Only Murders Boss: The Question Oliver Didn't Ask Loretta In Episode 1 'Reverberates' Through Season 4
Can Oliver and Loretta's relationship survive long distance? That is but one of several questions posed in Only Murders in the Building's Season 4 premiere, which sees Loretta (Meryl Streep) ask Oliver (Martin Short) whether he would consider relocating for her, now that the newly incarcerated Donna and Cliff DeMeo have pulled funding from Death Rattle.
"I could definitely consider that," Oliver answers, albeit with some hesitation. "I just feel like I'm watching you take off and fly away, and I just... I hope I can keep up with you." But after the Grey's New Orleans: Family Burn Unit star assures her Broadway director beau that she is "so in love" with him, he suddenly finds himself compelled to ask something of her....
"Would you...?" He pauses, then pivots. "Would you give me some time to think about... coming to L.A.?"
The look on Loretta's face indicates that she's anticipating a very different question. We here at TVLine also got that sense, and brought our query directly to series co-creator John Hoffman.
In that moment, is Oliver about to ask Loretta to marry him?
"He is," the EP confirms. "And that moment breaks my heart. They play it so perfectly. It's him having to catch himself, and divert and switch and insecurely find is footing, and she feels it.
"I think, like anyone in that situation, you don't dare be presumptuous," Hoffman says on Loretta's behalf. That said, "she thinks she knows what was happening, but doesn't quite fully trust herself in her own wishes.... I think [the situation] is also magnified a bit because of the characters' life experiences, and the age at which they're at now. She has a line in there that says, you know, 'We've got loads of time,' and she's backing away, and it's just a heartbreaker. I love the way they play it, and that reverberates through the season."
TVLine also spoke with Hoffman about the introductions of Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis and Eva Longoria as Charles, Oliver and Mabel's big-screen counterparts, and a long-awaited cameo by Scott Bakula. For more on that, go here.