Considering Apple TV+'s The Afterparty was created and directed by Christopher Miller, it's not surprising that the show is as funny as it is. Even though Miller's writing partner, Phil Lord, isn't involved, the show retains the witty spark seen in their 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie.
Just as the series works as an effective mystery, it also works as a highly-quotable, banter-filled comedic piece. From Dave Franco's Eugene Xavier Duckworth, Jr. to Channing Tatum as himself, just about every cast member, regardless of the size of their role, gets to contribute a hilarious line or two.
It's revealed early on in the first episode that Franco's Xavier co-starred with Channing Tatum in a Hall & Oates biopic titled Private Eyes, which would almost certainly end up being one of Tatum's best movies. A clip is played for the audience, shedding light on the (fictional) creation of one of their songs.
Tatum's Oates hurls a record to the wall and screams "You see that?! That right there is what we need!" Franco's startled Hall looks back and asks "What, a broken record?" Oates barks "No! A smash hit! This city will put you in its mouth, bite you up and spit you out! It's an eater of men!" It's a hilarious take on the creation of Hall & Oates' "Maneater" that's sold by Franco and Tatum's chemistry. As Hall excitedly spouts: "You go high! I'll go the same high!"
One of the focuses in The Afterparty's first episode is Aniq's (Sam Richardson) pining for former classmate Zoe (Zoe Chao), and how Xavier gets in the way. The two even share a moment in one of the high school's hallways, in front of a mural.
"Oh, this is a really cool mural," Aniq says as he and Zoe walk up to the piece. She replies "Would you believe me if I told you I painted it?" She then explains that, while she's the vice-principal now, she used to be their school's art teacher. In an effort to impress her, he brings up the artist who created President Obama's "Hope" poster back in 2008: "It's very Shepard Fairey meets...uh...a different artist's name." Zoe ribs him for knowing only one artist's name while he claims to know two: Fairey and Zoe. It's a cute moment for two of The Afterparty's funniest characters.
The second episode focuses on Detective Danner's interrogation of Brett (Ike Barinholtz). He describes to her how he saw his soon-to-be-ex-wife chatting with Aniq, and how that made him feel no concern. Aniq's not a threat, like Steve Urkel in Family Matters.
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Det. Danner humorously takes issue with this, leading to her saying "If you hate on Urkel one more time..." to which Brett sarcastically asks "Did I do that?" That, of course, was Urkel's catchphrase on the show.
Part of The Afterparty and similar shows' appeal is how people misrepresent themselves. No one does this more than Barinholtz's Brett. He describes himself as a hero trying to save his family, as well as what more or less amounts to a Fast & Furious character. It's already been established in Aniq's telling of events that Brett is more cheating, desperate husband than Dom Toretto.
As he's trying to stop Zoe from hooking up with Xavier, he comes up with a pathetic plan. He tells Det. Danner about how he rushed to the reunion's "Now & Then" slideshow and switched it to pictures of himself, Zoe, and their daughter. The way he tells it is far cooler than the sadder reality. He makes himself sound like an action hero, saying "Time to hack into the mainframe" as he switches the image playlist.
Xavier's hat is another example of how different perspectives distort the truth. Det. Danner knows the hat fell before the body because it's beneath Xavier. It's revealed in the second episode how the hat got down to the shore: Brett tossed it.
Xavier has told him that his "agro-schtick" is "old hat" and he's "new hat." Xavier then pulls down his silly-looking cap, as if that's the punchline. Brett hurls the hat from the balcony to which Xavier yells, in Brett's relayed phrasing, "Come on! That was a bulls***, overpriced hat that looked stupid, man!"
Chelsea (Ilana Glazer) has been receiving threatening text messages, in all caps, effectively forbidding her from attending the high school reunion. While she's in the bathroom, sprinkling water on her face and avoiding a shadow-covered assailant, she gets another alert.
Four texts are shown, with the first three being overtly threatening. The first: "Come tonight and there will be trouble." Then: "Can't you see your not wanted here? Leave before it gets worse." The texter then repeats a certain grammar mistake with "Your gonna wish you never came." Lastly, they correct themselves with "*You're." It's something everyone's done, apparently even ominous stalkers.
Walt's Saint Patrick's Day party goes south fast. Chelsea is belittled by her peers for something she didn't even do. Jennifer #2 gets vomited on. But it's Aniq who has the worst evening. He sees the love of his life making out with Brett, a certified jerk. The reason it's Brett with her and not Aniq is simple: Xavier. However, it's also the fault of Yasper, who has swiftly become one of Ben Schwartz's best roles.
Xavier pushed Aniq into a dyed green pool, causing him to miss his shot with Zoe. The reason Xavier did this, though, really comes down to Aniq. He had told Yasper that Xavier more or less wasn't a good fit for their two-man band. Yasper severs the bandmate tie, telling Xavier with full sincerity that "Pop is just a fad, dude. Ska is forever."
Jennifer #2 is one of the Mean Girls in her East Bay Area high school. She also has the tendency to drink too much and hurl accusations.
For instance, take how she acts to her supposed friend, Chelsea. Chelsea has been accused of having a threesome with Xavier and a random guy, who's actually the oft-forgotten Walt. Chelsea bandwagons and accuses Chelsea of being loose, to which her friend responds with "listen" and then immediately throws up all over Jennifer #2. It's an accident, and she runs away, but Jennifer #2 is so eager to deflect any sort of personal embarrassment she says "You guys, this is so embarrassing for her." It's a good line made funny by how pathetic Jennifer #2 makes it sound.
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