Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Apple TV+
Secret romances! Secret betrayals! Secret conflicts! Secret conspiracies! Secret parentage! Secret secrets! All that and more are part of The Afterparty, a comedic whodunit that puts a novel twist on the Agatha Christie template. The maiden 2022 season of Christopher Miller’s Apple TV+ series was an entertainingly intriguing hit, and thankfully, it proves to be equally charming and witty in its sophomore outing, which premieres July 12. Awash in closeted skeletons and ulterior motives, it’s a playfully self-conscious caper that thrives courtesy of its uniquely diverse form as well as an excellent performance from star Sam Richardson.
In the wake of their prior brush with homicide, Aniq (Richardson) and Zoë (Zoë Chao) head to the wedding of Zoë’s younger sister Grace (Poppy Liu) and her tech-magnate fiancé Edgar (Zach Woods) at the latter’s expansive vineyard estate. There, they’re joined by a motley assortment of guests: Edgar’s sister Hannah (Anna Konkle), widowed mother Isabel (Elizabeth Perkins), and business partner Sebastian (Jack Whitehall); Grace and Zoë’s parents Feng (Ken Jeong) and Vivian (Vivian Wu), as well as their long-gone uncle Ulysses (John Cho); and Grace’s ex-boyfriend Travis (Paul Walter Hauser). There’s also Edgar’s beloved pet lizard Roxana, who perpetually sits on her master’s shoulder, doesn’t like cake, and is treated like a member of the family.
Following their inauspicious arrival at the festivities (due to Aniq’s flawed car-parking skills), the series fast-forwards to the scene of the crime: Grace and Edgar’s bedroom, where—the morning after the nuptials—Edgar is found face-down in his pillow, as dead as his scaly friend is in her nearby glass case. Beginning with haughty and rude Isabel, suspicion is immediately cast in the direction of Grace, given that she’s a quirky antiques dealer who comes from little money and had refused to sign a pre-nuptial agreement.