“Only Murders in the Building” has a problem with Mabel that has never been resolved

The big picture

• The revolving door of Mabel’s love interests in
  Only murders in the building
  lacks on-screen development, hindering his character’s growth.
• The people most important to Mabel, like Oscar and Alice, are introduced and quickly abandoned at the end of each season, without adequate exploration.
• The authors of
  Only murders in the building
  they failed to give closure to Mabel’s relationships, leaving her character stagnant after three seasons.

It’s common for TV series to give their main characters multiple romantic leads as the seasons progress. In fact, most shows that feature single characters pair them up with a new significant other pretty regularly. This keeps things interesting, allows new actors to join the cast, and creates tons of new storylines for writers to explore. But there’s one series that seems to miss the mark when it comes to the changing love life of one of its main characters.

From Hulu Only murders in the building (which recently earned a whopping 21 Emmy nominations for its third season) is a high-quality show for so many reasons: top-notch comedians, surprisingly good guest stars, and a great mix of comedy and mystery. But there’s one area where the writers have dropped the ball every single season. Mabel (Selena Gomez) is an important member of the show’s main trio, which is rounded out by Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short). Each season, Mabel meets a new love interest, but the two are quickly dumped before the next season picks up. This wouldn’t be that unusual, except that most breakups happen off-screen. It’s okay that Mabel can’t hold down a relationship (it actually makes sense, given her complicated past), but this tendency prevents the character from reaching her true potential.

“Only Murders in the Building” Has an Outline for Mabel’s Love Life

Mabel’s first love interest in season one is Oscar Torres (Aaron Dominguez), a childhood friend who also grew up in Arconia. They go on an intense journey in an attempt to find out who killed their friend Tim Kono (Julian Cihi), and the connection between them seems strong. However, Oscar is completely absent from the second season of Only murders in the building. In episode 2, Mabel casually mentions that they decided to stay friends instead of pursuing something romantic, and then Oscar is never mentioned again in the show. In an interview with Expiration, co-creator of the series John Hoffman said that the writers “decided that we didn’t want to see Mabel develop a relationship where the trauma bond was strong. With everything Oscar had been through, we thought it made sense for her to leave.” That’s a reasonable stance, but it would have been much more interesting if that conversation between Mabel and Oscar had happened on screen. By casually dismissing the character, Mabel has no room to elaborate on this relationship. (and we don’t see its growth).

Then in the second season, Mabel begins a romance with Alice Banks (Dear Delevingne), a mysterious artist and gallery owner. At first, Alice seems to be encouraging Mabel to process her trauma, but then Alice starts to send out some major red flags. Mabel discovers late in the season that Alice was actually trying to use Mabel and her experiences as inspiration for her art. Mabel breaks up with Alice, stating that she can’t be with someone she doesn’t completely trust. At least this breakup is an improvement over Oscar’s because it happens on screen. However, like Oscar, Alice is never discussed in detail again. We don’t see Mabel really deal with what it meant to her to feel pain related to a potential partner. (and someone she thought she could count on). Being reluctant to trust someone is a pretty significant personality trait to reveal; it speaks to the trauma Mabel has gone through in her past. But again, the writers don’t delve into what this means for Mabel as a three-dimensional character.

Mabel’s latest love interest also won’t be returning in ‘Only Murders in the Building’

Finally, in season three, it seemed like Mabel would finally find a love interest that could last a long time. Meet documentary filmmaker Tobert (Jesse Williams), and connect as they investigate the death of Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd). Tobert is extremely charming and brings out a softer side to Mabel’s character (not to mention that Williams and Gomez have some obvious chemistry). Season 4 will be set in Los Angeles, which is where Tobert heads at the end of the final season. Although she initially rejects his offer to go with him, there was always the possibility that Mabel would go visit him anyway (especially with a new case to investigate). It looked like Mabel would finally have a romance that would last more than one season.. Until Jesse Williams gave a recent interview in which he revealed that he actually won’t be returning for season 4 after all. When asked about his character’s possible return, Williams shut down the speculation, saying, “No, I’m not on that show anymore.”

Not only is it disappointing that Williams won’t be returning because she added so much to the show, It also shows that the Only murders in the building Once again the writers seem to have no idea what to do with the character of Mabel. And once again, the complete dissolution of their relationship won’t happen on screen. Maybe there’ll be a little discussion between the characters about why Mabel isn’t interested in Tobert anymore, since it wouldn’t make much sense for them to visit Los Angeles without her looking for him. It’s another example of Mabel failing to grow or mature as a character. It’s possible that her history of trauma is keeping her from forming a healthy, lasting relationship with anyone. But there’s no real exploration of that theory, so it seems baffling that these love interests keep being introduced for no reason. Also, Mabel’s character’s focus is on romance and the person she is attached to at that moment in relation to other aspects of her life that could be investigated (a trap that many female characters fall into).

Charles and Oliver have had partners who have come and gone, but there’s always a sense of closure there. There’s definitely less of a coherent narrative for Mabel’s character. Even when characters are introduced as significant others to her, those bonds don’t last and there’s really no legitimate reason given for the end of those relationships. Moving forward, the writers should either wrap up each of Mabel’s love stories definitively and conclusively or just leave her single altogether. Mabel doesn’t need a partner to make her character interesting (or good at solving crimes), and including love interests for a season only to have the breakups happen mostly off-screen is a disappointment to the audience. Mabel is a vital member of the show, and she deserves better.

Seasons 1-3 of Only murders in the building are available for streaming on Hulu in the United States. The fourth season will debut on August 27.

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