The Afterparty – Season 2 Episode 10 Recap, Review, & Ending Explained

Zoe & Vivian

The final chapter of The Afterparty’s Season 2 will reveal who the murderer is. It has been a long, testing wait but the moment is finally here.

As the police scour through the house and collect evidence, Danner pitches her theory to Aniq. “There was only one person who wasn’t mentioned at all in anyone’s story: Zoe.”

Aniq is petrified at what this could potentially mean. They bring in Zoe for an interview but it does not last long. “I just wanna say it was an accident” she says.

Did Zoe kill Edgar?

As Aniq and Danner take a collective gasp, Zoe’s description of the “accident” puts them at ease and baffles them. No, Zoe did not kill Edgar. She was referring to the dog, Colonel, who is showcased as a Cujo-like villain in Zoe’s brief story. Since Edgar interrupted her maid of honour speech, Zoe wanted to slip it in Grace’s suitcase before she left for her honeymoon.

In the bedroom, Zoe was confronted by the dog who attacked her. To deal with it, she threw him out of the window and assumed he was dead. The trio emerge from the room and Howie declares that Grace is the police’s official suspect.

It is clear that he has arrived at this conclusion owing to Isabel’s influence. But Danner reminds him that he holds a public post. He isn’t Isabel’s private detective and simply cannot brand someone a suspect without proper investigation. Howie isn’t prepared to budge prompting Danner to go back inside and bring her phone.

Isabel explains to Zoe that Colonel isn’t dead when she brings up the incident. Et voila, out walks Colonel merrily as if nothing ever happened.

How was Colonel saved even after being thrown from the window?

Danner explains that Colonel landed on the trampoline placed outside the window. This is the same trampoline that Isabel was jumping up and down on right before the wedding. In fact, a jumping Colonel also explains Edgar’s final words: “You bounding hound of hell!”

As Aniq yells and then ponders over “No motive,” everyone in the room starts saying they killed Edgar. This is in response to Howie’s insistence on making Grace a suspect.

Hannah’s searing confession of love for Grace is touching. She should be the prime suspect but Danner convinces Howie to listen to her and Aniq’s theory. 

So, who killed Edgar?

Aniq and Danner start explaining their theory by putting everyone in the target line. They all had access to Hannah’s flowers and had the opportunity and a motive to kill him. Some had stronger intentions but generally, everyone had a reason.

In unison, they pronounce the killer: “Ulysses.” This is where Aniq’s “no motive” shout comes into play. Figuring out this mystery was never about Edgar, it was about Vivian. The poison reached the wrong target.

Ulysses was actually trying to kill Feng. Vivian explains what was said between them when Ulysses talked to her the night of the rehearsal dinner. He once again pleaded with Vivian to give him a chance. He tried to get over her but couldn’t vanquish love from his heart. Ulysses pressed Vivian to accept her feelings for him but she outrightly rejected the notion. She made it clear that she would never leave Feng when he himself walked into the scene. These moments are in equal parts hilarious and serious, playing out like a Chinese soap drama. 

Now, Vivian did not take the flower arrangements from the rehearsal dinner until the next morning. Ulysses used this opportunity to take the Devil’s trumpet, mash it up, and put it in a concentrated teapot. However, Ulysses did not have access to one. Instead, he used his horn and took water from the shower. Then, he mixed it in a whiskey glass at the bar the night of the wedding to give to Feng. We did see Ulysses giving Feng a glass in all stories involving that scene.

Ulysses claims that he was trying to take Grace’s DNA for a paternity test. But Aniq cites Seb’s testimony. Seb saw Ulysses fiddling around with a whiskey glass, whereas Grace only drank Rose! Ulysses created this paternity raffle to invent a distraction and prevent scrutiny from others. He also lied that Feng had taken a sip from the drink he made for him when it was clear that Feng had not. Feng simply took the glass to Edgar, placed it on the table, and offered him to taste Baobing. Edgar did not like it and Feng mistakenly picked up Edgar’s glass, the one that was not poisoned.

Zoe puts on Kyle’s footage from the afterparty where this theory is confirmed. To further substantiate it, Danner refers to the morning when Edgar’s body was found. When Ulysses heard a scream, he ran to Feng and Vivian’s room, and not Edgar’s. He thought that Vivian had discovered Feng’s body and Ulysses was even terrified when he saw Feng was alive. 

Howie brands the theory circumstantial. They do not have solid evidence that can be used to nail Ulysses. The police find the teapot Zoe hid in episode 8 and she comes clean about it. Zoe did it to protect Grace, as it would make her look like a suspect. She even drinks from it to show that it was not poisoned. Vivian steps forward dramatically and asks for Ulysses’ horn. She pours a drink into it and threatens to ingest it. If it is not really poisoned, what’s the harm?

As she is about to, Ulysses dislodges it from her hand, confirming his guilt. The police apprehend him and finally, the mystery is solved. Isabel apologizes to Grace and asks her to sign a waiver of claim on Edgar’s fortune. Grace does so happily but says she is entitled to a million (as Isabel had said previously), which she gives to Feng to pay off his debts.

Seb is fired by Isabel after he reveals he accepted very little money for the Bucephalus in the quickfire sale. Since the news got out, the coin’s value has tripled. The reason? Travis told his Reddit army to invest in the coin! He is, after all, not a complete idiot. 

Aniq gets Feng and Vivian’s blessings as Zoe’s partner. In a shocking turn of events, Zoe asks Aniq to marry him while taking a stroll through the gardens. He promptly returns the favour and they share a passionate kiss!

It is also indicated that Hannah and Grace embraced their love for each other. As Danner is leaving, Aniq suggests writing a book isn’t her style. “Mind movies; that is your thing,” quips Aniq. Cut to one year later, we see Danner heeding Aniq’s advice and making a movie based on the first murder instead of a book.

The Episode Review

Overall, the finale was well-managed. Ulysses was one of the contenders to be Edgar’s killer but few would have predicted it to have been inadvertent. His arc with Vivian and the whole feud with Feng was expertly planned out in the second half of the show. Full marks to the writers for fulfilling this arc with a fitting ending. Some things that I felt were problematic with this season in the earlier episode resolved themselves here.

It was also nice to see love blossoming in the aftermath of Ulysses being arrested. Perhaps things were meant to end this way. Seb and Isabel emerged as the big losers in the whole affair. Our opinion largely remained the same for these characters throughout the season. I loved how Zoe was used as a red herring on so many occasions to keep things spicy. The many misdirections were well founded in the big sister playing a maternal role for her family.

We got some fascinating depictions in this season of The Afterparty. The characters and their stories stood as the most endearing element of the storytelling.