Only Murders in the Building Season 4 Is Finally Doing Right by Mabel

If there’s one thing that most can agree on, it’s that Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building is a consistent delight. Starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as Charles-Haden Savage, Oliver Putnam, and Mabel Mora, respectively, this trio finds themselves in some wild situations as they investigate murders (conveniently in their building) for their titular podcast. Over three and a half seasons now, the trio has undergone quite a bit of growth. Well, Charles and Oliver have. On the other hand, although her character trajectory was astounding in the debut season, Mabel has not gotten the attention and focused writing she deserves in the last two seasons. Season 4 finally seems to be changing that.

In the first season of Only Murders, Mabel unexpectedly found herself languishing over long-buried trauma surrounding the mysterious death of her friend Zoe (Olivia Reis), the distance it caused between her and present-day victim Tim Kono (Julian Cihi), and their friend Oscar being falsely charged with killing his girlfriend. Finding the answers about Tim’s death gave her the answers about Zoe, while she and Oscar (Aaron Dominguez) finally gave into the romantic feelings that were burgeoning between them during their youth that they never acted on given his romance with Zoe. Though a decade later in life, this was fundamental for Mabel’s growth and helped both establish who the character was and where she was heading … and then the series lost sight of Mabel.

In the second season, there was a drastic shift in the story, specifically when it came to Mabel. Despite picking up immediately from the season-ending cliffhanger, Mabel suddenly wanted no part of the podcast, though she reluctantly gave in, given she was the one primarily implicated in Bunny’s (Jayne Houdyshell) murder. Additionally, her strong relationship with Oscar was suddenly tossed aside with an explanation that although their “trauma bond” was strong, but they were both waiting for an inevitable “let’s just be friends” text from the other.

Everything the series built for Mabel, and a path forward to deal with what she had experienced thus far in life, was tossed aside. She was thrust into a new romance with shady artist Alice (Cara Delevingne), she felt like she had no real purpose in life, and her interest in their podcast—and seemingly true crime in general—plummeted. At the very least, she dealt with unresolved trauma from her father’s untimely death when she was younger, but the connection between that and Bunny’s murder was a new twist that Mabel had been “losing” her memories when they were too much to deal with—something that felt like it likely should have come up during the trio’s investigation of the first season’s mysteries.

Then, in Only Murders in the Building season 3, Mabel somehow became the only member of the trio who did care about their podcast. This is certainly closer to who we learned Mabel to be early on, but she was still the same lost, tortured soul with no direction in life. She didn’t know how to move forward, especially as her off-screen aunt had decided to sell her apartment at the Arconia, leaving Mabel without a place to stay.

Instead of digging into this storyline with Mabel and allowing her to consciously find purpose in life, even when it came to their podcast, she was saddled with yet another new love interest: Tobert (Jesse Williams). He became her newest partner-in-crime while looking into Ben Glenroy’s (Paul Rudd) death, their romance becoming her personal arc for the season. Any focused and meaningful development Mabel had was primarily put into this relationship, which ultimately would’ve meant something if he had remained part of the show. However, like with both of her other love interests, Tobert promptly disappeared at the end of the season.

So much time has been wasted on relationships that ultimately made little impact on Mabel, while so little time was spent developing Mabel individually in the last two seasons. Thankfully, Only Murders in the Building season 4 has finally refocused and is delivering that (at least in part). From the start, Mabel’s focus has been on her future and actually doing something to figure out where she’s headed—rather than just talking about it and doing absolutely nothing.

When presented with the concept of being paid for her life rights for the movie based on their podcast, Mabel (after some deliberation) used this to her advantage to ask for a number that would help her get a jump start on her future, especially in regards to finding a place to live. Although it’s unclear what exactly she asked for, the number clearly had to be high.

Simultaneously, we have the ongoing story of Mabel finally beginning to embrace her title as Podcast Producer and acknowledging that it is, in fact, a job. Howard (Michael Cyril Creighton) continues to pitch his “Animal Jobs” podcast, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out. Plus, Bev Melon (Molly Shannon) told Mabel that the studio is all-in on producing any new podcast idea that Mabel has. It seems that at last, Mabel will no longer be sulking about, but will instead become a prominent figure in the podcast world. (As long as she can think up a good idea, which is her current challenge.)

She even seems to have found herself an apartment at the Arconia, in the mysterious unit they were investigating that she has now discovered is available for only $200 per month due to M. Dudenoff illegally renting out the floor. It’s not necessarily a forever home, but it’s a very affordable start for Mabel, a place for her to plot her life’s next steps.

Best of all, Only Murders has blessedly not stuck Mabel with yet another love interest in season 4. She’s focused on herself and taking action, and it’s all long overdue. Here’s hoping the back half of the season will keep Mabel on this path, as it’s nice to finally see her in the spotlight as more than just the lost, unemployed millennial in the trio. Mabel has always deserved better than that, and season 4 seems poised to finally deliver.

Jay Snow is a freelance writer. He has published many places on the internet. For more of his thoughts on television and to see his other work (or to simply watch him gush again and again over his love for the original Charmed) follow him @snowyjay.

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