The Streaming Wars have gotten out of control in the last 10 years. Every year there seems to be a new service coming out that is supposed to change the game. There’s been a lot of successes but a lot of failures as well. I put Apple TV+ in the category of “this streaming service is interesting but it’s probably not going to last.” Apple was betting big on original content, something audiences don’t see very often as there is a reliance on getting existing IPs to drive people to subscribe. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the catalog Apple TV+ is bringing to the table. They’ve had a diverse list of movies and shows they’ve released.
One of their latest comedies, The Afterparty, recently finished after an 8 episode arc. The Afterparty, created by Christopher Miller, revolves around a group of friends at their high school reunion. At an afterparty, a famous alum named Xavier, played by Dave Franco, is murdered and all the guests are suspects in the murder. The case is turned over to Detective Danner, played by Tiffany Haddish, who is on the clock to find the killer.
The first thing that caught my attention with The Afterparty was the cast. It’s a murders row of comedic actors who all appear to have worked together or at minimum, enjoy each other’s company. They all play off one another so well and each person has moments to shine with each person in the cast. I walked away from this show loving each of the cast members and being excited for the work they can put out in the future.
I was also already sold on the show being from the creative minds of Lord and Miller. I haven’t found something that I didn’t like of theirs, whether it’s on TV or film.
The previews alone showcase a smart comedy but I was instantly on board after the pilot.
Standouts for the season include the quasi-lead Sam Richardson, who plays Aniq. Aniq’s role is the straight man while still reacting to events in hilarious ways. Richardson does an amazing job reacting to the events and playing off the other characters. I also loved Ilana Glazer’s performance, who plays Chelsea. Chelsea is coming into the reunion angry and out for revenge. The Afterparty isn’t doing anything groundbreaking in terms of high school troupes but giving each character a chance to shine while also giving them some runway to be funny.
The structure of the show involves Danner interviewing different people at the party to get their stories about what happened to Xavier and what they were doing throughout the course of the night. Each person has their own perspective so certain things will be embellished or blown out of proportion. The nice thing about this approach is that each person’s story is unique. Zoe Chao, who plays Zoe in the show, the entire story is animated. Given her profession, it makes sense and is a cool way to showcase something different. Ben Schwartz, who plays Yasper, the episode has musical numbers.
For a murder mystery, this is fun because it forces the audience to pay attention to any discrepancies in stories.
Each episode felt unique and told a similar story from a different point of view.
The real wild card here with the cast is Tiffany Haddish. I was mixed about her performance because I didn’t buy her as a detective. I know that’s not necessarily fair but I just wasn’t a fan of how she portrayed herself as a detective. As the season went on, I warmed up to her a little and in the end, I like how she solved the case. I’ll be curious to see if I will be keeping this going for future seasons since this will now be more of an anthology series versus a continuous story. I’ll admit since I didn’t have a lot of context for how Haddish could handle responsibilities as a detective that may have clouded my judgment. For the next season, now that I have a base for how to view Haddish as a detective I’ll have some semblance of expectations moving forward.
The mystery itself was great to see how it was resolved. Danner does a great job of solving the case. The last episode is hilarious because the last witness was a fun twist and was such a blast to watch. I also enjoyed the episode that was set in the past as a flashback. I loved it because it was a change of pace at a critical time in the show. The middle episodes start to feel a little repetitive because it’s telling the same story in a slightly different way. It picked up the pace after the flashback episode and helped me reengage.
Overall, The Afterparty is a hilarious and enjoyable addition to Apple TV+’s arsenal.
Tweet
The story is solid and the performances are off the charts. Is this something that is going to encourage audiences to subscribe in droves to Apple TV+ similar to how CODA or Ted Lasso has done? Probably not. However, The Afterparty is also an engaging mystery that has the potential to be similar to Knives Out on TV, following around a hotshot detective solving complex mysteries from season to season. I’ll be eager to see how the sophomore season goes but the first outing is worth the time to watch.
Season Grade: 7/10
Contributed by: Mike Hilty
