The Afterparty Season 2 Episode 10 Review: Zoë and Vivian
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
Two mini mind movies fill the gaps in the investigation into who killed Edgar, resulting in Aniq and Danner solving the case in classic murder-mystery fashion.
This finale is so much fun and optimally utilizes the brilliantly-comedic ensemble cast after focusing on each character individually as a suspect. It brings everything full circle; each mind movie dropping just the right hints along the way to throw everyone off the scent.
The writing is consistently stellar and cleverly weaves a head-scratching whodunnit, all the while granting us with well-done productions of popular film genres.
On the finale, the mind movies are short but satisfy the unique concept of the series.
We did not get an investigation into Vivian and Zoë, nor were they needed, but these scenes add a lot of comedy and more opportunity for the actors to have fun with the material.
Zoë’s campy Cujo-type horror film version of events showcases Zoe Chao’s physical comedy abilities. And while she has been an integral part of the investigation and each mind movie as the bride’s sister and maid-of-honor, we didn’t see anything from her point of view, cinematically speaking.
The bit with the dog achieves what it needs to and provides more laughs down the line.
Zoë: I killed the dog.
Aniq: Look, it was an accident, right?
Danner: She said, “Fetch this, bitch.”
This refers to Zoë’s “ragey” side that we got a glimpse of on The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 6, “Zoë.” The character’s episode was an animated account, and now we have a live-action bonus scene to boot.
The camp continues, but of the 80s soap opera variety with Vivian recounting her meeting with Ulysses under the weeping willow.
We heard about the affair from Ulysses’ viewpoint on The Afterparty Season 2 Episode 7, “Ulysses,” but not Vivian’s, and, it turns out, her part in the story is a vital one.
One that has the theatrics of a heavily-filtered film aesthetic that’s heavy-handed with the dramatic camera moves, score, and editing. It’s another ingenious way to further the plot and provide laughs at the same time.
“This isn’t some Agatha Christie bullshit,” says Sheriff Reardon (Martin Mull). Oh, but it is.
The mystery on this season of The Afterparty is so well-crafted that it can hold its own amongst the Queen of Crime’s oeuvre, and it does a great job of representing the genre which has saturated the media landscape in recent years.
With an amazing cast—and outstanding guest cameos on the finale—The Afterparty has succeeded in producing a season of high quality comedy and mystery, overall.
Individually, the series has achieved in several genres, including an Austen-inspired period piece, a high-tech heist caper, film noir, and even TikTok-type social media videos.
However, the genre depicted most strongly is the rom-com.
This is true for both seasons. I have been rooting for Aniq and Zoë since The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 1, “Aniq.” Sam Richardson and Chao are fantastic romantic comedy leads, the type of which we should see more often in film and television.
Their final proposing scene is so adorable—it’s definitely of elite rom-com caliber.
The main ship of The Afterparty gets their Hollywood ending, but so do Grace and Hannah as well as Vivian and Feng.
The conclusion of the murder is satisfying enough to end the season on, but we are treated to a one-year time jump scene that serves up even more happy rom-com endings, not to mention those perfect cameos from Keke Palmer, Gemma Chan, Elijah Wood, and Jaleel freakin’ White.
What did you think of the Season 2 finale of The Afterparty? Did you guess the killer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Afterparty Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on Apple TV+.
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Erin Allen
Erin is a former script supervisor for film and television. She's an avid fan of middle aged actresses, dark dramas, and irreverent comedies. She loves to read actual books and X-Files fan fiction. Her other passions include pointing out feminist issues, shipping Mulder and Scully, and collecting pop culture mugs.