Mabel Mora
Mabel Mora is one of the three main characters in the Hulu Original Only Murders in the Building. A childhood friend of Tim Kono, Mabel is determined to solve his murder after moving back to the Arconia temporarily in her grandmother's apartment. She later becomes a central figure, and initial suspect, in Bunny Folger's murder investigation.
Things are difficult for Mabel, however, given her friendship and links with Kono which she finds difficult to share with her friends, Charles and Oliver.
Biography[edit]
Meeting Tim and the Hardy Boys[edit]
Mabel originates from Long Island, and grew up with her mother, who worked most of the summer. As a result, Mabel often spent her summer breaks at the Arconia with her aunt. It was during this time that she met Tim Kono by the fountain at the front of the Arconia. The two hit it off straight away and became close friends.
The two would later meet Zoe Cassidy and Oscar Torres, and the four of them would play "Hardy Boys" together, eventually branding themselves as the Hardy Boys — Mabel would later refer to the three as "my Hardy Boys" and the four of them would solve mysteries together and would often be seen together around the Arconia.
During one New Years Eve party at the Arconia, Mabel's friend and fellow Hardy Boy Zoe falls from the roof of the Arconia and dies. Tim tells Mabel that he saw someone arguing with Zoe that night, and that it wasn't Oscar, but refuses to tell her who. As a result, Mabel and Tim agree to never mention the event again and decide that they will no longer be friends; from this day, Mabel and Tim pretend that they do not know one another.
Investigation into Tim's death[edit]
Mabel continues her promise to Tim for several years after the death of their friend, Zoe, and ten years later, when the two cross in the elevator in the Arconia — the same day she meets Oliver Putnam and Charles-Haden Savage — the two ignore one another. Little does Mabel know, this would be the last time the two ever saw one another alive.
Mabel later talks with Charles and Oliver at a restaurant after the fire alarm at the Arconia sounds. They talk and bond over a podcast, "All Is Not Okay In Oklahoma", before all deciding that they will return to their apartment within the Arconia and try and decipher the cliffhanger the podcast ended on. When they try to enter the Arconia, however, they find that their entrance is blocked by the Police.
When discovering that the Arconia has been closed off due to the death of one of the residents, Tim Kono, Mabel doesn't admit that she knows or was ever friendly with Tim when they were children, thus upholding the promise that they made so long ago. Mabel does, however, join Oliver and Charles as they decide they will create their own podcast and try and decipher Tim's death and find his killer.
Working with Charles and Oliver is difficult for Mabel because she is reluctant to admit that she knows more about Tim than meets the eye. She makes several trips to his apartment during the investigation and at one point, remembers their time together and the time in which she, Tim, Oscar and Tim became "The Hardy Boys". Mabel finds within the Hardy Boys books numerous articles of expensive jewellery but doesn't tell Charles or Oliver about the jewellery.
Oscar's Return and Complexities[edit]
Complexities arise for Mabel when her childhood friend, Oscar is freed from prison and bumps into her as she is investigating the jewellery she found in Tim's room. She tells him of Tim's death and clues him up on their investigation, but Oscar is reluctant to listen and tells Mabel that he wants to catch up as old friends. Nonetheless, Mabel is unable to give up the investigation and decides to take a further look into the jewellery.
Mabel's secret is eventually uncovered when Charles and Oliver follow her to the jewellery shop. It is here that she is forced to reveal that she knew Tim and that she is sorry that she lied about any of it. Further complexities arise when her mother returns and tells her that she doesn't think Mabel's involvement with the podcast is a good idea, nor should it continue.
Mabel's mother's words resonate with Mabel and she temporarily drops out of the podcast and the murder investigation. Eventually, however, she realises that she owes it to herself and to Tim to find out who killed him and why. She tells her mother this and rejoins the podcast and the murder investigation with help from Oscar.
Eventually, Mabel and the others are able to figure out that Jan was the one responsible for Tim Kono's death, having been having relations with him and poisoning him the night the fire alarm sounded in the Arconia. They are able to bring her to justice and finish their podcast giving the fans a completed storyline.
Framed for Bunny's Murder[edit]
After solving Tim's murder, Mabel and the other investigators decide to celebrate, thinking that they have rid the Arconia of its troubles once and for all. As Oliver and Charles head up to the roof, however, Mabel heads to her room, where she encounters Bunny Folger, who has been stabbed in the back with a knitting needle; it is later revealed that she was further stabbed with a knife, which was the primary method of death.
Oliver and Charles arrive at Mabel's apartment moments later after receiving a text message telling them to get out of the building. They find Mabel's crouching over Bunny's dead body, pleading with them that it isn't what it looks like. Shortly after, Mabel, Charles, and Oliver are arrested and made persons of interest in Bunny's death.
The situation for Mabel becomes increasingly complex when the Police reveal that they heard her podcast in which she revealed that she had dreamed of a man she stabbed in the back with her knitting needle. It quickly becomes clear that Mabel is being set up, and the Police allow her to go home but note that she is a person of interest in the murder case. Detective Williams tells her, Charles, and Oliver to quit the podcast and pick up a different hobby if they're wanting to keep a low-profile and avoid becoming suspects again.[2]
Mabel initially takes Detective William's advice on board and tells Oliver and Charles that they must stop the podcast. This decision is short-lived, however, and Mabel eventually agrees that they must find out who killed Bunny in order to keep the residents of the Arconia safe and clear their names.
Appearances[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- Mabel has a whale tattoo on her shoulder. The other members of The Hardy Boys have this tattoo too, and it is a way of connecting the four of them together.
- Often, Mabel is seen wearing the colour yellow/marigold.
- Dana Covarrubias, the costume designer for Only Murders in the Building revealed that this decision was made to reflect Mabel's Mexican-Amerian heritage, but also to reflect grief, resurrection, passion, and creativity.[3]
- Mabel lives in apartment 12E of the Arconia.
Gallery[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ In episode 9, Double Time, Mabel states that she is 28, putting her birthdate sometime in 1993.
- ↑ Persons of Interest
- ↑ Hulu Infographic