Only Murders in the Building season 3 has so far been…slow. That would be an understatement because this season has been unwrapping its clues and story taking its sweet time. But it is not without a cause, however. In season three, the Hulu show is focusing more on the separation between its three central characters portrayed by Selena Gomez (Mabel Mora), Steve Martin (Charles-Haden Savage), and Martin Short (Oliver Putnam) and its effects. Episode 6, which aired earlier today, saw a definitive turning point with respect to this separation, and one of the causes was Mabel’s new love interest: Tobert.

Tobert’s increasing closeness to Mabel is reminiscent of Charles and his season 1 love interest, Jan Bellows. Could there be a parallel between the two characters waiting for us this season?

Warning: Major spoilers of Only Murders in the Building season 1, 2, and 3

Who is Jan Bellows in Only Murders in the Building?

We met Amy Ryan’s Jan Bellows in season 1 of Only Murders in the Building, a fellow neighbor of our central characters in the New York building Arconia where Tim Kono was found murdered. She becomes more than that as the season progresses. She and Charles develop an attraction to one another and soon they start dating. Through the course of the season, we learn that she is a bassoonist in the orchestra, holding the first chair.

As Charles, Oliver, and Mabel’s investigations progressed and one dead end after another followed, Charles’ relationship with Jan also grew deeper in a short time. And as it did, so did his trust in her, involving her in the investigation. Her input into the case doesn’t amuse Oliver or Mabel, causing a brief fracture in the trio’s bond.

Sound familiar? Episode 6 of OTIMB season 3, Ghost Light, had a similar sequence of events, only this time it was Mabel instead of Charles and Tobert instead of Jan.

Given how that storyline ended with Jan revealed as a manipulative and psychotic killer, could Tobert be season 3’s killer?

Is Jesse Williams’ Tobert the new Jan?

Jesse Williams graced the screen as Tobert in episode 1 of season 3, The Show Must…, introduced as the documentarian who will follow the crew of Death Rattle during their rehearsals and opening, recording Ben Glenroy, played by Paul Rudd, as he forayed into Broadway for the first time. But on the opening night, Ben dies…Twice. This changes things and Tobert now decides to create a documentary investigating his death, which he confesses to Mabel in episode three, Grab Your Hankies.

After a brief period of electric chemistry-filled animosity and distrust, the two decide to work together. Or at least not to sabotage each other. This quickly develops in a romance when Tobert, under the pretense of following a lead, takes Mabel on a date. Confessing his white lie, he expresses his interest in her. Something about the night probably made Mabel trust him enough to take him back to her place, show him the murder board, and have him spend the night.

When Charles and Oliver see Mabel and Tobert working on the case together, they are not happy. The episode eventually ends with the three amateur podcasters going their separate ways and Mabel proceeding to work the case with Tobert. Looking at the speed at which their relationship progressed, with a higher chance of him using her for his documentary, and his involvement in the case, one might wonder: Will he end up being a suspect, or worse, the killer in season 3’s later episodes?

Such a development would fit right into the show if you look at Cara Delevingne’s Alice in season 2 and Andrea Martin’s Joy in season 3 being suspected. But while Tobert may come under suspicion eventually, he may not be the killer.

Why Tobert might not be ‘it’

Is Tobert taking advantage of a vulnerable Mabel? Maybe. Is he using her for his means? Probably. Will he become a major suspect due to circumstantial evidence, making Mabel live up to Gomez’s new single that got approval from a Sex and the City star? Most likely. But will he be the killer? Mostly not. While we still have four episodes left in the season, during which period we might discover a motive, at the moment it doesn’t look like he had a reason to kill Ben. Unless he is like season 2 killer Poppy White aka Becky Butler, played by Adina Verson, and decided to kill someone for some content.

The other reason he is probably not the killer is the show’s tactics itself. Since Jan in season 1, any new love interest seems suspicious just in case we have another killer love interest. But unless writers got lazy in season 3, the likeliness of that repeating seems less likely. The same goes for there being another lady killer (episode 3 rubs it in that they are “so done” with another killer female), which could rule out the obvious red herring of the season: Meryl Streep’s Loretta.

But this is Only Murders in the Building we are talking about. We can expect a blindsiding plot twist at the last moment.