‘Only Murders In the Building’ Season 4: Mabel Has No Love Story and It’s Quietly Revolutionary

Mabel Mora has always been something of a lone wolf. Played by Selena Gomez in There are only murders in the buildingtells the amateur sleuth to Eva Longoria (playing an enhanced version of herself) in Season 4“You want to know more about Mabel? Mabel works alone.” While Mabel may be referring to her signature approach to investigations, the line pretty much sums up her arc this season: Mabel Mora is working on herself, all by herself.

Yes, for the first time in the show’s history, our young heroine finds herself without a love interest in sight. Not only is it a breath of fresh air, it’s also a quietly subversive move for a mainstream comedy.

Mabel’s love story is decidedly disappointing.

First up, a glimpse into Mabel’s rather lukewarm romantic past. In the show’s first season, Mabel found herself reconnecting with Oscar Torres (Aaron Dominguez), an old friend and flame who was blamed for the death of their mutual “Hardy Boys” friend Zoe (Olivia Reis). Oscar disappeared from the show after just one season, with Mabel explaining his disappearance by saying, “The traumatic bond is strong, but I think Oscar and I are both waiting for the message, ‘Let’s just be friends.'” Series creator John Hoffman later confirmed to Deadline:”We decided that we didn’t want to see Mabel develop a relationship in which the trauma bond is strong.”

In season two, Mabel explored her relationship with artist and gallery owner Alice Banks (Cara Delevingne). Although Gomez and Delevingne were longtime friends, the on-screen chemistry between the two actresses was lacking. Although she eventually played the role of the killer to help the show’s main trio catch the real killer, Alice was gone by the end of season 2, with Mabel telling her she wouldn’t be a part of her mural.

Then came documentary filmmaker Tobert (Jesse Williams) in season 3. They met during the investigation into Ben Glenroy’s (Paul Rudd) death, getting stuck in a closet and discussing Tobert’s love of filming the animal world. They had a sexy, boozy date. Then, they had a rather bland farewell in the season finale as Tobert left for Los Angeles and Mabel half-heartedly promised to visit him. The news that Tobert’s time was up came when Williams said People rather bluntly: “I am no longer participating in this show.”

But Mabel needs a love interest… doesn’t she?

Mabel has had her share of romances, all conveniently within the walls of Arconia, but none have been particularly captivating. They have always seemed inevitable. After all, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a young single woman on television must be in search of a love interest, isn’t it? Well, apart from perhaps The bear ambitious sous chef, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), it’s hard to find a character that fits that description is not looking for love or caught in the middle of one a long and drawn out question “Will they dance?” towards They lived happily ever after. Abbott Elementary School, Emily in Paris, Sex education, Fleabag, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls, Friends, New girl — the list goes on. For young female characters leading TV shows, romance has always been an integral part of the job, either because the show itself revolved around the characters’ love lives or simply because the character was single and therefore needed to have some romance to keep things interesting. But in Season 4 of There are only murders in the buildingMabel’s tired and uninteresting parade of love affairs seems to have come to a happy end. So far, there is no sign of romance for the series’ heroine. Neither she nor anyone else has even mentioned the idea.

Diverting her journey away from romance is a quietly bold move on the part of the show’s writing team. On the one hand, it reflects the reality of romance in her own generation. After all, many young people have chosen to embrace singlehood, focusing on self-love and the positivity of singleness. And the movement isn’t new — it has a long story. In recent years, the number of young people having sex has begun to decline, with a quarter of American Gen Z women in 2021 reporting they had not had sex in the previous year. A recent survey The study found that nearly half (47.5%) of teens aged 13 to 24 believe that sex and sexual content are not necessary to the plot of most TV shows and movies, while 44.3% believe that romance is overused in the media. Mabel’s new story arc shows that television may be starting to catch up. unique and powerful movement.

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Plus, without a love interest to flirt with or date, Mabel suddenly has screen time for some in-depth character development — and so far, her journey in Season 4 has been wonderfully nuanced.

Mabel observes herself for a long time and attentively, or rather, her double.

The fourth season of There are only murders in the building In this documentary, Mabel, Charles (Steve Martin) and Oliver (Martin Short) investigate the murder of Sazz (Jane Lynch), Charles’ long-time friend and stunt double. At the same time, they work with a team of Hollywood filmmakers as their podcast is about to be turned into a film.

The themes of doubles and twins are ever-present in this season. There’s Sazz and his life as a stunt double. And then there are the Hollywood actors — Longoria, Eugène Lévy, Zach Galifianakis The main characters are Mabel, Charles, and Oliver, who are tasked with stepping into the shoes of the main trio for the adaptation. For our three main characters, these doppelgangers naturally lead to some soul-searching, as their on-screen counterparts become walking, talking mirrors offering a new perspective on themselves. Charles is confronted with a neurotic worrier. Oliver finds in his doppelganger a needy narcissist. Oddly enough, Mabel is confronted with everything she is not. Her counterpart, Longoria, decided to play Mabel a little differently, even changing her “old person name” to “Mabelle.”

Longoria’s “Mabelle” is “audacious, loud, and sells T-shirts.” In other words, she drinks wine at 10 a.m. and has no qualms about barging into a suspect’s home and accusing him of murder. And that’s exactly what Longoria does.

Although the suspect in question is not the murderer, Mabel is surprised to find how her own cautious, measured approach to detective work (and, we must assume, life in general) sometimes leaves her feeling a little stuck. “Maybe your Mabel’s approach isn’t so bad,” she confesses.

As Mabel attempts to take a bolder, more engaged approach to life, she begins to make concrete, tangible career choices. In the past, she’s always been something of a millennial drifter, unsure of what she really wants to do or how she’ll get there, even when she was offered major opportunities in Season 2 in the form of Cinda Canning’s podcast. Now, she’s finally brave enough to confront her imposter syndrome and give herself a real job title: podcast producer. Seeing Mabel recognize and embrace her worth is far more gratifying than yet another mediocre romance.

Only murders has not completely given up on love.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that romantic love can’t be an interesting topic. Only murders failed to find a satisfying love interest for Mabel, or, for that matter, for Charles, who fell for Season 1’s murderess Jan (Amy Ryan), she found a long-term romance to focus on in Oliver and Loretta (Meryl Streep). Loretta joined the narrative in Season 3 as a seasoned actress who never got her big break. Death rattle/Dazzling death rattle!Oliver recognized her talent just as she recognized his. They fell in love while championing each other’s work and it was absolutely beautiful to see.

Meryl Streep returns this season to continue the love story between Oliver and Loretta. After Loretta leaves New York for a television job in Los Angeles, Oliver finds himself struggling with jealousy and insecurity. Their entire romance has been treated with the sincerity and gravity of a younger-character romance, from their initial tentative attraction to each other’s talent, to their awkward and clumsy first date, to their miscommunications this season. Now, their story is the show’s only main romance, a bold reminder that TV shows can and should expand their standards for what constitutes a good, valid romance.

This season, we have a young heroine who doesn’t even think about love. Meanwhile, we have an older couple who face the same relationship problems that many couples in their twenties do. There are only murders in the building is pushing the boundaries of what love looks like on television — and it’s about time someone did.

There are only murders in the building Season 4 is now streaming on Hulu, with a new episode every Tuesday.

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