If you’re a suspect in one murder case during your life, that’s bad luck, but to have it happen a second time? Well, then it might be something about the company you keep. But that’s the situation Aniq (Sam Richardson) and Zoë (Zoë Chao) find themselves in in season two of AppleTV+’s The Afterparty. The pair, who are now officially dating following their reconnection at their high school reunion in season one (which also had them solving the murder of Xavier, a pop star and their fellow classmate), are now spending the weekend at a winery in upstate California for the wedding of Grace (Poppy Liu), Zoë’s younger sister, and Edgar (Zach Woods), a rich Silicon Valley guy who has a number of strange hang-ups. When Edgar is found poisoned the morning after the wedding, everyone at the winery – family, friends, and exes – become suspects as Aniq and a returning Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) try to solve the case (before the real cops arrive).
As with season one, each episode is dedicated to one of the suspects, presenting their version of events, filmed in a different genre-style depending on the character. Paul Walter Hauser’s Travis, Grace’s ex with a penchant for investigative work, gets a film noir episode. Anna Konkle’s Hannah, Edgar’s adopted sister, has an episode done in the style of The Royal Tenenbaums (which is perfectly on-brand for the quirky woman). And so it goes. However, unlike in season one, there aren’t quite enough styles of storytelling to go around and the trope starts to wear a bit thin by mid-season. And you certainly start to notice the stylistic storytelling less and less in the process. Now, could the series work if you simply had episodes told from the point of view of each suspect without the need for stylized filmmaking? Sure, but the key to that would be having enough compelling characters to support the individual episodes. And that’s where season two of The Afterparty begins to falter.
You see, it makes sense that Grace or Travis or Hannah or ever Sebastian (Edgar’s business partner, played with perfect pitch by Jack Whitehall) would be suspects in the murder of Edgar. But Zoë and Grace’s uncle Ulysses (a dashing John Cho), who the women haven’t seen since they were small children? Or Grace and Zoë’s parents, Feng (Ken Jeong) and Vivian (Vivian Wu), who seem to barely know Edgar? Yeah, the series doesn’t do a great job explaining why any of them might have cause to murder Edgar. I suppose it could turn out to be an accident if one of them is the killer, but still, that doesn’t quite pan out. There are still plenty of secrets to unravel with their family – and again, none of their episodes feel dull or uninteresting – but you start to wonder why we’re spending time with these folks when there are some pretty clear suspects waiting around that could use a second look.
But this is meant to be a comedy and I’m happy to report that even when some of the show’s structure wobbles, the jokes are still coming in fast. Still incredibly funny – Richardson and Haddish make for a hilarious duo, working together and bouncing off one another with ease – the series delivers on the comedy front. Whitehall and Konkle, in particular, are stellar additions to the series, each with a clear view of their character and making the most of their screen time. Their episodes are two of the strongest in the season.
While season two doesn’t quite live up to the strengths of the first season – largely because the mystery itself only works for a handful of the suspects – it’s still a fun comedy that will entice you with some strong performances and laughs. I’m not sure there’s a possibility of a third season after this one – after all, how many murders can Aniq and Zoë be on the premises for before the cops really start to wonder just what they are up to – but season two of The Afterparty is a fun enough romp.
The Afterparty premieres on July 12 on AppleTV+. Nine of the season’s ten episodes were provided for review.
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