One of Apple TV Plus’ best hidden gems is back for season 2


One of the biggest problems with modern streaming services is how easy it is to miss stuff. There’s just so much that even the good shows can pass right by you. And it’s just as true for a platform like Apple TV Plus as it is for more stuffed services like Netflix. With all of the focus on big, splashy projects like Foundation or Severance or the latest movie from Martin Scorsese, it’s not hard for something like The Afterparty — a quirky murder mystery that plays around with film history — to fly under the radar.
Well, good news if you did miss it: season 2 kicks off today, making it a great time to jump in.
Season 1 took place in the aftermath of a party that followed a high school reunion, where the host — a pop star named Xavier (Dave Franco) — died under mysterious circumstances. What made it interesting, though, wasn’t necessarily the mystery itself but the show’s structure. As Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) interviewed each witness, viewers were able to see how events unfold from different perspectives.
The twist is that each episode is not only centered on a specific character’s take on the evening but also portrayed in a different style, suiting their personality. One episode is like a Fast & Furious movie, another a poppy musical with annoyingly catchy tunes. There’s even an animated one. It’s an extremely fun gimmick and lends the show — which is ostensibly about a tragic murder — some levity. What was surprising about season 1 was how it managed to balance having an intriguing mystery with also being a hilarious comedy.
Season 2 tells a new story but with some key returning characters. Bumbling escape room designer Aniq (Sam Richardson) and his girlfriend Zoë (Zoë Chao) are attending Zoë’s sister’s wedding, when — shock — the groom, a tech genius, is found dead. Eventually, they pull Danner in for some help. This setup mimics the best detective stories — think Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, or relative newcomer Benoit Blanc — so that we have the same heroes but are put in a brand-new situation.
The second season works for a few reasons. To start, the new cast is great. There’s Zach Woods as the eccentric genius who is never without his pet lizard, John Cho as the annoyingly worldly uncle who never misses a chance to tell you where he’s traveled, Elizabeth Perkins as the groom’s seemingly cold-hearted mother, Ken Jeong as a struggling entrepreneur just trying to keep his family above water, and Anna Konkle as the groom’s misfit adopted sister. That’s just a taste, and they fit in well with the original cast, particularly Haddish as she delves into each of their stories.
But the show has also expanded its scope to encompass a greater range of genres to parody. Things start out simple enough in the first episode, a rom-com sequel centered on Aniq, but from there, The Afterparty delves into film noir and Victorian-era romance while also paying homage to filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Wes Anderson.
Now, don’t get me wrong: this isn’t some extremely complex murder mystery that will keep you up at night. But The Afterparty’s second season does just enough to be a compelling whodunit while also being goofy, silly, and playful. It’s 30 minutes every week where you can just have some fun while also keeping an eye out for clues. I’ve seen all of the new season (with the exception of the finale) and, while there are some obvious moments, there are also genuinely surprising twists that kept me guessing — and curious where this oddball crime-fighting team is headed next.
Season 2 of The Afterparty is on Apple TV Plus now, with new episodes on Wednesdays.
One of the biggest problems with modern streaming services is how easy it is to miss stuff. There’s just so much that even the good shows can pass right by you. And it’s just as true for a platform like Apple TV Plus as it is for more stuffed services…
Recent Posts
- Razer’s new Blade 18 offers Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs and a dual mode display
- I tried adding audio to videos in Dream Machine, and Sora’s silence sounds deafening in comparison
- Sandisk quietly introduced an 8TB version of its popular portable SSD, and I just hope they solved its previous big data corruption issue
- iPhones are briefly changing ‘racist’ to ‘Trump’ due to an iOS dictation issue
- We finally know who’s legally running DOGE
Archives
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- September 2018
- October 2017
- December 2011
- August 2010