Mystery solved! The Afterparty cast and producers break down the whodunit's twists and turns

WARNING: The video above and the article below contain spoilers for the season finale of The Afterparty (and also Murder on the Orient Express).

All parties must come to an end, and now, so too has The Afterparty — but not without revealing who killed Xavier (Dave Franco) and why they dun it.

With the comedic murder mystery's season finale now streaming on Apple TV+, EW assembled stars Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Zoë Chao, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, and Jamie Demetriou, along with executive producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller, to break down the solution — and all the clues you missed — in spoilerific detail. The finale revealed that Schwartz's energetic song-and-dance man Yasper was the culprit (which Barinholtz is very happy to finally be able to say), and that he killed his ex-bandmate Xavier over the latter's refusal to help make his music dreams come true.

"When Chris emailed me about the job, he said, 'Hey, we're doing a show, it's gonna be a murder mystery, it's gonna be different genres. I think you'll be happy; yours is a musical if you want to do it, and also, I think you'll be even happier: you're the murderer,'" Schwartz recalled. "So, in the very first email I got, I found out that I was the person. Throughout the whole process, I've had to lie."

Lord and Miller, on the other hand, were telling you the truth the whole time, if you knew where to look. While casual viewers might have missed the subtle clues planted throughout the show — such as a light blinking out a message in Morse code, Parasite-style — Miller says that a Reddit community devoted to the show picked up on most, if not all, of them.

"They are some master, master sleuths," Miller said. "Within an hour of the episode airing, they've got it all mapped out... They freeze-frame it, they see every little detail, and they discuss it."

The group also broke down some of the show's red herrings and the audience theories that resulted, from what seemed to be the prevailing opinion (outside of Reddit) that Demetriou's Walt was the killer, to more left-field suspects like Chao's Zoë and even libidinous chemistry teacher Mr. Shapiro (Christopher May).

"I felt like every character really could have done it," Glazer said. "It was so strongly constructed, that I could have believed every character [was the murderer]. I felt like my character Chelsea's motives were justified enough — I'm not saying go murder someone — but justified enough that I was like, I believe she could have."

"It's true, any one of us could have killed [Xavier]," added Chao. "Because he's just the douchiest. What is it, Murder on the Orient Express where everyone puts a knife in? It is plausible that all of us put a knife in."

With The Afterparty recently renewed for a second season, fans can expect much more sleuthing to come. In the meantime, you can check out our full interview with the cast, Lord, and Miller in the video above.

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