Tobert is a recurring character in Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building. He is a camera operator.
He is portrayed by Jesse Williams.
History[]
Ben's Documentary[]
Ben Glenroy hired Tobert to document his Broadway debut in Death Rattle. At the first read-through, Ben introduced Tobert, who said he was just an observer and they'd probably never hear his voice again.[3]
Opening Night[]
On opening night, Tobert came to Ben's dressing room to film him backstage, but Ben took his camera and told him to leave, saying he didn't want Tobert filming him anymore.[4]
Investigation[]
Tobert came to the Arconia to get into Ben's penthouse before Dickie cleared it out. On the way up in the elevator, he told Mabel he'd left some equipment at Ben's and just needed to pick it up, but after she realized he was looking in a drawer for a boom mic, he admitted that he was actually looking for something else and knew she had lied about her intentions. When Dickie came in, they both hid in an armoire, where Tobert realized that she was from the podcast, which he found cute. He then told Mabel that before Ben hired him, he was in Botswana filming a herd of elephants. He watched a baby elephant get stuck in the mud and was conflicted over whether he should go down and help or just keep filming. He said that he felt there was an incredible story to tell with Ben's death and he was in a position to tell it. He was with Ben on opening night. Ben took his camera and threw it, but it was still filming. He was actually at the apartment for the footage. Once Dickie left, they stepped out of the armoire and went to leave. Mabel stopped Tobert and asked him what happened to the elephant. He told her that he got down and spent three hours pulling it out of the mud. Unbeknownst to him, Mabel took the opportunity to steal the drive with the footage.
She found him at a cafe the next morning because she was unable to get into the drive without the password. She told him that the police had the wrong guy and she wanted to find Ben's real killer. Tobert admitted that he lied about the baby elephant. Its mom came back and saved it, but if it hadn't, he would have just kept filming. He told Mabel that if she really believed Ben's killer was still out there, he didn't want to stay in the tree again. She gave him the drive and together, they watched Ben tell a hidden figure that he didn't want them there and to leave, that they would destroy his career and he'd enjoy it.[1]
Date with Mabel[]
Tobert reached out to Mabel and told her he had a lead. He asked her to meet him at a piano bar to watch their suspect, but when she arrived, she learned that he had actually ruled out his lead, Jonathan, as a suspect and actually just used it as an excused to go on a date with him. Despite the deception, she stayed and they ate and drank together. Later in the evening, Mabel spotted Jonathan talking with a strange man. After Tobert blew their cover and Jonathan and the man left, Tobert said the man was Dr. C, Ben's doctor. Mabel took Tobert to see the evidence board and he put a card with Dr. C's name on it on the board, then they kissed.[5]
Following a Lead[]
When Mabel told Tobert that she wanted to investigate a lead with Oliver and Charles, Tobert decided to follow Jonathan, which led him to the theater, where Mabel, Charles, and Oliver were investigating. He and Mabel confronted Jonathan, who revealed that he was anxious about being the lead in the show and hadn't wanted the role in the first place. To deal with the nerves, he'd asked Ben's doctor for the "Leading Man Cocktail," the same medications Ben was taking himself. When Mabel had a falling out with Charles and Oliver, she teamed back up with Tobert and they went over the murder board together.[6]
Mabel Going Solo[]
While Mabel prepared to move out of her aunt's sold apartment with the help of Theo, Tobert brought over recording equipment so she could record a new podcast on her own. While looking at the original sketch for CoBro with both Mabel and Theo, allegedly something Ben had drawn as a child, they realized the paper actually said R. Glenroy and the R had been crudely changed to a B. Dickie was the original creator of CoBro and Ben had taken it and made millions from it, giving Dickie a motive to kill his brother. Tobert then set up for Mabel to record, but she found his equipment overwhelming and decided to record on her phone instead.[7]
Opening Night[]
On opening night for Death Rattle Dazzle, a reunited Mabel, Charles, and Oliver figured out that Donna had poisoned Ben on the original night and they believed she also pushed him down the elevator shaft when that failed to kill him. They had Tobert hide behind the door of K.T.'s office dressed as a coat rack in order to record her confession. They were all surprised when she immediately confessed to poisoning Ben. She initially denied pushing him into the elevator, after they showed her the blood-stained hankie with her lip print on it, she confessed to that as well. All she asked was that they didn't call the police until after the show, as it was her son's producing debut. She admitted she had stage four cancer to persuade them she wasn't a flight risk. Tobert prepared the recording and handed it over to Mabel backstage. Then he told her he'd been offered an indie film in LA and wanted her to consider going along with him. After the show, they talked again and Mabel said she needed to stay in New York to get unstuck, but was open to visiting him in LA.[8]
Personality[]
He is a loving and caring person who supports other people to the best of his capability. He shares the witty likeness of Mabel Mora, as he manages to get her on a date with him under "false pretences", but he is shown to be slightly jealous of Mabel's friendship with Theo Dimas.
Relationships[]
Mabel Mora[]
On the case to look for clues to help find out who murdered Ben Glenroy, Mabel went up to his penthouse at the Arconia, hoping to find some information.
On the way up, she met Tobert, who told her, that he left some equipment in Ben's place that he needed to get. Mabel lied and said she was looking for a signed headshot Ben had left for her, instead of what she was really doing there, to find out who didn't have their handkerchief on the night of the murder.
While they were both searching the apartment, Tobert said it was clear they were both lying about why they were really there.
Before they could continue sleuthing, they heard the door opening and hid in the armoire in the back of the apartment.
Still in the armoire, Tobert finally recognized that Mabel was from the podcast. He told her about his time in Botswana filming elephants and how he wanted to make a movie about Ben's death. He showed her that he had footage from the night Ben collapsed on stage, filmed in Ben's dressing room.
After they left the armoire, Mabel stole the drive with the footage from Tobert.
Mabel was unable to access the footage on the drive without a password, so she found Tobert at a café, where she told him that the police had the wrong guy, and she wanted to find the real killer. Tobert said he wanted to help her, so she gave him the drive. Together, using Tobert's laptop, they watched Ben tell a hidden figure to leave, that he didn't want them there. He then said they'd destroy his career and he'd like it.
Some time had gone past and having learned some possible clues about the case, Mabel went to a piano bar to meet Tobert, who said he had a lead and wanted them to watch them. When she arrived, she learned that he had actually ruled out his lead, Jonathan, as a suspect and actually just used it as an excused to go on a date with him. Despite the deception, she stayed, and they ate and drank together. Later in the evening, Mabel spotted Jonathan talking with a strange man. After Tobert blew their cover and Jonathan and the man left, Tobert said the man was Dr. C, Ben's doctor. Soon after, Mabel took Tobert to see the evidence board at her apartment, and he put a card with Dr. C's name on it on the board. They then started kissing, which led them to Mabel's bedroom.
The next morning, Howard came to Mabel's place and told her he killed Ben Glenroy. She had Oliver and Charles come over and asked Howard to explain. Howard said that he swept the stage every night to keep the ghost of Gideon Goosebury from sabotaging the show, but he hadn't done it opening night because he couldn't do it that night, as K.T.'s office was locked and there were sounds coming from the inside. He'd remembered this when he was sweeping again in preparation for their return to the theater and a figure he believed was Gideon's ghost appeared in the back of the theater, scaring him enough that he immediately went to confess. As soon as he left, the trio were left sitting on the sofa and Tobert appeared in a towel, and kissed Mabel on the cheek, surprising Oliver and Charles.
With Charles, Mabel, and Oliver at the theater to investigate, Mabel noticed a clipboard where the cast signed in, which gave them handwriting samples to compare to the mirror in Ben's room in the theater, the night he died. Oliver tried to dissuade her, confusing her, and then he disappeared while Mabel was talking to Charles about Tobert. She told Charles he and Oliver could do whatever they wanted, and she would investigate by herself as usual.
Mabel found Tobert wandering in the theater, and he told her that he'd followed Jonathan there while investigating on his own.
Together, they confronted Jonathan and learned that he didn't want to be the leading man and was anxious about it, leading to him contacting Ben's doctor to get the same medications Ben was taking.
While walking with Tobert, they ran into Charles, who had been trapped in a props closet. From there, they followed Oliver and found him trying to clean the lipstick off Ben's mirror. This led to a fight between the three of them, with Oliver mad that Charles hadn't told him about punching Ben on opening night and Mabel upset with Oliver for destroying evidence and Oliver mad at Mabel for pointing fingers at his cast, jeopardizing his moment to shine. Mabel decided she would continue to investigate without them and find out who killed Ben.
Mabel and Theo begun packing up her apartment and doing their own investigations on the case. Theo left to get some food for him and Mabel and whilst gone, Tobert came over himself, bringing over his recording equipment, so Mabel could make the podcast on her own. He had a mock-up of a poster for a new podcast, but Mabel didn't like it, so he backed off.
Theo came in with a bag of food, where they have a moment of confusion before he showed Mabel and Tobert that he had noticed on a print of the original CoBro art, which Ben claimed to have drawn as a child, that the B. in B. Glenroy had been crudely changed from an R, meaning Dickie, aka. Richard, was the actual artist and Ben had stolen his art and used it to make millions, giving Dickie a motive.
Mabel became intimidated by Tobert's fancy equipment and decided to record the trailer for season three of "Only Murders in the Building" on her phone instead, with both Theo and Tobert at the dining room table.
Eventually the trio make up and they soon learn, that Ben hadn't been yelling at a person in the video from Tobert's camera, instead, he was talking to a cookie that someone had left on his vanity. Unbeknownst to him, it was laced with rat poison. He finally gave into temptation and ate the cookie, leading to his collapse and first pronouncement of death that night.
They soon learned that it was Donna who had poisoned the cookie, so they lure her to K. T's office to confess, using Tobert and his microphone to record it.
While the musical occurred, where Charles and Oliver performed, Mabel talked to Tobert backstage, who told her he'd been offered an indie film in LA and wanted her to think about coming with him, thinking it might help her get unstuck. She said she'd think about it.
At the afterparty for the musical, Mabel told Tobert she liked LA in small doses, so she was open to visiting, but she needed to stay in New York to unstick things there.
Career[]
He is a documentarian.
Notes and Trivia[]
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Season Three | |||||
| #01 | "The Show Must..." | #05 | "Ah, Love!" | #09 | "Thirty" |
| #02 | "The Beat Goes On" | #06 | "Ghost Light" | #10 | "Opening Night" |
| #03 | "Grab Your Hankies" | #07 | "CoBro" | ||
| #04 | "The White Room" | #08 | "Sitzprobe" | ||
References[]
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