Season 1 episode 8 of Apple TV+ series ‘The Afterparty’ delves into Maggie’s observations from the night and the tying up of loose ends in the Xavier murder case.
Recap
Detective Danner finally seems to have cracked the case. Only one confession left; that of Zoe and Brett’s daughter, Maggie.
She reveals that Jennifer #2’s water broke that night and Brett was furious when she told him that Zoe was with Xavier on the balcony, prompting him to tell her he had “one last thing” to do.
Jennifer #2 is figured out to be at a nearby hospital. Aniq and Yasper believe that Danner will now definitely find Brett guilty, except Aniq doesn’t think it all quite adds up.
Danner quickly reveals that it couldn’t have been Chelsea, because Xavier never drank her cat tranquillizer, and it’s not Walt, who was, um, getting ready to streak… again.
This leaves Aniq and Brett as the possible killers. She claims that Brett snuck upstairs before Aniq and killed Xavier, leaving him shocked at the allegation.
But Aniq comes forward and tells Danner that he saw Brett in the driveway when he woke up, so it couldn’t possibly have been him.
This would reinstate Aniq as the prime suspect, but he did it anyway since all the confessions made him realise that he had something in common with all of them, even Brett, and that he couldn’t let him go to jail when he knew the truth.
Brett offers to be his character witness, but Aniq replies that the door is closed for him. Just then, it hits him. The closet door was open when he went upstairs that night, while in everyone’s testimony, it was closed.
Danner had figured this out. Someone had been hiding in the closet that night before Aniq went upstairs. She knew Brett wasn’t the killer and was only testing if Aniq would tell the truth.
She claims that the real killer is the one who told the most cartoonish and fake story. No, it’s not Zoe’s, even though it was literally a cartoon. She’s referring to Yasper’s ‘High School Musical’ version.
Yasper held a grudge against Xavier for becoming so successful, while his own career never took off. When he refused to bless his track, Yasper decided to kill him.
He turned on the video that day so that nobody could hear Xavier’s scream when he fell from the balcony, and climbed down from the balcony directly to avoid any suspicion that he was in Xavier’s room.
Aniq is shocked at this, but figures out that Yasper programmed the A/V system to erase any proof of the murder, and set up Danner and Culp as the ones who messed it up.
When Yasper claims that he has texts from Xavier, Danner refutes and says he texted himself from his phone after killing him. They also figure out that Yasper was trying to record Xavier’s song inspirations from his voice notes, onto his own phone, to boost his own career.
When they call Xavier, one of the phones in Yasper’s pockets rings, confirming him as the murderer. He confesses to the crime and tries to run away, but Culp catches him.
Yasper apologises to Aniq and says he never meant for him to take the blame, but he says that friends would never do what he did.
Detective Germain arrives, slightly embarrassed that Danner had already solved the case. All of the suspects leave, now having understood each other way more than their school days.
Aniq and Zoe go out to get breakfast, but she pulls over the car midway. They finally share a kiss as the season comes to an end.
Review
- The truth behind the killer had a decent amount of suspense right till the end, although Yasper was definitely one of the prime suspects.
- The comic element of the series is maintained right till the end, and the reveal is detailed and makes sense.
- Those rooting for Aniq and Zoe to end up together can finally have their moment.
- Overall, the season has been fun, something you wouldn’t usually relate with murder mysteries. It’s a welcome break from all the sombre films and shows you see frequently.
Rating: 4/5
Also Read: The Afterparty season 1 episode 7 recap & review: Danner