The Afterparty – Season 2 Episode 8 “Feng” Recap & Review

Feng

Episode 8 of The Afterparty starts off with Aniq visiting Vivian. Since the secret about her affair is out, he beseeches her to tell Zoe herself. It would be better coming from her mouth than Isabel’s.

Kyler sends over the footage he recorded over the weekend. Bear in mind that he was hired by Feng to promote his business, so it has a lot of recordings of Feng doing all sorts of stuff.

As Vivian confronts Zoe and Grace with the earth-shattering secret, Feng decides to sit with Danner and Aniq to contextualise his actions.

“Everything I did this weekend was for my family,” Feng quips as they begin watching the footage. It is revealed to us that Feng was having money problems. This explains why we saw him asking Sebastian in one of the episodes to make him a partner. But I’m not sure how it gives him a motive to kill Edgar.

Feng also uses Aniq’s dicey position with Vivian as leverage to turn him on his side. No matter what they see on the recordings, Feng wants to make sure Aniq has his back. And in return, Aniq has his approval to marry Zoe.

We see many moments previously featured in the narration of the other characters, such as Hannah’s long face and Travis’s not-so-conspicuous investigation. Another revelatory moment comes when Ulysses joins the rehearsal dinner. Hitherto, we thought that Feng left because of Ulysses. But he actually left because his lender confiscated his new catering truck for outstanding debt repayments. That certainly did not mean he wasn’t affected by Ulysses’ presence. At that moment, Feng was motivated by the prospect of Edgar investing in his business to save it.

Feng explains that most of his money is tied up in the construction of his new store and that he has every intention of giving Edgar good returns on his investment. Edgar seemed interested in the idea and agreed to see the wedding night as a test case to measure Bing’s popularity. We see two more instances of Feng being outshone by Ulysses which made Feng heartbroken. He also realizes when watching the footage that when he started operating his homemade shaver to make Bing, he interrupted Zoe’s maid of honour speech.

Feng’s Bing was well received by the entire party. Edgar fell short of having it, though. This episode has also brought forth one final puzzle to the fore; Isabel and Edgar’s tensions.

Danner sheds light on Feng’s motive. Grace hadn’t signed the prenup with Edgar yet. If he were to die after their marriage, she would inherit his entire fortune. Feng tried to give Edgar Baobing at the afterparty as well. He did end up trying it but didn’t like it. Roxanna did too and had a similar reaction. Feng is then seen saying to Kyler, “Throw this away. It is done.” But we also see a video from the day Edgar’s body was discovered which showed Feng excitedly telling Kyler about new ideas to save the business. He does not look like a man whose money problems were solved.

Danner and Aniq are not convinced and still believe he had adequate motive and access to the murder of Edgar. Aniq chases after Feng as he storms out. He then reveals to Aniq that Baobing has been Vivian’s idea. He is doing it for her; to prop himself up in her eyes as an adventurous guy. The sisters are more disgusted than shocked when Vivian tells them. They are naturally disappointed she kept such a big secret from them. She explains that she still loves Feng and likes what they have. Grace then takes the opportunity to tell her that she is in love with Hannah. Chaos!

The Episode Review

Ken Jeong has delivered a knock-out performance in this episode. If there was any instance in The Afterparty where one episode could change the entire outlook on a character, it would be this one. We saw the foundations of his arc being laid in the previous episode. And they are masterfully crafted into an inspiring structure in this one. Overall, episode 8 continues the show’s touchy flirting with mediocrity accentuated by shades of brilliance.

Using the footage was a smart way of showcasing Feng’s backstory and his version of the events. The subtle nod to John Cho’s Searching was a clever move. One would have anticipated Vivian’s revelations to have a more tumultuous reaction. But the lukewarm response by the sisters was a downer.

The other characters are sort of sitting out the interviews completely during these past episodes, which takes away dynamism from the storytelling. Hopefully, this will change in the final two episodes to end the season right.