The Afterparty – Season 1 Episode 2 “Brett” Recap & Review

Brett

Episode 2 of The Afterparty begins with Brett questioned by Detective Danner. Aniq and Yasper realize the intercom system is connected across the house and decide to do some snooping of their own. Under the guise that Aniq has lost his phone and needs to retrace his steps, he seizes the opportunity to mess about on the intercom and broadcast what Brett is telling Danner.

Brett shows up bang on time at the party. Satirizing the Fast and Furious movies, Brett talks to Ned and mentions how there’s nothing more important than family. And in this case, preserving his family and launching Operation Silent Savior. Or, as Detective Danner so eloquently puts it “jamming the clam.” You see, Brett and Zoe used to be together and although theey’ve broken up, Brett is overprotective of her and doesn’t want any other guys to be with Zoe.

Brett doesn’t see Aniq as a threat but does focus on Xavier. Challenging each other to a urinating contest, Brett outdoes his competitor but only riles things up further. In fact, Xavier even promises to sleep with Zoe too. This is where we catch up with Brett kicking off at the table. He’s also the one responsible for setting up the Brett/Zoe tribute video to play as well.

When he notices Zoe slipping out, he hurries after her but is stopped every which way. One obstacle is Chelsea, who seems to be hatching a plan of her own against Xavier.

While Brett talks, back in the present Aniq begins to piece together the bits of screwed up paper. He’s found more slips of paper in the bin and believes its a note from the killer.

So why did Brett chase after Aniq and the others? Well, it turns out Aniq actually has his daughter’s koala bear. He didn’t tell them he’s going to kill them after all. He was actually asking for the bear back.

After getting cornered by a couple of lorries, Brett goes full-on action hero to break free, posing as a worker at Xavier’s party and confronting Aniq. After taking the bear and destroying the shrimp stand, Brett and Xavier both end up verbally sparring on the balcony. Zoe refuses to be part of this and heads back downstairs.

Brett changes his mind and decides against fighting Xavier. Instead, he throws the celeb’s hat off the balcony.

Brett speaks to Zoe downstairs and talks openly about their divorce. He tells her she’s free to hook up with Xavier now. She screws her nose at this though, pointing out she has no interest in him romantically.

When Maggie rocks up at the party, wandering about, Brett makes an excuse and leaves. In doing so, he notices Chelsea getting chummy with Xavier and wanting to get him alone. Brett though, sneaks out the back door and manages to give Maggie back her koala. Brett has been sneaking out every hour to go and check on his daughter.

After interviewing Brett, Culp confronts Danner. As fate would have it, she doesn’t have clearance to lead this case. She’s only supposed to take witness statements. Well, with the Captain closing in, Danner urges Culp to help her out and eventually he does succumb and agree to play his part.

At the same time, Aniq and Yasper realize that the handwriting on the revenge note is actually the same as the handwriting on his neck. Alas, it seems like the killer is at the party and also the note-writer too.

Unbeknownst to everyone else in the house, we pan across to Xavier’s balcony once more where it’s revealed that there’s actually a hidden camera and it’s pointed right at the spot Xavier fell.

The Episode Review

The second episode of The Afterparty switches the tone of the entire series into Brett’s perspective. With a distinct over-the-top action hero shtick, the episode does well to keep things consistently over the top and dramatic.

There’s also a really nice weaving of the story here, understanding how each of these puzzle pieces fit together and how little details can be misinterpreted or misconstrued. It turns out Brett wasn’t chasing Aniq to kill him, he was actually just trying to get Maggie’s koala back.

These little inclusions to he plot really help The Afterparty stand out and the writing in this show has been really, really good so far. It’ll be intriguing to see how the third episode will play out and just whose perspective we’ll be shifting across to. Until then, The Afterparty continues to deliver the goods.