Maggie, Zoë and Brett's young daughter, describes to Danner how she snuck into the party after Brett left her alone. She describes throwing a wig off the balcony, Brett heading up to confront Xavier, and Jenn 2's water breaking.
Danner accuses Brett of the murder, citing his violent tendencies and absence from the living room when everyone was distracted from Aniq waking up. Aniq protests because of the closet door being open in every story where someone was in Xavier's bedroom except his, meaning the murderer could have hidden in the closet beforehand instead of running upstairs when everyone was distracted. Danner agrees, because accusing Brett was false — Yasper is the murderer, sneaking upstairs while everyone thought he was in the recording studio, luring him upstairs with flickering lights and hiding in the closet before confronting and killing him while he was playing the video to distract everyone else. In the aftermath, Yasper took Xavier's phone to fake an alibi and delete the security footage.
Danner recommends that Aniq join the force and arrests Yasper just as the captain and Germain arrive. The remaining suspects make steps to reconciliation as Aniq and Zoë get breakfast.
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: As Zoe asks who the real killer was, Danner explains it was the person who was most upset at how their life had turned out note and the person who had the most outlandish story note . Aniq then lets out an 'Oh, no,' and turns to... Yasper, the desperate musician who surmised the night as a musical.
- Batman Gambit: Danner accuses a character of Xavier's murder and it actually seems to fit as they cannot offer a proper alibi for his whereabouts. Her accusations were in fact a ploy to get Aniq to recall both Brett going to leave around the time Xavier was murdered, exonerating him, and the fact that the closet door was open when he went to confront Xavier, meaning that the murderer hid in the room rather than snuck in.
- Jerkass Has a Point: As brutal and arrogant as he is, Xavier still makes two good points when Yasper is claiming he "stole" ideas for songs and his act. First, that it was Yasper who broke up the band in high school so he has no right to complain on how things haven't gone his way. Second, that going by a middle name is a broad idea and "Get This Party Started" is a common phrase, not something Yasper came up with himself and needs to be credited for it.
- Large Ham: Since Maggie is a child, all the adult actors are overacting in her flashback, with exaggerated facial expressions and gestures.
- Little "No": Aniq lets out a small "no" when he realizes that Yasper is the murderer.
- Muppet: Maggie's a kid and imagines some of the adults at the party (such as Walt and Ned) as muppets.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Yasper thought he covered his tracks faking a text from Xavier. But as Danner points out, Yasper had been texting Xavier for months without him ever responding, yet suddenly texts back this one time?
- Once More, with Clarity: We see once more events of the night only from the actual viewpoint to prove how Yasper was making things sound so much better, like how he was upset hearing "How Great Is This Party," not happy as he'd made it look before.
- Propping Up Their Patsy: In a variation, Yasper, having killed Xavier, comes to his best friend Aniq's defense when he becomes the prime suspect, aiding him in his investigation (while covering his tracks). Unlike most examples of such a prop-up, this is less the murderer's attempt to protect themselves, but more because Yasper genuinely does not want his friend to take the fall.
- The Reveal:
- It's revealed that it was Yasper who misrepresented the events of the night to fit his alibi and was, in fact, the one who murdered Xavier.
- The final loose ends are also tied up: Maggie tossed the wig over the balcony while playing, while Jenn 2's water broke and she rushed off to the hospital. It also explains the puddle that Danner slipped in when she first entered the mansion.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Yasper tries to flee the cops in the finale when he's ousted as the killer. It doesn't go so well.
- Secret Test of Character: Danner knows Yasper did it. She also knows his friend Aniq is also piecing the crime together and accuses Brett first to see if Aniq would object due to an inconsistency or go along with it (which would indicate that they were in cahoots, or that Aniq would prioritize protecting his friend over seeing justice done). He does the former, earning her trust and recommendation for a job in the force.
- Spanner in the Works:
- Maggie's presence ruined a key part of Yasper's alibi as he claimed to be in the recording booth. But Maggie had pushed all the buttons to high volume, so if Yasper was there, the initial blast of sound would have been heard by everyone. And Aniq saw the buttons still at that level when he was in the room.
- Indeed, Danner's entire presence was the spanner. Without her around, Yasper would have gotten away with this cleanly.
- Summation Gathering: Danner announces to all the suspects who the murderer is and how they did it. That it's unusual to tell all the suspects together as a group is lampshaded.
- Skewed Priorities: As he's being hauled away by Culp for murder, Yasper takes some time to try and advertise his music to a large group of reporters.
- Stealing the Credit: This was Yasper's final plan after killing Xavier, to steal his phone, find his notes on songs and then release them as his own.
