down-low. Paul Rudd’s Glen Stubbins was an equally quirky, entertaining, and supportive addition to the trio whenever he did show his face. Both of these characters weren’t exactly a priority to Mabel, Charles, and Oliver, but their proximity to the trio ended up costing both of them their lives. Sazz and Paul Rudd are two sides of the same coin; only Rudd originally entered the series as a one-time subject of a murder case. Since Rudd has died and been reincarnated once, he’s had the chance to demonstrate that he can be just as entertaining as a recurring actor. So if the character of Sazz Pataki does become retired, Paul Rudd will make a great supplement as a familiar face in the series.

Paul Rudd is no longer a stranger to living and dying in the world of Only Murders in the Building. Once he came back as Glen Stubbins, starkly different from the character of Ben Glenroy, he and Hoffman opened a door that now spills with possibilities for crazier characters and crazier deaths. I would enjoy it if John Hoffman and the Only Murders team would bring him back again and again. Sazz has been a recurring face since Season 1, and she’s been well-established as a fun sidekick and a true friend to the show. But with the character now deceased, Rudd turns out to be a fine candidate to take over the torch. For as long as the series continues, the actor should be incorporated as an immortal sidekick.

Only Murders in the Building is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

Three strangers in a New York City apartment building bond over their shared interest in true crime and form an unlikely team to investigate a suspicious death in their complex. Their amateur sleuthing quickly evolves into a thrilling quest as they navigate secrets, lies, and unexpected twists.

Release Date August 31, 2021

Creator

Seasons 4

Streaming Service(s) Hulu , Disney+

WATCH ON HULU