‘Mistresses’ season 5: Yunjin Kim not returning if renewal happens

While the future is still out for “Mistresses” following the season 4 finale on Monday night, there is one thing we do clearly know at present: What happened to Yunjin Kim, or at least her version of Karen, seems set in stone.

TVLine confirms that the “Lost” actress will not return for a fifth season in the event the show is renewed, which makes her the third exiting main character in the past three years. First, we saw Alyssa Milano leave the show, and last year Jennifer Esposito departed after one year of being Calista Raines. While we were later told this was only meant to be a one-season role, her presence in promotional photos made us think she could last longer.

There’s no precise word on whether Kim wanted to be written out of the show or this was a production decision; also, we suppose that there is some sort of plastic-surgery / face reconstruction twist that could be there if the show is picked up for season 5. It’s just a little too early to tell what was going on there. It’s certainly possible in this crazy world that Karen is still alive, but if that is the case, she won’t be played by the same actress anymore. It’s probably good to start accepting that now.

With that being said, we’re still not altogether confident that “Mistresses” is going to be renewed for another season in the first place given that its ratings are down by a pretty steady margin to season 3.