‘Mistresses’ season 4 finale: Alyssa Milano apparently not returning despite promo tease

In their promo that aired last night for the “Mistresses” finale, the show really wanted you to think that there was a “surprise return” coming — and as a result of that, of course it was fair to suspect that this person could be Savi. After all, Alyssa Milano was a key component of the first two seasons of the show, and she is the one person whose return would be legitimately worth all of the hype in the world.

Unfortunately, it does not quite look as though that is happening. Milano was asked on Twitter overnight about whether if the promo was legitimately teasing a return or “messing with” the audience, and her response clearly points towards the latter. Is it possible that Milano is messing with us about the show messing with us in the promo, and she is coming back after all? We guess in theory, but we’re inclined to take her at her word here.

For ABC, it feels pretty darn clear what they had to gain in promoting the finale around a surprise return: They need viewers to watch if the show has any hopes of being renewed for anything beyond season 4. From now until when the episode airs, we’ll just have to hope for someone else turning up. (For the record, we do wish that Milano would turn back up on the show someday, given that we do find it incredibly awkward that Savi is still gone given her once-close relationship with Joss … even if we understand the reason for her rage.)