Remember last week when I said I availed of a free week of Apple TV+ just so I could watch The Family Plan? Well, just because I didn’t plan to continue my subscription to the streaming service, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to squeeze as much as I could in the week that I had. So, I frantically browsed what other stuff Apple TV+ had to offer. Of course, since I wasn’t planning on keeping it, I looked for something that has already ended. This was so I didn’t feel compelled to actually subscribe to Apple TV+.

That’s when I saw the Afterparty. It had all the earmarks of something I would enjoy. One, each episode of its two seasons were less than an hour, making it bingeable. Second, it was a comedy, so it was light and easy to digest. And third and most importantly, it was a murder mystery show with a neat premise, which I’ll explain later. Anyway, I went and watched both seasons of the Afterparty in around four days and I have to ask: Why did Apple TV+ cancel this when it’s actually good?

Even though the Afterparty only ran for two seasons and it is still available on Apple TV+ for subscribers to see, I’m going to make this a SPOILER FREE review of the entire series. Some of you may not have seen it yet as I haven’t heard that much talk about it. Also, it’s a murder mystery! I’d be a jerk if I gave clues regarding who did it, right? So, yeah. SPOILER FREE review of both seasons of the Afterparty.

Each season of the Afterparty is its own murder mystery. Essentially, a murder has taken place in a specific location and Detective Danner, played by Tiffany Haddish, is brought in to investigate. Instead of just collecting clues and the like, she sits down with the possible suspects and let them tell their version of the events leading up to the discovery of the body. The hook is how the stories are told as these are flashbacks with different film motifs depending on the interviewee. For example, the high school bully will tell his version of the story but use action movie tropes or the aspiring music performer will recall the events but with a musical vibe to it, complete with song and dance numbers.

Before I breakdown my thoughts with each season, I do have to talk about the three cast members who are in both of them. I already mentioned Tiffany Haddish as Detective Danner and she does give a lot of personality to her character. She’s kind of like Columbo in the sense you may perceive her as somewhat incompetent with her lackadaisical method of interrogation. However, there is some wisdom in not trying to pressure her suspects. There’s also Aniq, played by Sam Richardson. Now, I really like Sam Richardson’s awkward mannerism in general. It’s almost a copy of his performance in Werewolves Within and, well, the other roles he’s done. Still, it’s very endearing and I can’t help but root for him.

The last recurring character is Zoe, played by Zoe Chao. Unfortunately, she’s pretty much my least liked character among the three. But that just might be because of the writing. Tiffany Haddish and Sam Richardson’s characters definitely have more to do. And while Zoe gets more time to shine in the second season, it just feels like she’s just tagging along and she doesn’t really contribute that much to the investigations.

The first season of the Afterparty takes place in a swanky mansion where the murder of music sensation Xavier has taken place. All the suspects have gathered here to continue the celebration of their high school reunion. All the suspects here are basically stereotypes you’ve seen in other comedy flicks involving high school reunions, which is probably why I found this more relatable than the second season, which takes place the day after the reception of a wedding.

The first season also has better movie tropes than the second, as they’re much simpler to understand. I already mentioned that the first season spoofed action films and musicals. However, they also did other fun tropes like a psychological thriller and a teen comedy. The second season tried to be a little more, shall we say, “intellectual” at times, employing film styles like a heist, found footage and renaissance period romance. It just feels a little too specific at times instead of the broader and more generic film genres in the first season. They’re not bad but some, especially those who have no idea of the more niche genres like renaissance period romance, feel too nuance for a broad audience.

As this is a murder mystery series, I also have to talk about how solvable each of them are. Once again, the first season bests the second season in this aspect since I do think the clues are better set up. Sure, there may be a clue or two you might overlook but, all-in-all, if you were really paying attention to the minute details of each story, you will be able to find the contradictions and figure out who’s lying. The second season, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have that going for it as there is some misdirection involved. Like I said, this is a SPOILER FREE review so I can’t really dive into what I mean by that.

While I did enjoy the first season of the Afterparty much more than the second, both seasons are still very entertaining. Tiffany Haddish and Sam Richardson seem like they’re having fun with their roles and the general premise of each suspect taking a different film genre can be a blast to watch as you don’t really know what kind of episode you’re going to get. It’s actually a shame, Apple TV+. Perhaps if you greenlit a third season, I may have had some second thoughts about actually subscribing. But since you didn’t and I’m not willing to be locked down on a plan just to watch Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I’m going to say “thanks for the free week.”

Have you seen the Afterparty? What did you think of it? Better question: if you have an Apple TV+ subscription, what’s a good show or movie that’s on there? Let me know in the comments section below!