S04.E05: Adaptation

[chitowngirl]

The trio face off against a collection of individuals who deceive, manipulate and threaten as second nature - a Hollywood cast and crew.

Episode airs beginning September 24 on Hulu.

Please keep on topic with things that happen in this episode. Spoiler tag things that happen in future episodes.

Edited September 10 by chitowngirl

[Affogato]

Meryl Streep was in the movie “Adaptation”

[cardigirl]

On 9/10/2024 at 3:06 PM, Affogato said:

Meryl Streep was in the movie “Adaptation”

I remember really loving that movie, too. 

[Juneau Gal]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I really dislike Molly Shannon. So this was a difficult episode for me to enjoy. 

[thuganomics85]

Charles (and the other two) were definitely a little off their game, because once Marshall/the writer pointed out the timeline not making sense, I figured it was going to be that there was more than one killer: a shooter and the person who cleaned up and disposed the body.  Curious to see how this plays out since they already did the "it was actually two culprits!" twist last season.  But this one does seem like it was actually done by two folks who worked together, as oppose to last season where both had different agendas.

Looks like the "Brothers Sisters"/directors are the new prime suspects.  Still pretty early, but I noticed they highlighted the traveling case one of them was rolling around, and I'm wondering if that is a hint of how they (or someone) carried the body or gun.  Again though, it's still too early to confirm it and I'm sure more twists and turns are in store!

Like that Eva Longoria is actually assisting them in trying to solve this, while both Eugene Levy and Zach Galifianakis seem unaware about the majority of this.

Still don't trust Bev, even if she's probably not the killer.

Detective Williams and her/Da'Vine Joy Randolph's face whenever she's dealing with Charles and Oliver's antics never fail to crack me up.  Glad she's still factoring in.

Oliver still freaking out over Loretta's co-worker will definitely end up making things worse for them.

Episode ends with a cliffhanger gunshot!

[phalange]

I love Detective Williams and her irritation with the three different murder boards and her “god only knows” in response to Mabel. 

Poor Oliver is so insecure about Loretta. His slide down the railing and taking over thirty minutes to get back from the west building had me rolling. 

The trio dismissed Marshall as a suspect way too fast and didn’t even verify his alibi. Then they just let him hang out and see the murder boards. After letting Jan in on the investigation in season one, you’d think they’d have learned not to do that. 

Two or more killers makes sense, but I still think two people involved in the production being the killers is too similar to last season. If the Brothers Sisters are involved, I’m thinking it’s only one of them. 

The end was a great parallel to the opening scene, only someone definitely got shot this time. Now that’s a cliffhanger!

[cardigirl]

So, the movie production is why Sazz was killed?  I think someone said in earlier threads that there might be two people involved with the murder, one to kill and one to clean up. But we don't really know anything for certain yet, other than Bev Melon is kind of a loon. 😆 

The actor playing the writer is also in Pachinko and I am very excited to see him is this show as well. He's amazing. Charles Kaufmann, whose book Marshall kept looking at, and whose look he was trying to emulate, wrote Adaptation and wrote a fictitious twin brother for himself in the movie. Nicholas Cage played both brothers in the movie. 

I don't know if every movie they've referenced in the titles for this series of OMITB has offered a clue to the show, but Adaptation certainly points up the theme of doubles, or twins, which has been commented on in earlier threads. You can read the plot of the movie here. It gives me more ideas about the possible solution to this season. Maybe.

Nice to see Paul Rudd again, loved Oliver trying to beat the timeline, and loved Marshall. 

Still not sure why Sazz was a threat to anyone, or who the killer(s) is/are. But I am really enjoying this season.

Edited September 24 by cardigirl

[Jediknight]

"I directed Singin' in the Rain 2 for VH1 in '88, the town's still talking about it.  Gary Busey was in it and stole all the cameras."

If Martin Short does not win an award for this show, that's a crime.

Eva Longoria has been fantastic in this.  Maybe next season she can do what Paul Rudd's done, and come back as somebody different.  And so could Paul Rudd.

The Brothers Sisters are not the killers.

[peeayebee]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Charles (and the other two) were definitely a little off their game, because once Marshall/the writer pointed out the timeline not making sense, I figured it was going to be that there was more than one killer: a shooter and the person who cleaned up and disposed the body.

Yeah, I thought it was strange that they had never considered that two people were involved in the murder.

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Still pretty early, but I noticed they highlighted the traveling case one of them was rolling around, and I'm wondering if that is a hint of how they (or someone) carried the body or gun. 

I also noticed that case being highlighted. I don't know what's supposed to be inside (assuming such a case is a real movie set item), but I suppose it looked big enough for a long gun.

When the Brothers sisters were introduced in the 1st ep, I thought they didn't look like twins. Now I think they do. (I know the actresses are not twins.)

I'm surprised I've never heard of a sticky mat.

John McEnroe was a random cameo, but I liked it.

I wonder if Glen Stubbins got shot. When Oliver and Zach were talking during the photoshoot, Glen was in the background and seemed to be interacting with someone in a violent way. But then earlier we see him in the elevator stomping on invisible rats maybe? So maybe that one scene was just him being odd.

I can't remember who called Zach "Mr Anaphylaxis," but it cracked me up. Was it Marshall?

I also liked Bev calling the shack a "poverty cottage."

Still too early to name the killer. I'm kind of leaning toward Marshall just because he seems too innocent and unassuming.

[Quilt Fairy]

9 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I can't remember who called Zach "Mr Anaphylaxis," but it cracked me up. Was it Marshall?

That was Paul Rudd's character.

9 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

John McEnroe was a random cameo, but I liked it.

Yes!  I said to myself, I know that guy, who is he? and finally my brain suppllied "John McEnroe"!  (Good old brain, it still works sometimes.)  

[cardigirl]

13 minutes ago, Quilt Fairy said:

That was Paul Rudd's character.

Yes!  I said to myself, I know that guy, who is he? and finally my brain suppllied "John McEnroe"!  (Good old brain, it still works sometimes.)  

I didn't realize Oliver was dressed like McEnroe used to for matches until he showed up. Good for a laugh!

Edited September 24 by cardigirl

[Irlandesa]

I liked this episode but I absolutely loved the side-by-side recreations of the murder from Charles's smooth James-Bond-esque interpretation from Oliver's hilarious real-life version.  "Help me down, I spent 20,000 on these knees."

[paigow]

Unlikely Sazz would leave live rounds in a revolver unless she really thought someone was trying to kill her. Also unlikely that she left it in a shed, not in the office or sleeping area.

[Snapdragon]

I still think the Westies (or some of them) were involved with the murder since they're the ones with the code to get into the Dudenoff apartment.  Maybe the Brother Sisters used to be Westies?  The shoe pattern is very distinct so maybe the trio is going to discover that those shoes are made by a niche designer and someone else in the building also wears them.  

Does anyone know if Theo is going to be in this season?  I liked the friendship (possibly more?) that he and Mabel were building.

[mledawn]

I managed to actually enjoy Paul Rudd in this episode - he had so many good lines. In addition to calling ZG "Mr Anaphylaxis" he also commented on what he thought was Mabel's beard! Charles' "...That's not Mabel..." what also perfectly timed.

I wasn't sure what the thumping was all about when Oliver and ZG were talking but someone has commented that it appeared to be Glen Stubbins so that's got to be linked to something...

Much better episode than last week's.

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, cardigirl said:

I didn't realize Oliver was dressed like McEnroe used to for matches until he showed up. Good for a laugh!

Doh! I didn't realize that at all! Now McEnroe's cameo makes more sense.

[shapeshifter]

One of the products Eva Longoria is marketing is "wound glue."
Sounds a little suss.

 

On 9/10/2024 at 3:06 PM, Affogato said:

Meryl Streep was in the movie “Adaptation”

7 hours ago, cardigirl said:

The actor playing the writer is also in Pachinko and I am very excited to see him is this show as well. He's amazing. Charles Kaufmann, whose book Marshall kept looking at, and whose look he was trying to emulate, wrote Adaptation and wrote a fictitious twin brother for himself in the movie. Nicholas Cage played both brothers in the movie. 

I don't know if every movie they've referenced in the titles for this series of OMITB has offered a clue to the show, but Adaptation certainly points up the theme of doubles, or twins, which has been commented on in earlier threads. You can read the plot of the movie here. It gives me more ideas about the possible solution to this season. Maybe.

Charlie Kaufman also wrote Being John Malkovich, which this season is slightly reminiscent of — to me. Actually, all the seasons with the hallways.
Also:
When Glenn Stubbins remarks "Ah, when'd you grow the beard, lassie?" it seemed maybe he was addressing Marshall, not thinking Marshall was Mabel, although, in a later scene when Marshall and Mabel are sitting near each other, I did notice that they have the same shape faces.

4 hours ago, peeayebee said:

I wonder if Glen Stubbins got shot.

"The man who knew too much" maybe?

[Snazzy Daisy]

A short episode that wants to focus on the HOW but then it shifts into the WHO. Not yet WHY. We also hear the word “dazzle” being said a number of times by various characters.

All the clues involving the Brothers sisters are too on the nose. A glimpse of a sniper (in bootcut pants & boots) that could be one of them in Dudenoff’s apartment that we see in S04 trailer is just a recreation of event? Pfft! 😏

Did the studio stage a murder to promote a movie but a real bullet got in the way?

Why don’t the trio ask Bev Melon how she knows about the trampoline park? Ugh. This is supposed to be Sazz’s secret retirement plan. Only people closest to her would know.

Sazz knew about the Only Murders movie and the problem that comes with it way ahead of the trio — how?

The mentions of Eva Longoria owns an adhesives company and Marshall’s perfect eyesight should mean something, right?

Maybe Marshall isn’t the OG script writer. That’s why he’s so anxious when getting notes to rewrite.

Quote

GLEN: “Ahh, when’d you grow that beard, lassie?”

CHARLES: “That’s not Mabel.”

I don’t see this as Mabel’s joke. Does Glen know Marshall from somewhere? He recognizes him even with a beard.

“Mr. Anaphylaxis.” 😂

I really hope Glen Stubbins is just a gag character but he seems to be sticking around. Please don’t turn this into a soap opera with the real Glen Stubbins died as Ben Glenroy and now  the real Ben is living as Glen. I don’t need this sh!t. 😣

Re the cliffhanger, the shot could be fired to a reflection, not an actual person.

 

[Affogato]

“They’ve been shot.”

Could mean plural people shot at the end of i don’t think ghey’ve made a point of anyone’ pronoun. 

[iMonrey]

8 hours ago, Jediknight said:

If Martin Short does not win an award for this show, that's a crime.

Well, first "The Bear" has to stop submitting as a comedy. 😠

7 hours ago, peeayebee said:

John McEnroe was a random cameo, but I liked it.

Oh, that's who that was! I knew it was someone I knew but couldn't place him.

God bless this forum.

[SnapHappy]

I'm actually not enjoying it very much.  The first 2 seasons had a bit of goofiness & campy comedy, but this season just comes off stupid to me.  I HATE Paul Rudd's character.  I mean, REALLY hate.  And Molly Shannon & the sisters are useless & obnoxious time sucks for me.  Eva Longoria is just nasty, and not in a fun way.  The TV boyfriend of Loretta, "Jonk", was an asinine invention and described as basically a porn king.  The John McEnroe cameo was the only entertaining part for me.  And that was minimal.  The best thing I can say about Eugene Levy was that he didn't annoy me. 

I just don't get how something I liked so much has turned into something I don't even want to finish watching.  If they had kept the movie out of it, I think I'd feel differently.

I still love Martin, Steve & Selena and their characters.  They just don't have any room to breathe and are being smothered by 47 irrelevant and annoying outsiders....

Edited September 24 by SnapHappy

[LakeGal]

I wish Paul Rudd would go away.  He is everywhere.  I am probably the only person that doesn't love him.  I don't hate him.  I just find he is everywhere and I need a break from him.  His character is taking up time from others I would rather see.  

[Quilt Fairy]

I'm glad that Charles still has a Who? up on his murder board. Because regardless of the likelihood that someone wanted to silence Sazz, I still don't see how she was the intended victim here rather than Charles.  Remember, the shot is into Charles' dark kitchen, towards a Charles-like silhouette. 

[Chit Chat]

There were so many funny moments in this episode, especially John McEnroe's cameo!  That brought back some memories of his days on the tennis court and letting his temper get the best of him!  Good to see him be in on the joke!  

Poor Oliver.  His self-esteem took a beating in this episode.  

There is a lot going on in each episode, so it can be hard to keep track of everything, but I'm really liking the up tempo of the show this season.  Nice to change it up from time to time.  YMMV.  

[JenE4]

This episode had a lot of laugh-out-loud moments for me: i’ve been known to do steroids. … Prednisone for sinus infections.

since it’s too soon to expose the killer, i have a feeling that we’ll find out the Brothers Sisters were, indeed, perched in M. Dudenoff’s apartment with a long scope peering into Charles’s apartment to get a shot—that is, a long camera lens to start planning out their film shots. The case that they spent far too long lingering on will be a long camera lens, not a rifle.

[peeayebee]

30 minutes ago, Chit Chat said:

Poor Oliver.  His self-esteem took a beating in this episode.  

I love when after Marshall reads the description of his character, Oliver tries so hard to walk away in a manly fashion, but he can't help but flit. :D

1 minute ago, JenE4 said:

since it’s too soon to expose the killer, i have a feeling that we’ll find out the Brothers Sisters were, indeed, perched in M. Dudenoff’s apartment with a long scope peering into Charles’s apartment to get a shot—that is, a long camera lens to start planning out their film shots. The case that they spent far too long lingering on will be a long camera lens, not a rifle.

That's a good observation. The footprint might indeed belong to one of them, but they weren't shooting a gun.

[Chit Chat]

16 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

I love when after Marshall reads the description of his character, Oliver tries so hard to walk away in a manly fashion, but he can't help but flit. :D

That reminded me of Nathan Lane's character in The Bird Cage when Robin Williams was teaching him to appear straight for his son's future in-laws.   His walk in that was hilarious too!!

I love the banter between Oliver and Charles whether it's onscreen or off.  They're fun to watch.  I'm bummed that none of them won an Emmy for their individual performances.  

[mledawn]

2 hours ago, JenE4 said:

This episode had a lot of laugh-out-loud moments for me: i’ve been known to do steroids. … Prednisone for sinus infections.

I'd forgotten this one! I laughed out loud at that, too.

You really need to hand it to Oliver, he has a knack for putting a positive spin on a lot of things, while still being extremely, dramatically glum about others.

[Chit Chat]

30 minutes ago, mledawn said:

You really need to hand it to Oliver, he has a knack for putting a positive spin on a lot of things, while still being extremely, dramatically glum about others.

I love his running commentary on just about everything!

[buttersister]

I love Paul Rudd.

[Jediknight]

5 hours ago, Chit Chat said:

Poor Oliver.  His self-esteem took a beating in this episode. 

But it still might not have been as bad as the beating he doled out to the bird.

[HelloooKitty]

1 hour ago, Jediknight said:

But it still might not have been as bad as the beating he doled out to the bird.

HE DOESN’T WANT TO DISCUSS IT!

Edited September 25 by HelloooKitty

[cardigirl]

15 hours ago, Snapdragon said:

Does anyone know if Theo is going to be in this season?  I liked the friendship (possibly more?) that he and Mabel were building.

Theo usually features in the seventh episode, so maybe. I've not read anything yet that says he's in this series, but I hope to see him too. He's one of my favorite characters. 

[Affogato]

Is Mabel still squatting in the FBI crime scene? Do they know she was squatting there  and Howard ?

I missed the piggy.

i’m guessing the point of all the different people is that it is confusing, like a busy intersection. Hard to tell who snatched your wallet .

 

 

 

[slowpoked]

21 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Oliver's hilarious real-life version.  "Help me down, I spent 20,000 on these knees."

And Mabel’s quip before that of “Do you want me to stop the clock?” was just pitch perfect!

Edited September 25 by slowpoked

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Affogato said:

i’m guessing the point of all the different people is that it is confusing, like a busy intersection. Hard to tell who snatched your wallet .

That's perfect, and for whatever reason, it's working for me!  The episode moved along so quickly that, boom (literally) the episode was over.  I'm along for the ride and don't have any decent theories on where this is headed, but I sure enjoy reading everyone else's thoughts on the matter! 

[SnapHappy]

14 hours ago, LakeGal said:

I wish Paul Rudd would go away.  He is everywhere.  I am probably the only person that doesn't love him.  I don't hate him.  I just find he is everywhere and I need a break from him.  His character is taking up time from others I would rather see.  

No, no you aren't.  I can't stand him.  Never have, since I first saw him as Josh in "Clueless". 

[slowpoked]

This has been the best episode of the season so far. It felt like everything picked up all at once. The episodes previously to this have been mostly slow burn, so I’m glad they upped the ante this episode.

Martin Short should submit this episode to the Emmy’s. OMITB has been one of his best works, and it’s kind of disappointing he hasn’t been recognized for it yet. Even if Hacks goes in a mini-run for Best Comedy, the show doesn’t have a male lead, so in an ideal world, where comedies are comedy, Martin should be the favorite coming into the Emmy’s for his category.

I’m still in awe how the chemistry between the three of them have been amazing. Not surprised between Steve and Martin, but Selena, wow, who could have seen it coming? I’m still laughing at her “do you want me to stop the clock?” I could watch that sequence of Martin’s re-enactment over and over. And the way she was trying to get away from Molly Shannon at the elevator was really funny too.

[Suzn]

21 hours ago, SnapHappy said:

I'm actually not enjoying it very much.  ... this season just comes off stupid to me. ... And Molly Shannon & the sisters are useless & obnoxious time sucks for me.  Eva Longoria is just nasty, and not in a fun way.  The TV boyfriend of Loretta, "Jonk", was an asinine invention and described as basically a porn king.  

I still love Martin, Steve & Selena and their characters.  

I'm sorry to say that this is pretty much how I feel.  I loved the last season, but this one is just not doing it for me.

I dislike Molly Shannon and the Brothers sisters.  Paul Rudd is not funny; Eva Longoria's character is obnoxious and I hope drastically different that the actual Eva Longoria.  The Jonk stuff is not funny and more than a little creepy.

I could go on at length about my disappointments with this season, but I'm sticking with it only because I still love Martin, Steve and Selena.

Edited September 25 by Suzn

[Irlandesa]

41 minutes ago, slowpoked said:

Martin Short should submit this episode to the Emmy’s. OMITB has been one of his best works, and it’s kind of disappointing he hasn’t been recognized for it yet. Even if Hacks goes in a mini-run for Best Comedy, the show doesn’t have a male lead, so in an ideal world, where comedies are comedy, Martin should be the favorite coming into the Emmy’s for his category.

I was hoping for a surprise at the Emmys where they announced Short as Best Actor instead like Jean Smart took the Emmy for Best Lead Actress In A Comedy.

I love The Bear but I do not feel they're putting in comedic performances even though I know many of them can do comedy quite well.

[questionfear]

I could be wildly wrong but when we saw the matching boot print my first thought was that a bunch of people would have that boot, that it was a shoe used on another production. 

Just because the "shoe print as clue but everyone has one" twist was used on an episode of Brooklyn 99, and something about the setup of the clues in OMITB made me see parallels. 

[Yeah No]

18 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

All the clues involving the Brothers sisters are too on the nose. A glimpse of a sniper (in bootcut pants & boots) that could be one of them in Dudenoff’s apartment that we see in S04 trailer is just a recreation of event? Pfft! 😏

Did the studio stage a murder to promote a movie but a real bullet got in the way?

I agree. I think the staged murder/real bullet thing was one of the (admittedly many) possibilities I threw out in a previous episode thread.

I also talked about two people involved, but in my theory they were either working together to perform a ruse or not working together, with one possibly intending murder with the shot but the other might have come upon Sazz laying there still alive and helped hide her. The two "sisters" working against each other, perhaps?

The other thing I can't get out of my mind and have mentioned before is how surprised Sazz looked to see real blood. I wonder if she was in on a ruse to "murder" her but somehow someone intending to actually murder someone else (Charles, likely) was there with a real gun and she really got shot.

I also think the Brothers Sisters thing is too on the nose. If anything, given their name and the sort-of association with the "5 Lesbian Brothers" theater company I discovered earlier, they (or one of them) might actually be supportive of Sazz and is hiding her if she's still alive.

18 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Why don’t the trio ask Bev Melon how she knows about the trampoline park? Ugh. This is supposed to be Sazz’s secret retirement plan. Only people closest to her would know.

I just can't get over how our trio didn't even ask Bev Melon more questions like why she was there in the first place. I theorized earlier that she could be a obsessed fan looking for clues on the case or for her movie somehow, but after the way she acted in this episode I'm not so sure about that and can't believe our trio didn't nail her ass to the wall about what she was really doing there or how she knew about it. Is she bugging our trio? They are really off their game this season, especially if that writer could notice something they didn't. If we here had known about the timeline I'm sure even we would have noticed that it was too short for one person to do all of that by themselves.

The writer has now belatedly been thrown out as a possible suspect but again who knows? At this point we still have many suspects including the Westies. I'm thinking most or all of them are in on or at least know about something, whether it's a fake murder or a real one.

I can understand others' frustrations with this season. It's bugging me too probably to a lesser extent, although I didn't love last season either.

 

Edited September 25 by Yeah No

[catherinejane]

how come no one asked how Mable and marshall made it back quicker from the west side? maybe there is some service corridor? we saw a ton of them last seaon/season 2?

[paigow]

5 minutes ago, catherinejane said:

how come no one asked how Mable and marshall made it back quicker from the west side? 

They did not have to evade McEnroe

[slowpoked]

18 hours ago, LakeGal said:

I wish Paul Rudd would go away.  He is everywhere.  I am probably the only person that doesn't love him.  I don't hate him.  I just find he is everywhere and I need a break from him.  His character is taking up time from others I would rather see.  

I feel similarly about Simu Liu. Now that he’s everywhere it’s gotten annoying, and when it gets annoying, I start to dislike the actor.

I don’t mind the character of Glen but I wish they had given it to another actor. They have enough star power as it is already with Eva/Eugene/Zach, and on a smaller scale, Kumail too (who’s previously an Oscar nominee), and then some appearances from Oscar winners themselves like Meryl and Davine.

[chaifan]

I liked this episode.  I liked everyone at the photo shoot, all matchy matchy.  No idea what the point of it was, but it was still fun.

I don't think the Brothers Sisters are the shooters.  I still think Charles was the original target, and it makes no sense for them to kill him before the trio even knows someone wants to do a movie about them. 

I'm with everyone else on they why was Bev Melon at trampoline park???  I always allow for characters to have conversations off screen that we aren't clued into until later.  At some point Mabel may say "well, Bev said she was at the shack because _____".  So for right now, I'm assuming the trio has asked Bev this question.

I think part of what Mabel asked for in her contract was for the three to be whatever level of producers Marshall said they were.  That's the first time we heard them called producers, right?

I loved the bit with Mabel and Bev by the elevator.  I really thought Mabel was going to say "animal jobs!" as a podcast idea.

Marshall is sus.  I think everything else is a red herring so far.

 

[Ceindreadh]

2 hours ago, catherinejane said:

how come no one asked how Mable and marshall made it back quicker from the west side? maybe there is some service corridor? we saw a ton of them last seaon/season 2?

 

2 hours ago, paigow said:

They did not have to evade McEnroe

 

They also probably used the elevators.

[Ohiopirate02]

2 hours ago, chaifan said:

I'm with everyone else on they why was Bev Melon at trampoline park???  I always allow for characters to have conversations off screen that we aren't clued into until later.  At some point Mabel may say "well, Bev said she was at the shack because _____".  So for right now, I'm assuming the trio has asked Bev this question.

 

Bev could have easily had a PA do an online deep dive on Sazz after hearing of Sazz's death. Property records are in the public domain and many states have made them searchable online. It's not some instantaneous Google search, but can be done in a few hours if one is motivated enough. If not a PA, then maybe someone in the legal department. Then we see Bev show up at the address someone at Paramount uncovered for her. 

[Blakeston]

Oliver made the episode with the steroids comment, comparing himself to an Olympic swimmer when he was using an elliptical twice a week, and mentioning the "Let's Kick Rickets to the Curb, and If We Have Extra, Send it to AIDS" fundraiser (which had nothing to send to AIDS).

I'm a Paul Rudd fan, but I have no desire to hear that stupid accent ever again. (I know it's supposed to be comically bad - that doesn't make it any less annoying.) And the rat-stomping thing is already old.

 

[KerleyQ]

I think Marshall is going to be one of their red herring suspects eventually. My theory is that Sazz wrote the original screenplay, and she maybe hired Marshall in some capacity, like an assistant. Like others have guessed, Glen actually knew that was Marshall when he mentioned the beard. If Marshall was working for Sazz, Glen may have seen him hanging around with her at the bar. So my guess is that he stole Sazz's script, and that's the problem with the movie she was talking about when she left Bev that voicemail. I don't think he's going to actually turn out to be the killer, but I think that they'll suspect him once they realize that Glen knows him, and they find out how. 

I was genuinely surprised that, when they kept going on about how one person could have done that all in 12 minutes if they were in super great shape, Oliver didn't immediately throw out Jonk as a suspect. Instead, we got Martin Short's freaking brilliant scenes as Oliver attempted to reenact it. "It's already been 38 minutes" and the bird feather in his hair had me dying. I thought Steve Martin was excellent in his more serious scenes in episode 2, as  Charles mourned Sazz, but Martin Short was just as excellent in these comedic scenes. 

Back to Jonk, my immediate guess was that at some point, after he freaks out some more, Oliver is going to find out from Loretta that Jonk's reputation is all publicist created, and not remotely real.