#omitb speculation

I'm now thinking Loretta actually IS involved and she's been putting on a performance of a lifetime this entire time. Her flashbacks feel off. She seems to love making up her own backstory (like all her stories of near-run-ins with Oliver). Her folksy cute older lady thing.. and what if her son is actually Ben, and not Dickie?

I also feel like missing Bobo's interview might be significant? Like maybe there was vital information in the "lesser" interviews they didn't get.

I'm not sure if I think Loretta and Tobert are connected at all. I know there's been some speculation that he's related to her (though I don't think he's old enough to be her son.. unless she had another kid later 🤔)

Ugh. Loretta, Tobert, Howard, Donna and Kimber all seem guilty to some degree.

If you find this poll after you see the season finale, PLEASE choose the last option so it doesn’t mess up our results!

In the scene where Ben is shown talking or monologuing to someone, I personally love the cookie theory, that he's talking to a plate of cookies. That would fit in with what we know about Ben so far, but it wouldn't do anything to advance his character. In that scene, we see Ben talk to someone or something that he refers to as sweet, that could potentially ruin his career. A big-name action star, who's already self-conscious about his age and who was forced onto a highly restrictive Hollywood diet in order to keep his movie contracts, would be terrified of being outed and insist on keeping a relationship private. He would have hid his relationship with Cliff for career and safety reasons. This theory might even explain why Cliff was so adamant about producing the new musical version of Death Rattle, because it would remind him of Ben and in a tiny way, keep his memory alive.

I don't know who killed Ben; I don't think it was Cliff and I don't even think it was Cliff's mother Donna. They have a weird relationship, for sure, but killing your son's secret boyfriend goes way beyond weird. This is a developing theory and will be updated.

• I’m 99% certain that Ben was talking to a plate of cookies in the video; and I don’t think he knows who got him these cookies. Whoever prepared them (and I don’t know who that might be) poisoned them and left them in the room without anyone noticing.

• I think Loretta will be freed once it becomes apparent that the poison was in the cookies, and not in Ben’s drink.

• Donna is one of the murderers, or the murderer, if there’s only one. The signs point to her being the poisoner, but I’m not sure. I just think she had a motive (Maxine’s review, which she then shredded, to protect her son), the means, and the opportunity. I can’t exclude that she also pushed Ben down the elevator, but I’m not certain.

• Last week I thought Dickie might have been the one to push Ben down the elevator, what with all his speech to Loretta about having to do something after Ben’s first death, but I’m not convinced anymore. It feels like a red herring. Perhaps he just told Ben that he would stop being his manager and start managing Loretta, and then Ben died and he now feels guilty. Something like that.

• I don’t think Cliff is directly involved. He seems too eager about the musical.

• Tobert is still vaguely suspicious, but I don’t know, honestly. He doesn’t feel like he has enough of a motive.