January 28, 2022 (2022-01-28) – September 6, 2023 (2023-09-06)
The Afterparty is an American comedymurder mysteryanthology television series created by Christopher Miller that premiered on Apple TV+ on January 28, 2022.[1][2] In March 2022, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on July 12, 2023.[3][4] In October 2023, it was announced that the series would not return for a third season.[5]
Premise
The first season takes place at a high school reunion after-party with each episode "a different character's perspective" of what happened that night.[6] Critic Olivia Rutigliano noted that it is an example of "the millennial whodunnit," a new subgenre of murder mystery in which the investigation is a vehicle for characters to find second chances, personal fulfillment, and a departure from boring or oppressive daily life (through the feeling that their life has become a new genre).[7]
The second season takes place the day after a wedding, following the same formula of each guest's perspective of the preceding after-party and the events leading up to it.
Cast and characters
Main
Tiffany Haddish as Detective Danner, a police detective investigating the murder of Xavier. After leaving the police to become an author and private detective, she returns to help solve the murder of Edgar.[8]
Sam Richardson as Aniq Adjaye,[9] an escape room designer and the primary suspect who attempts to use his escape room skills to clear his name after being accused of Xavier's murder, and later to investigate Edgar's murder.[8]
Zoë Chao as Zoë Zhu,[10] She was Aniq's high school crush, and following her divorce from Brett, later his girlfriend.
Season 1
Ike Barinholtz as Brett, a volunteer firefighter and Zoë's ex-husband
Ben Schwartz as Yasper E. Lennov (guest season 2),[11] Aniq's best friend and Xavier's former bandmate, who hopes to restart his music career
Ilana Glazer as Chelsea, a veterinary clinic receptionist who blamed Xavier for her ostracization by the whole school
Jamie Demetriou as Walt Butler (guest season 2),[11] a partygoer whom no one seems to remember from high school
Dave Franco as Xavier, a pop icon and movie star who is the murder victim. While publicly mononymous, his real full name is later revealed to have been "Eugene Xavier Duckworth, Jr.".[11]
Season 2
John Cho as Ulysses Zhu,[12] Grace and Zoë's absentee uncle and Feng's half-brother[13]
Everly Carganilla as Maggie, Zoë and Brett's daughter
In addition, Christopher May and Miracle Laurie co-star as Mr. Shapiro and Quiet Heather, respectively, a science teacher and former student who, as a running gag during the first season, are caught having intimate relations in each of the stories.
Season 2
Will Greenberg as Judson, Sebastian's cousin who is Jaxon's brother[17]
Will Forte as himself (season 1), who co-starred with Xavier in a dramatic film adaptation of the board game Hungry Hungry Hippos and was due to reprise his role in the sequel before Xavier's death
Gemma Chan as "Zoë" (season 2), an actress cast as Zoë in Danner's film X Marks the Murder Spot
Keke Palmer as "Danner" (season 2), an actress cast as Danner in Danner's film X Marks the Murder Spot
Elijah Wood as "Yasper" (season 2), an actor cast as Yasper in Danner's film X Marks the Murder Spot
Jaleel White as himself/"Aniq" (season 2), cast as Aniq in Danner's film X Marks the Murder Spot and Danner's fiancée. White's casting serves to pay off a recurring gag of characters comparing Aniq to Urkel, whom White played on Family Matters.
Teleplay by : Christopher Miller & Kassia Miller Story by : Christopher Miller
January 28, 2022 (2022-01-28)
A prominent pop music icon Xavier is found dead at the afterparty of a high school reunion in Marin County. Against the advice of her superior, Detective Danner takes on the case. She first questions Aniq, an escape room designer who tells his story in the style of a romantic comedy. He was in pursuit of his high school crush Zoë at the reunion, but he faced competition from both Xavier and Brett, her ex-husband.
Danner questions Brett, who tells his story in the style of an action movie, in which he casts himself as a ne'er-do-well hero who is committed to his family. Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Aniq and Yasper look through the garbage to find a discarded note written by one of the partygoers.
Danner's partner Culp accidentally deletes all the security camera footage. Danner's next interrogation is with Yasper, Xavier's ex-bandmate, who tells his story in the style of a show-stopping musical. Meanwhile, after noticing the handwriting on the discarded note matches the handwriting on one of the drawings on his face, Aniq asks the partygoers to write something to see if their handwriting matches the note, but then notices the disappearance of one of the partygoers.
4
4
"Chelsea"
Christopher Miller
Bridger Winegar
February 4, 2022 (2022-02-04)
Danner interrogates Chelsea, who tells her story in the style of a psychological thriller. In her story, she gets mysterious text messages from an unidentified number. It is also revealed that she also had an affair with Brett, and an unknown incident at a St. Patrick's Day party in high school made the whole entire school ostracize her. Danner wants to know more about said party, but Chelsea does not go any further, claiming it to be in the past and wanting to move forward with her life.
5
5
"High School"
Christopher Miller
Nicole Delaney
February 11, 2022 (2022-02-11)
Danner wants to know about the St. Patrick's Day incident, so Walt volunteers to tell the story, in the style of a teen drama. Unbeknownst to everyone, the party occurred at his house. Yasper breaks up his ska band with Xavier, embarrassed by his new eccentricities. Believing Aniq to be the cause, Xavier pushes him into the pool in frustration, ruining his chance at getting with Zoë. He also lies about having slept with a drunken Chelsea after she turned him down, which ruins her reputation. A drunken Aniq is later arrested for destroying Xavier's car in revenge, costing him his college scholarship. In the present, now looking even more guilty, Aniq reveals the discarded note, only for them to realize they're just lyrics written by Xavier.
Zoë's interrogation is set to a deranged animation. In her story, Zoë's different inner selves attempt to be the more dominant personality. At one point, it is revealed that Jennifer 2 was the one sending Chelsea the anonymous texts. Meanwhile, Aniq and Yasper attempt to eavesdrop on her interrogation, but Yasper's phone is low on battery, so they try to find a charger that is not in use. In their search, they get trapped in a secret room. Culp catches them spying and tells Danner that the police captain has taken her off the case.
7
7
"Danner"
Christopher Miller
Anthony King & Christopher Miller
February 25, 2022 (2022-02-25)
While waiting for Germain to arrive, Danner relates to Culp on how she came to be a detective in the first place, in the style of a police procedural. She talks about a particular high-profile case that Germain kept insisting her to stay away from, with her actions helping to prevent someone innocent from being blamed for the crime. Meanwhile, Zoë discovers that Aniq and Yasper have been listening in and Aniq shares his AirPods with Zoë so they can have a listen. They overhear Danner's worry that Germain taking over the case will guarantee Aniq's arrest. After an epiphany, Danner says she finally knows who killed Xavier, but they have to talk to one last eyewitness---Zoë and Brett's daughter, Maggie.
After interviewing Maggie, who tells her story in the style of a children's show, Danner seemingly reveals to the group that Brett was the one who killed Xavier. Aniq steps in to defend him, despite meaning he's the only other suspect left. However, Danner reveals this to have been a test for Aniq's character and proceeds to tell them who actually killed him: Yasper. Using several inconsistencies from the others' stories, Danner deduced that Yasper hid in Xavier's closet and used the loud music as a cover to push Xavier off the building. Yasper's motive was revenge for Xavier plagiarizing his ideas and refusing to help promote his new music. Danner also realized that Yasper had stolen Xavier's phone, which he used to disrupt the security cameras and steal Xavier's voice recordings. When the phone is exposed, Yasper admits to his jealousy over Xavier's success and is promptly arrested. As morning comes, everyone goes their separate ways; Danner brags to Germain that she's solved the case, while Aniq and Zoë confess their feelings for each other and kiss.
Aniq and Zoë are celebrating one year together following last season's events. They attend the wedding of Zoë's sister, Grace, to an eccentric Silicon Valley businessman named Edgar. When Edgar and his pet lizard Roxana are found dead the following morning, Aniq calls Danner for help. Danner, who left the police to write a book about Xavier's murder, agrees. Over the phone, Aniq tells her his side of the story, with the same romcom tone of the testimony he gave a year prior. Aniq also tells Danner he did not want to call the police out of concern for Grace, whom he witnessed put something in Edgar's drink the night before.
Aniq and Danner interview Grace, who recalls her love story with Edgar in the style of a regencyperiod piece.[nb 1] She met Edgar at the antique booth she worked at, where he bought a typewriter as a gift for his adopted sister, Hannah. Edgar and Grace's whirlwind romance alarms Zoë, who expresses concern that Edgar was always preoccupied with work. Grace confesses she spiked Edgar's drink with Adderall so he would stay awake past his strict sleeping schedule, but he drunkenly caused a scene at the afterparty and lashed out at the guests. Travis, who declared that Edgar would die that night, investigates the crime scene with Zoë and finds some interesting clues in his belongings.
Danner and Aniq sit down with Travis, Grace's ex-boyfriend, who tells his version of events in the style of a noir crime drama. Believing that his wedding invite from Grace was a distress signal, Travis did some online sleuthing prior to the ceremony. He discovered that Edgar was using his own shell companies to inflate the value of his crypto coin. Travis was confronted by Sebastian when he searched through Edgar's office, and he received help from Hannah in trying to stop the wedding entirely. Travis was also attacked when he tried to follow Edgar after he abruptly left Grace on the dancefloor. Suspecting that Edgar was poisoned, Zoë finds datura in Hannah's garden, which can be fatal if consumed.
Hannah's testimony is set up as a twee-themed coming-of-age story.[nb 2] Hannah's friendship with Grace began at her adoption anniversary party, but their relationship eventually blossomed into an affair. Zoë confronts Grace upon hearing this, who confirms they were having flings. Grace ultimately chose Edgar over Hannah, which led to Hannah conspiring with Travis to sabotage the wedding. Despite planning Travis' objection, Hannah had a change of heart after seeing Edgar's vows and realizing how much he loved Grace. After exploring Edgar's office, Aniq and Danner discover that Edgar was looking at candidates to replace his business partner, Sebastian, who is actively doing business while pretending to be Edgar.
Aniq and Danner interrogate Sebastian next. His account of the previous night is told in the style of a sleek caper movie after Sebastian discloses that he organized a crew to break into Edgar's safe and retrieve a valuable baseball card. Sebastian had been pulling cons since childhood with the help of his cousins, Jaxon and Judson, who he recruited for his heist at the wedding. Sebastian's story confirms that Edgar had ended their business partnership and that Edgar left the dancefloor because of Sebastian's security breach. The story also reveals that it was Judson who knocked out Travis. Aniq is convinced that Sebastian is the killer, but Danner wants to interview the rest of the guests before making any conclusions. Elsewhere, Hannah tells Grace that she didn't say "everything" during her conversation with the investigators.
Worried that Aniq is not being impartial during their inquiries, Danner tells him a cautionary tale about a case she dealt with prior to the wedding. Told in the style of an erotic thriller, Danner was investigating a series of arsons that led her to a suspect's psychiatrist named Quentin Devereaux. Danner initially wanted Devereaux's help in examining the mind of an arsonist, but the two began a sexual relationship that caused Danner to question her instincts. Devereaux later revealed himself as the true arsonist, and he left Danner to die after setting his house on fire. Despite getting rescued by Culp, Danner quit the force out of shame for losing focus and letting Devereaux escape. Danner also admits she hasn't begun writing her book on the Xavier case because she lost faith in herself. When the story ends, Aniq promises to help Danner regain her confidence. Meanwhile, Travis microdoses himself with the datura, showing how easy it would have been for anyone to poison Edgar with it.
Zoë asks her parents, Feng and Vivian, why they don't want to be questioned. Next to be interrogated is Ulysses, Feng's half-brother and the self-described "funcle" of Grace and Zoë. His retelling of the weekend is told as an epic romance when he reveals that he had a torrid love affair with his own sister-in-law, Vivian, before Grace was born. Feng eventually discovered their secret, prompting Ulysses to travel the world in an attempt to move on with his life. Ulysses stayed distant from Feng and his family until he got a personal visit from Edgar, who wanted Ulysses to attend the wedding. When Edgar suggested that Ulysses could be Grace's biological father, Ulysses chose to attend the ceremony with the intention of confirming Grace's parentage, much to Feng's fury. Despite his personal suspicions, Ulysses ultimately chose to leave the past behind him. After Zoë attempts to force a confession out of Hannah, she realizes that the wedding videographer, Kyler, should have plenty of footage from the previous night that could help pinpoint the killer.
Aniq prods Vivian to tell the truth about her past dalliance with Ulysses to Grace and Zoë, which she eventually does. Aniq and Danner analyze Kyler's video footage of the weekend's festivities, with Feng joining them to provide his own commentary. Kyler's clips show that Feng was struggling financially with his baobing truck, which was towed right after Ulysses' surprise appearance at the wedding rehearsal. Danner tells Feng that Grace did not sign a prenup, which gives Feng just as much financial motive to kill Edgar as Grace did. Another video shows Feng at the afterparty pestering Edgar to try his baobing dessert, with both Edgar and Roxana taking a bite. Aniq begs Feng to be more forthcoming now that these videos are officially evidence. After watching a clip of Isabel, Edgar's mother, speaking to him in a menacing tone, Danner decides it's time to interrogate her next. Isabel tells Danner she's been waiting for her side of the story to be told, claiming that she knows who killed Edgar and that it was not Grace.
Isabel begins her testimony with the events leading up to the wedding, told in the style of a melodramaticthriller.[nb 3] When Isabel's mental health deteriorated following the loss of her husband, Alexander, an unsympathetic Edgar threatened to place Isabel in a conservatorship. After Travis confronted her with Edgar's alleged crimes at the wedding rehearsal, Isabel began to ponder if Edgar was intentionally making her insane in a bid to gain control of her wealth. Her suspicions were confirmed when Grace and Zoë pointed out that the pills Edgar gave her for insomnia were actually Adderall, proving he was deliberately trying to incapacitate her. Once she realized Edgar had also tampered with her speech for the reception, a paranoid Isabel switched the slices of cake he brought to her table, fearing he had poisoned the slice intended for her. As Aniq points out some inconsistencies with the poisoned cake theory, the police arrive to the mansion.
18
10
"Vivian and Zoë"
Tamra Davis
Christopher Miller & Anthony King
September 6, 2023 (2023-09-06)
Aniq and Danner realize that Zoë was not accounted for in anyone's recollections of the afterparty. When they confront her, Zoë tells her side of that night as a campyhorror story. Seemingly guilty, Zoë admits to throwing Edgar's dog Colonel out of the window when he attacked her in Edgar's bedroom. It's later revealed Colonel survived by landing on the trampoline. Back to square one, Aniq and Danner try to come up with a different theory before the sheriff formally arrests Grace. Remembering Isabel's revelation that she assumed Edgar died from an accidental poisoning, Danner has an epiphany; Edgar was not the intended target. After Vivian recalls her conversation with Ulysses and Feng (in a soap opera-styled flashback), Aniq and Danner piece together the truth: Ulysses was responsible for Edgar's death. Wanting Vivian for himself, Ulysses poisoned a cocktail that he made for Feng, but Edgar picked it up by accident after trying Feng's dessert. When Vivian attempts to drink from Ulysses' horn (where he kept the brewed datura), he finally confesses. One year later, Aniq and Zoë are engaged, and Danner makes a movie adaptation of Xavier's murder with an all-star cast.
Production
Development
Miller conceived of The Afterparty in the early 2010s, where he wanted to make a murder mystery showing the different perspectives of the murder from its witnesses, inspired by his love of the murder-mystery genre and Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon. The high school reunion aspect was added after Miller attended a high school reunion himself, thinking it would be a unique setting for such a concept.[29] Miller initially wrote it as a feature-length screenplay on his own while he was making Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street with Lord. In June 2013, the project was set-up at Sony Pictures as a film titled The Reunion, with Miller as sole writer and director, while producing the film along with Lord, Jonathan Kadin, and Hannah Minghella.[30] However, the film never came to fruition due to commitments with The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street. Lord and Miller were still optimistic in making The Reunion while promoting The Lego Movie,[31] so when Miller considered making the project in later hears, he made the decision to make it as a mini-series. Miller felt that expanding the concept into a series would allow him to properly develop the characters. Doing so also gave Miller the idea to present each version of the event as a separate genre in line with the respective POV's of each witness.[32]
On June 24, 2020, it was announced that Apple TV+ had given the production an eight-episode straight-to-series order, now titled The Afterparty. The series is created by Miller who is also the showrunner and is expected to executive produce alongside Lord while Aubrey Lee is a producer. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Sony Pictures Television and TriStar Television.[1][33][34] On March 2, 2022, Apple TV+ renewed the series for a second season.[3] On April 27, 2022, it was revealed that the second season would consist of ten episodes, two more than the first, and will revolve around a murder mystery at a wedding. It was also revealed Anthony King would be serving as co-showrunner along with Miller.[35]
On January 24, 2023, The Afterparty executive producer Katie Miller announced via Instagram Live that a third season had entered development, beginning "Day 1… [of] The Afterparty S3" and its writing room;[36] consequently, the second season finale of The Afterparty, aired September 6, 2023, ended with a teaser for a third season following a murder following the after-party for the premiere of X Marks the Murder Spot, Danner's film about the events of the first season, featuring Jaleel White as himself and Gemma Chan, Keke Palmer, and Elijah Wood as unnamed actors starring in Danner's film, with the idea of them reprising their roles in a potential third season.[37]
On October 13, 2023, it was revealed that Apple TV+ had cancelled the series and would not order a third season.[5]
Casting
In November 2020, the cast was announced, including Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer and Dave Franco.[38] After the first season finale aired, Schwartz revealed that he was told he would be the murderer upon being cast, and that he kept it secret from the rest of the cast until the table read for the episode.[39]
Upon the second season renewal announcement, it was reported that Haddish is set to reprise her role as Detective Danner, but a new cast of suspects for the second season.[3] In April 2022, it was announced that Richardson and Chao are set to reprise their roles for the second season, with Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Anna Konkle, Jack Whitehall and Vivian Wu joining the starring cast[14] as, respectively, Isabel, Edgar, Travis, Grace, Hannah, Sebastian, and Vivian.[35] In May 2022, it was reported that Ken Jeong and John Cho were cast as series regulars for the second season.[15][13] On June 13, 2022, Will Greenberg and John Gemberling joined the cast in recurring roles for the second season.[17]
Filming
On November 11, 2020, Miller, in an Instagram post, confirmed that filming for the series had officially begun.[40] Miller directed all eight episodes in the series, making it the first time he has directed separately after his collaborations with Lord. In another Instagram post, on February 17, 2021, Miller revealed that filming was finished for the first season.[41]
The sixth episode features animation done by ShadowMachine, the animation studio behind BoJack Horseman and the 2023 revival of Lord and Miller's Clone High. The animation was designed by Lindsey Olivares, who previously worked with Lord and Miller on the aesthetic design for The Mitchells vs. the Machines. The animation was done at the same time as the live-action.[42][43]
Filming for the second season began on May 11, 2022, with Miller again returning as director.[44] In an Instagram post, on September 1, 2022, Jack Whitehall confirmed that filming for the second season had wrapped.[45]
Music
The score for season 1 of The Afterparty was composed by Daniel Pemberton, who previously worked with Lord and Miller on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. In an interview with Variety, Pemberton explained the challenge of having to compose in different styles for each of the characters. He states, " It's like I'm scoring 10 films, plus a series, plus loads of incidental stuff, plus producing some songs. There was a lot on my shoulders with this project." Pemberton started work on the project by composing the main theme and the frame story outside of the flashbacks, then the music for the flashbacks. His influences on each include those of Richard Curtis films like Notting Hill for Aniq's rom-com flashback, the music of Howard Shore and Bernard Herrmann for Chelsea's psychological thriller, and the Tyler Bates' drum and guitar-heavy score of John Wick for Brett's action-movie story.[46] The third episode is also a musical, containing three songs written by Jack Dolgen from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and musical comedian Jon Lajoie, who worked with Lord and Miller on writing the songs for The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. The soundtrack album for the season with the score and songs was released alongside the first three episodes on January 28, 2022. The score for season 2 was co-composed by Daniel Pemberton, who returned composing from season 1 and David Schweitzer. The season contains cover versions of Doris Day's Sentimental Journey and Hanson's MMMBop. The third episode that was set as an noir detective film had some music written by Ed Mitchell and Steve Morrell. The soundtrack album for the season with the score and songs was released of September 1, 2023, before the season finale.[47]
Another extended play album was released on February 1, 2022, featuring four songs performed by Franco in character as "Xavier" called R.I.P. Xavier.[48]
Season 1 soundtrack
The Afterparty: Season 1 (Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack)
The Afterparty premiered on January 28, 2022.[2] The second season premiered on July 12, 2023,[4] which was pushed back from its original date of April 28, 2023, with the first two episodes available immediately and one new episode debuting on a weekly basis until the season finale.[49]
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.6/10 for season one, based on 69 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Afterparty sometimes strains to keep the jamboree of yuks going, but its ambitious melding of genres and extensive guest list of actors make for a worthwhile nightcap."[50]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 72 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[51]
Rotten Tomatoes holds a 95% approval rating with an average rating of 7.4/10 for season two, based on 38 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "The Afterparty welcomes in a mostly new cast and keeps things festive with its enduringly clever Rashomon-style format, stirring up an entertainment that viewers won't want to end."[52] Metacritic assigned a score of 74 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53]
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