Trivia / The Afterparty

• Acting for Two: Due to her character's testimony depicting each aspect of her identity as its own distinct entity, Zoë Chao spends most of episode 6 having conversations with herself.
• Acting in the Dark:
  • Neither Zoë Chao nor Ike Barinholtz were told about the hidden cipher created by the semaphore code included in the photo montage depicting their characters' marriage. Both were understandably very confused by all the strange and specific poses they were made to do for each photo.
  • Zoë Chao also wasn't told the reason behind shooting a photo of her wearing Xavier's blonde wig until after the final episode had aired, and was similarly very confused by having to do it.
• Actor Allusion:
  • A creator based example. The first episode mentions an in-universe movie based on Hungry Hungry Hippos. Given Phil Lord & Christopher Miller’s history of films such as The LEGO Movie, a movie based on such a property isn’t far outside their wheelhouse.
  • Yasper's inability to think of names on the spot (genuinely guessing that Walt's name is Slamps) calls to mind the various people Ben Schwartz played in Jake and Amir, e.g. Charles Crooshtoost and Jope.
• Actor-Inspired Element: Many subtle hints incorporated into the killer's body language to imply their guilt were suggested by their actor while the scenes that included them were being shot.
• Adored by the Network: Apparently, Apple TV+ was so impressed by the show, they ordered a second season before the first even premiered (The announcement was withheld until the end of the season).
• All-Star Cast: The cast is headlined by Tiffany Haddish, Dave Franco, Sam Richardson, Ike Barinholtz, Ben Schwartz and Ilana Glazer. Episode 7 also features guest appearances by Reid Scott and Fred Savage.
  • Season 2 also boasts an impressive cast, with Ken Jeong, John Cho, Vivian Wu, Poppy Liu, Zach Woods, Elizabeth Perkins, Jack Whitehall, Anna Konkle, and Paul Walter Hauser. The final episode also features cameos from Keke Palmer, Elijah Wood, Jaleel White, and Gemma Chan.
• Breaking Old Trends: In the past, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller have typically directed as a duo. This series sees just Miller creating and directing solo, while Lord remains involved as a writer and executive producer.
• Cast the Expert:
  • Magician and puzzle creator David Kwong was hired as a consultant to help create the various ciphers hidden throughout the show.
  • Music producer Stelios Phili was hired to create all of Xavier's songs in order to make them sound authentic.
• The Cast Showoff:
  • Ben Schwartz really lets his singing abilities shine in episode 3. In the same episode, Kelvin Yu gets to show off his breakdancing skills.
  • While not as prominent and mostly shown in viral marketing, Xavier’s songs present a decent argument for Dave Franco to have his own music career.
  • Zoë Chao gets to show off her voice while singing "If I Could Turn Back Time" at karaoke.
• Corpsing: Take a close look at Aniq and Xavier's faces during their Wimp Fight in episode 5 and you'll notice them both fighting off smiles at various points. This makes sense when you take into account that their actors improvised the fight on the spot.
• Creator Backlash: Downplayed, but series creator Christopher Miller has stated that he regrets including an early cipher that removed Zoe as a suspect, as he realized after the first season was released that she was one of the most popular guesses for the killer's identity.
• The Danza:
  • Zoe is played by Zoë Chao.
  • In the second season, Vivian is played by Vivian Wu.
• Dawson Casting: Used for humor in episode 5, which flashes back to the characters in high school. No time shifted actors are used, with only period-appropriate haircuts and clothing used to indicate that the then-30-and-40-something actors are high schoolers in 2006.
• Development Hell: The project was in development as far back as the production for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs when Miller reportedly wrote the script on his own, intending for it to be a film. The film was picked up by Sony in 2013 under the title The Reunion but was never put into production due to Lord and Miller’s schedules. Flash forward nine years and the script finally sees life when it is expanded and redeveloped into a TV series.
• Dueling Works:
  • A mild case but a few months before the debut of this series, Hulu released Only Murders in the Building another comedic murder mystery series with a cast of well-regarded comedians.
    • In fact, this will occur again in 2023 when Season 2 of this series and Season 3 of Only Murders in the Building will release a month apart from each other, with the latter beginning streaming a month after the former ends.
  • Downplayed, given the relationship between fans of both properties, but the series premiered the same year as Glass Onion, another streaming murder mystery property.
• Enforced Method Acting: As noted under Funny Background Event on the main page, During the "Two Shots" musical number in episode 3, Walt (Jamie Demetriou) can be seen moving slightly out of sync with the rest of the background dancers and generally looking confused about what he's supposed to be doing. According to Christopher Miller, this was achieved by rehearsing without Demetriou and then bringing him in to learn the dance just before the sequence was filmed.
• Fake American:
  • Walt is played by the British Jamie Demetriou.
  • Sebastian is an American played by a British actor Jack Whitehall.
• Harpo Does Something Funny:
  • Almost all of Walt's dialogue was improvised by his actor Jamie Demetriou.
  • The "choreography" for Aniq and Xavier's Wimp Fight in episode 5 was completely improvised by their actors, with the only direction they were given being that they had to make it look like they had no idea what they were doing.
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Poppy Liu was six months pregnant while filming and occasionally needed a body double when wearing form-fitting costumes.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Walt is depicted as a shaky singer with a nonexistent stage presence but is played by Jamie Demetriou, who possesses a phenomenal natural singing voice.
  • The seemingly British Sebastian is revealed to be a Fauxreigner who's actually American. His actor, Jack Whitehall, is actually British.
• Life Imitates Art:
  • In order to maintain the impact of The Reveal, Ben Schwartz did not tell anyone that his character was the murderer, including his agent, parents and girlfriend. By his own admission, he effectively spent a year lying to the people closest to him about his involvement in the murder for the sake of keeping up appearances, essentially mimicking what he had to do throughout his performance as Yasper.
  • Fast Company actually published a profile on Edgar's romantic and career prospects after the show mentioned his status in the magazine as Silicon Valley's Most Eligible Bachelor in "Grace".
• Playing Against Type: Ilana Glazer is most famous for playing wild Hard-Drinking Party Girls, but here plays a self-hating Broken Bird whose alcoholism is done in response to all of the betrayal and heartbreak she's experienced in her life.
• Playing with Character Type:
  • Dave Franco primarily plays preening Pretty Boy Jerkasses of a similar breed to Xavier. Unlike his usual roles, however, Xavier's constant posturing and self-promotion are distinctly portrayed as being a product of his insecurities about having once been a loser, which Franco consistently incorporates into his performance.
  • Similarly, Ike Barinholtz is most well-known for playing loud, overconfident idiots. While Brett fits that description to a tee, he is also someone whose adult life is in shambles as a direct result of his many flaws and ultimately ends the series showing the maturity needed to take responsibility for his marriage failing and move on with his life.
  • Initially, Yasper is the same type of character that Ben Schwartz usually plays, being energetic, enthusiastic, and likable. Yasper is a more realistic example of this character, as his eccentric antics land him as an AV guy desperate for fame, even so desperate as to commit murder.
  • Zach Woods as Edgar seems to be another mild-mannered, awkward, and competent executive. However, season 2 reveals that he's actually petty, manipulative, and vindictive under the guise of peculiarity and a lack of social skills, which is a far cry from his usual roles who are mostly well-intentioned.
  • Ken Jeong's character initially seems to be a comedic jerk a la Senor Chang and Leslie Chow, as he initially comes across as comically shameless and almost pathetic in his attempts to salvage his struggling business. However he is soon revealed to be a much more serious character as a man who genuinely loves his wife, and will do anything to prove his love for her.
• Production Posse: A number of Phil Lord & Chris Miller’s past collaborators from their past works, particularly the Jump Street films and The Lego Movie franchise, are involved with the series, as well as Daniel Pemberton, the composer for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor:
  • Chelsea offhandedly reveals herself to have been in relationships with both men and women and is played by Ilana Glazer, who identifies as queer.
  • It's revealed that Grace had an affair with Hannah in the month leading up to her marriage to Edgar, making her canonically queer like her actress Poppy Liu.
• Refitted for Sequel: Many proposed genre parodies that went unused in season 1 were refitted into the script for season 2.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Maggie's actress Everly Carganilla perfectly resembles a combination of her onscreen parents Zoë Chao and Ike Barinholtz.
• Those Two Actors: Ike Barinholtz and Tiffany Haddish reunite after starring in Barinholtiz's directorial debut, the 2018 black comedy film, The Oath. They would actually work together again later in 2022 in the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
• Throw It In!: Vaughn's rant about network time slots in episode 7 was improvised by Fred Savage on the spot and based on his own opinions on the subject.
  • Since Aniq and Xavier's Wimp Fight at the St. Patrick's Day party was improvised on the day of filming, Yasper's lines from the sideline in attempts to break it up were improvised by Ben Schwartz.
• Trolling Creator:
  • Christopher Miller admitted in a Vanity Fair article that the widely discussed screenshot of Zoe leaked on the show's social media was a misdirect meant to lead fans off the trail.
  • On a similar note, Walt conspicuously being the only character to not use an iPhone was a deliberate subversion of Rian Johnson's infamous claim that all Apple-produced media have a mandate stating that only villains are allowed to be shown using non-Apple products.
  • The first episode originally included an insert shot showing that Zoe was doodling on a napkin to relieve stress about the murder that just happened. Chris Miller decided to remove this shot in the final cut of the episode in order to make it ambiguous as to what Zoe was writing on the napkin, in the process making her seem more suspicious.
• Viral Marketing:
  • Sony has created a real website for the fictional Xavier complete with fake merch and a link to his real music recorded in character by Dave Franco.
  • How was season two announced? Through a rather bizarre recipe.
  • A TikTok video allowing users to duet with Xavier on his song "Do Wet" was released to promote the series.
  • A website for Grace and Edgar's wedding was put up to promote Season 2. It also works as an ARG, with many clues the viewers need to solve based on details from the episodes.
• What Could Have Been:
  • As mentioned under Development Hell above, the series was originally intended to be a film titled The Reunion.
  • The series' Genre Roulette format wasn't conceived until a ways into its early development.
  • The characterization of most of the cast changed significantly between the original movie script and the final product. In particular, the character of Aniq was rewritten with Sam Richardson in mind after Chris Miller became a fan of his from watching his work in Detroiters and Veep.
  • The flashback to Danner's past was not present at all in the original film script.
  • The first season was originally planned to be ten episodes long rather than eight. Among the things that were removed when its length was cut down was a testimony from Ned, said to be done in the style of a raunchy sex comedy in the vein of an Adam Sandler movie. Ned's testimony was to follow Indigo's, but was cut and replaced by Aniq's more straightforward testimony after it was deemed too much to begin the series with two of the most out there Genre Shifts.
  • It was originally going to be revealed that the message Aniq received from Zoe hoping to see him at the reunion was a group text she had sent to their entire graduating class as a courtesy, which would make him have doubts about his chances with her. This was removed after it caused test audiences to think that Zoe really wasn't interested in Aniq.
  • There was some discussion of ending the first season with a musical number showing Yasper thriving in prison, akin to the "Jailhouse Rock" sequence at the end of The Blues Brothers, but it sadly never went anywhere.
• Word of God:
  • The Alphabetical Theme Naming of the cast was done as a convenience for the writing staff; since the plot of the series is a complicated mystery, being able to refer to each character by a single letter made constructing the story easier.
  • Xavier does most of his songwriting, good and bad, while on the toilet.
  • After having his Stanford scholarship revoked for the incident at the St. Patrick's Day party, Aniq took a year off from school, did community service, and then attended a different, less expensive college before going on to have a career as a successful escape room designer. He does not have a criminal record, as his high school arrest was given some leniency due him being a minor at the time and it being his first offense.
  • Yasper was most likely the one who alerted the media about Xavier's death by humble-brag tweeting about being present when it happened shortly afterward.

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