Although ABC has yet to officially renew "Mistresses" for a fourth season, showrunners Rina Mimoun and K.J. Steinberg revealed a few hints to TVLine of what could happen if the show gets renewed. One thing they were very clear on was that Calista Raines (Jennifer Esposito) may not be brought back.
"We would love to invite Jennifer back for as many episodes as she's willing or able to do, but this was a one-year character for us — at the level she's playing this year," explained Mimoun.
Season 3 ended with Calista in her cell holding rope as she contemplated committing suicide. The finale episode doesn't show her pushing through with it or sulking. The showrunners revealed that it was always her intention to kill herself, whether or not she actually did it.
They also explained that they would like to get a new fourth person to be inserted into the main group as it would be difficult to realistically portray Calista having lunch or coffee with the likes of April (Rochelle Aytes) or Karen (Yunjin Kim) after all of the trouble they've gone through.
"We don't want to start with so much baggage for all the other women to get through," Mimoun related.
Karen herself already has a lot of baggage to sort through. In season 3, she got pregnant after having a threesome with her friend Vivian (Sonja Bennett) and Vivian's husband Alec (Ed Quinn). Vivian passed away during the season 3 finale, and in the interview, the showrunners revealed that despite Vivian's death, Karen and Alec will be linked together.
"Vivian was what made them work," Steinberg explained regarding the future between Karen and Alec. "Karen and Alec had an animal attraction, but the spiritual connection was definitely fostered by Vivian. But now they're going to be inextricably linked by a baby."
