Author Spotlight
Connor Vogel
From “Only Murders in the Building” to “Poker Face,” — the murder-comedy genre has never been busier, but Apple TV’s “The Afterparty” defies genre norms.
The show, which just finished its second season, starts with a stereotypical premise, bringing together a small group of wedding guests who become suspects for murder at — you guessed it — the afterparty. But viewers are kept on the edge of their seats when the suspects reveal their “mind movies,” showing different characters’ perspectives in each episode depicted as its own distinct genre with an accompanying visual style.
These perspective presentations range from action to animation, even presenting an entire episode as a foreign film, subtitles and all. Season two doubles down on season one’s unique storytelling in the best way, making each episode feel like its own movie.
The season’s wide range of genres at times border on parodies, like a historical drama that hits the plot points of Pride and Prejudice in stride, with horse-drawn carriages and ball gown dresses, set pieces from another century and period-appropriate dialogue as I become fully immersed in the suspect’s world in a whole new way each episode.
At times like this, the show can make the suspects’ perspectives unrelatable. Regardless, I still wanted to grab a bowl of popcorn, like the detective, Danner, and enjoy each suspect’s entertaining stories.
This new season highlights a star-studded ensemble, including actors Tiffany Haddish, Jack Whitehall and Paul Walter Hauser. However, season one’s most endearing characters, like the hilariously awkward Aniq, have been cast aside to smaller supporting roles.
Hauser’s blundering conspiracy theorist Trevor was a standout out in the crowded cast. His “mind movie” is my personal favorite, with the black-and-white detective noir pairing well with the show’s signature style. I couldn’t help but laugh as he unwittingly helps solve part of the mystery with his Reddit-inspired character creating clues out of nothing while he jumps to his own conclusions — only some of which are correct.
Hauser also gets some screen time outside his spotlight episode — a rarity this season — as he assists in his own separate investigation to prove his innocence. This provided unnecessary comedic B-plot antics that ultimately proved redundant in the finale.
The show strays from the first season’s visual style as they cut between the specific genres and the actual murder investigation, leading me to detach from the captivating stories as the show splits my attention as the show starts to feel more like an anthology.
The other downside to this season’s total commitment to each episode’s visual style is how different they are, because while they are all entertaining, they lack cohesion and veer into unnecessary plotlines no one asked for, making this slightly longer 10-episode season overstay its welcome.
But, the finale is worth the wait, tying everything together — although in a slightly rushed fashion — showing the discrepancies in everyone’s stories to reveal the killer, and surprisingly, this season they actually have hard evidence to prove the case unlike the first season’s Sherlock Holmes-esque deductions and accusations to compel the suspect to confess — something that would never happen in real life.
The show also provides numerous surprising guest stars, including town sheriff Martin Mull who pokes holes in Danner’s far-fetched theories as one of the more nuanced attempts at humor that works brilliantly. The show points out the downside of the Agatha Christie formula that relies on wild speculation that magically forces the murderer to confess.
While the second season is less original and poorly paced, the show remains imaginative with memorable idiosyncratic characters. The AfterParty could’ve easily been another one-and-done slam dunk from the brilliant creator Chris Miller. Yet, as the name suggests, they’re going to keep the party going for as long as possible, something they might want to rethink.
Leave a Reply