The Afterparty Review: Chelsea (Season 1 Episode 4)

On Season 1 Episode 4 of The Afterparty, Chelsea is in the hot seat and tells her story in a psychological thriller motif that works best with the murder mystery aspect of the series. 

Aniq’s rom-com, Brett’s action flick, and Yasper’s musical from the first three episodes are fun and each have strong elements, but the murder-mystery vibe plays like a necessary afterthought. Chelsea’s episode is dark and puzzling.

I think I want to find out who is sending the texts more than who murdered Xavier. And like Detective Danner, I also need to know what went down at the St. Patrick’s Day party that ruined Chelsea’s life. It’s kinda maddening, actually, that neither of these questions came close to being answered.

This may be due to the pacing. Chelsea (Ilana Glazer) tells her story well, but it feels a bit like it’s being dragged out. Even Aniq (Sam Richardson), who has been eavesdropping on Chelsea being questioned, seems bored at times. 

Too much overlap is happening with what we’ve already seen. Sure, we are given context here and it helps to confirm information from the other interrogations, but why else would it feel so stale and redundant. 

Clue: The Movie is an excellent example of the format working to its advantage. It appears that The Afterparty hasn’t quite been able to find that same sweet spot by Episode 4.

That being said, Tiffany Haddish’s Detective Danner serves as a similarly funny and charismatic leader to Tim Curry’s Wadsworth. She makes for a nice central anchor to the story and her interactions with the other characters are varied and engaging. 

Chelsea as a character is a little too tragic, and I think the comedic angle would’ve been more successful, especially with Glazer’s talent. We get a glimpse of it when she arrives at the reunion and has that painful exchange with the Jennifers.

Jennifer 2: You’ve always been so funny. 
Chelsea: It’s out of pain. 

Jennifer 2: We’ve got to get you a name tag. You’re alone, yeah?
Chelsea: Deeply alone. 

These are two throwaway lines, pretty much, but Glazer’s delivery gives extra nuance and a dry humor.

There’s a lot of hype around this St. Patrick’s Day party, and the clunkiness of this episode makes me worried that it might not live up to it. 

We shall see soon enough—the next episode is not centered around a suspect but rather this infamous high school party. I hope it provides some answers.

Stray Observations:

• “It might be, like, a Parasite situation. I never actually saw that movie, but I read the plot summary on Wikipedia, and, like, that dude was in the bunker the whole time!”
• Parasite mention, for the win!

What did you think of this episode of The Afterparty? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New episodes of The Afterparty stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

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