For its fourth season, Only Murders in the Building is exiting both its titular building and New York to head for the Hollywood Hills, and will boast a slew of A+ comedy talent in the process. Not only is Meryl Street returning with the core cast, but new stars such as Eugene Levy, Molly Shannon, Melissa McCarthy and more are joining the fun to dig into the murder of Jane Levy’s Sazz Pataki. But it sounds like one familiar Season 3 face won’t be seen: Jesse Williams’ totally realistically named Tobert.
Williams first arrived on the scene in Only Murders as the cameraman working with Paul Rudd’s Ben to capture footage for a documentary, and along the way became romantically entangled with Selena Gomez’s Mabel. They were a cute couple, even if saying their names together is kind of depressing, but chose to call it quits in the Season 3 finale, with the idea being that he was heading to Los Angeles for an indie film.
Though many fans were probably hopeful to see them rekindle their romance in Season 4, Jesse Williams shared an update with People that pretty much poisons that idea and then pushes it down an elevator shaft. Here’s what he had to say:
No, I'm not on that show anymore.
Not very much build-up, pomp or circumstance involved with that answer, though it’s hard to tell what the tone of the response was just from the wording. Still, Williams didn’t exactly overshare, and it doesn’t appear as if he offered up any other insight when it came to the Hulu comedy hit.
By all means, the reason there could very well be that he was speaking at the premiere of his new docuseries Distilled, which debuts on August 1 with an AMC+ subscription, and possibly didn’t want to spend too much promotional time talking about past projects instead of new ones. Which would be totally understandable, since Distilled centers on Black entrepreneurs and speaks to the actor’s personal interests.
But for all the sleuths out there, Jesse Williams’ terse response is more likely indicative of a surprise appearance somewhere in Season 4. After all, if Tobert is already going to be in Los Angeles, which is where the new murder will take Charles, Oliver and Mabel, then a meet-up between them seems inevitable. Not that L.A. is a tiny city or anything, but the show legitimately set up Mabel saying she might visit him in the third season’s capper.
So if Tobert doesn’t show up in Season 4, then all is well and we were expecting it. But if he does suddenly pop up to take Mabel out for a night on the town in Episode 5 or something, I’d like to be the first to good-naturedly wag my finger at Williams for fibbing. Let’s just hope he’s not also guilty of murder! Either him or his character.
Only Murders in the Building’s Season 4 mystery will be ready for amateur sleuths to obsess over when it hits the 2024 TV schedule on August 27.
