Oscar Torres

**Oscar Torres** is a main character in Season 1 of *Only Murders in the Building*. He was a member of the The Hardy Boys, his father being the superintendent of the Arconia, and a friend (and eventual boyfriend) of Mabel. He was sentenced to prison for supposedly murdering Zoe, but was released after 10 years on the night of Tim Kono's murder.

He is portrayed by Aaron Dominguez.

## History

### Early Life

Oscar grew up at the Arconia, being the son of the superintendent. He met Mabel Mora and Tim Kono when he was a teenager, and along with Zoe Cassidy they formed their own group called ”The Hardy Boys”. Zoe persuaded Oscar to copy his father's keys, allowing them to break into people's places while they were on vacation and steal their possessions. On New Year's Eve 2010, Oscar fought with Zoe. Later, Zoe was accidentally pushed off the roof of the Arconia by Theo Dimas, but Oscar was blamed for her death as Tim kept quiet about having seen what really happened.

While in prison, Oscar learned trap yoga and became certified in it. He also watched Brazzos, one of the three DVDs in the prison library. Upon his release, he went to the Arconia, to Tim's apartment, to confront him about his silence ten years previously, intending to possibly confront Tim. He headed up to Tim's apartment during the fire alarm, but heard a gunshot while outside Tim's door and ran.

### Finding Mabel

Oscar followed Mabel one day as she left the Arconia. When she turned down an alley, he followed her, but she turned and tackled him, nearly attempting to kill him by stabbing him with her knitting needle. When she pulled back, she realized who he was and was happy to see him. He told her he wanted to catch up with her; she said she was going to Jersey, so he offered to drive her there.

When they were both in the car, Mabel said the place they were going was in Teaneck. On their way, Oscar said Mabel was the first person he wanted to see after his dad, which is why he was heading up to her apartment that day. He then looked at the note Mabel had and asked if she was sure Tim was going to a jewelry store. She explained why she thought that, but Oscar offered an alternative explanation that he was going to her cousin's tattoo shop. Mabel realized he was right and they changed directions to head to Bayport. On the way, they stopped at a gas station for supplies then continued on their journey.

When they got to the shop, Oscar tried to convince Mabel to let it go, saying he wanted to let the past go and move forward with his life. Mabel said she understood that he couldn't be involved, but she felt she needed to see it through. Oscar watched her go inside and then drove away to get ice cream. Despite his previous assertion, Oscar soon returned with ice cream, surprised to find Oliver and Charles there. Mabel introduced them and told them Oscar wasn't the killer, despite Charles seeing him going up the stairs that night. Oscar admitted that he'd lied to Mabel and he was going to see Tim, not her, but he fled when he heard the gun shot inside Tim's apartment. They were shocked when Tavo appeared and told them Tim had worried he would get killed because he was working to take down a black market jewelry dealer named Angel. Tavo recognized some of the pieces and said they were all from Angel. Tim was obsessed with buying them, but never got the one he most wanted. Tavo promised to look for a picture of it and send it to Mabel.

Silvia Mora, Mabel's mother then came in, angry with Mabel for coming to town and not telling her that she was there. Oscar went with the group back to Silvia's home. He and Mabel talked in her room, where Oscar looked through some photo albums. In one, there was a picture of the four of them from the night Zoe died. Mabel recognized the ring she was wearing as the one Tim wanted to buy. Oscar said she wasn't wearing it when she died. Oscar got upset at the conversation and asked to talk about something else. Mabel said she'd kind of been waiting for him and they kissed.

### Podcast Finale

As the trio narrowed things down under the pressure of a threat against their lives from Teddy Dimas, Oscar came in and told them he'd talked to Tim's jewelry connection and found out Tim had gotten the ring he was looking for the day before he died. This led them to conclude that Teddy and Theo were the killers as they didn't think anyone else would care enough to take the ring.

After they finished recording the finale, Mabel showed Oscar a video she'd found on Tim's phone. In it, Tim said that he was trying to make things right with Oscar by taking the Dimases down, as they were the reason Tim hadn't been able to go to the police.

Later, they learned that Teddy and Theo couldn't have killed Tim because they were already outside the building when he was killed.

### Working with a Lawyer

Oscar told Mabel that she was kind of happy the Dimases got accused of something they didn't do. When Mabel realized he'd shaved, he told her his dad was taking him upstate to meet with a lawyer about getting his name cleared. Before that, he went to Charles's place with Mabel to check on Jan, who had been stabbed. Oscar then went with Mabel, Oliver, and Charles to the meeting where Bunny was trying to have all of them evicted. Oscar found the presence of cops unsettling. After the meeting, Oscar left to run errands instead of joining the trio.

The next morning, Oscar got dressed up to go meet his lawyer and left Mabel's place early.

### Mabel's Arrest

Oscar was with Mabel when she finished the final portrait, one of her, in her aunt's apartment. He said it was incredible. Oscar was happy to have his good name back and have Tim's murder solved and asked Mabel if she was okay. She said she was and it was the first time in a long time she'd been able to say that truthfully.

Later, Oscar watched as Mabel, Oliver, and Charles were arrested after being found with Bunny's body.

## Gallery

### Episode Stills

Photography by Barbara Nitke and Craig Blankenhorn"Twist" (S01E05)"Fan Fiction" (S01E08)

## References

1. ↑ "Who Is Tim Kono?" (2021). Season 1, episode 2.
2. ↑ "The Boy from 6B" (2021). Season 1, episode 7.
3. ↑ "Twist" (2021). Season 1, episode 5.
4. ↑ "Twist" (2021). Season 1, episode 5.
5. ↑ "To Protect and Serve" (2021). Season 1, episode 6.
6. ↑ "Fan Fiction" (2021). Season 1, episode 8.
7. ↑ "Double Time" (2021). Season 1, episode 9.
8. ↑ "Open and Shut" (2021). Season 1, episode 10.