Does everyone have a motive? Because it’s starting to look that way.
On The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 4, we hear Chelsea’s story — in what is the darkest (literally) offering of the season so far.
It’s still funny, but the humor can be pretty grim, and comes mainly from Ilana Glazer’s deadpan delivery.
Overall, the feel of the episode mirrored a tense psychological thriller very well.
In a chaos this dark, any guiding light would suffice.
Here is a woman who has been traumatized and damaged (by what is still a mystery). Chelsea has squandered her potential and turned to drugs and alcohol. She’s so miserable and paranoid and only has one goal — revenge.
Every aspect of the production served to build up the suspense. There was heavy rain, introspective narration, moody cinematography, poorly-lit hallways, jump scares, blurred vision, and a tension-riddled score courtesy of Daniel Pemberton.
It was unsettling to watch Chelsea’s spiral, especially when she kept running into Brett, who was a total jerk. And then there was poor invisible Walt, who was just trying to get her keys back to her, but in giving her space, he actually terrified her even more.
I was trying to stay far so you didn’t think I was near.
Walt
Several scenes took on new meaning as we saw them from Chelsea’s point of view.
In the confrontation with Zoe and Aniq in the hallway, Chelsea wasn’t drunk at all — she was trying to get Zoe alone to ask about the texts. Also, she was scared of whoever was following her, and there is safety in numbers.
The following scene in the hallway with Brett made more sense from Chelsea’s end. It does pose the question — why did Brett leave the whole Chelsea affair out of his version of the events? Maybe because it would make him look bad?
Chelsea’s conversation with Yasper at the afterparty was more subdued than in his version, but he remained a positive influence on her, which was nice to see. It led her to confront Xavier and their past and get the closure she needed.
Chelsea really loathes Xavier and insists on calling him Eugene whenever she can. Not only that, but Xavier seems terrified of her, too, and acts extremely awkward towards her.
What did he do to her at that St. Patrick’s Day party? He can still strike up a conversation with her, and she is willing to speak to him, but he seems to know that whatever he did was bad.
Their final confrontation was great. It was very big of Chelsea if she did actually stop him from drinking the cat sedatives and let him off with a simple admission of guilt — in the form of a song.
I’m not sure I buy that’s how it went down, though.
Bear in mind, on The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 1, Danner smelled whiskey and ginger ale on Xavier, which was in the cocktail Chelsea gave him, which she swears he didn’t drink.
He did pour it out, so it’s possible some got on himself or on the rocks below, but it seems like a stretch. Though, Chelsea insists Danner test Xavier’s blood against the flask, so who knows?
Chelsea’s version of Xavier is the best (worst) yet.
Dave Franco has been consistently slick and smarmy as the late popstar, but it was great to see his awkward and vulnerable side — as well as cementing the fact that he is a complete idiot.
Xavier felt more like a “worthy adversary” in The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 2, which makes sense since it was Brett’s POV. Here he comes off as a pathetic asshole/douche (in their own words), and Franco leans into that stupidity so earnestly it’s hilarious.
Brett sucks.
He’s just awful, from every angle (except his own, of course). However, the photo booth scene was a great way to get some expository info out while maintaining a sense of fun about the whole thing.
But the way he deflected the blame for the affair squarely on Chelsea was gross. It makes sense that he is bad at sex.
Had I known you were going to seduce me, I would have found somewhere else to bring Dumpling to put her to sleep.
Brett
It was nice that Zoe and Chelsea could have that moment of commiseration and the dry camaraderie was simultaneously sad and hilarious. Good on Chelsea for taking ownership of her mistakes and trying to make amends.
I got cat roofied!
Aniq
It was Chelsea who wrote “I’m sorry” on Aniq’s hand! It’s only fair since she accidentally cat-roofied him, which made him much drunker than he should have been. But if Chelsea wrote “I’m sorry,” what did Zoe write on Aniq — and where?
And who shot the arrow past Chelsea’s head?
It makes sense that Aniq is trying to secretly get the facts from everyone because he doesn’t trust Danner’s competence (more than fair given what he knows of her) but what he’s doing is invasive at best and against the law at worst.
If he gets caught, it could get him into serious trouble, regardless of whether he’s accused of Xavier’s murder or not.
As usual, there were plenty of great little moments from the supporting cast here. John Early continues to make the most of his minimal screen time. I’d 100% watch a Detective Culp spinoff.
Genevieve Angelson’s Indigo is insufferable in the most entertaining way, whether she’s trying to get Chelsea involved in her health-shake MLM or Brett into her breastmilk cheese Facebook group. (That vaccine quip, though — oof! Too soon?)
The Jennifers are so perfect and awful, and we all knew them in high school. Tiya Sircar and Ayden Mayeri absolutely nail the faux-friendliness, smug superiority, and backhanded “B-word”-iness of these two.
Did you see her hair? It looks like she made out with a tornado.
Jennifer #2
Could the Jennifers be the ones sending Chelsea those threatening text messages? I wouldn’t put it past them.
And where is Jennifer #2? Isn’t it awfully suspicious that she would disappear right after the cops show up? Does she know something? Is she a suspect or a victim?
Throughout the episode, Ilana Glazer projected that strug-out, desperate vibe that is stereotypical of women in this genre, while still maintaining a dry sense of humor to mask her pain.
The Afterparty definitely feels like one of those shows that will need to be rewatched in sequence again from the start once it ends, just to see all the clues and how everything was set up.
It’s all there, but there are so many possibilities.
Whose stories will have been the most accurate, or will we ever know? Hopefully, the final reveal will come as a shock that also feels satisfying.
Do you believe Chelsea’s story? Share your theories in the comments!
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Mary Littlejohn is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
You can view the original article HERE.
