The Afterparty: Isabel

August 30, 2023 10:46 PM - Season 2, Episode 9

What is Isabel at the core, but the protagonist of a melodramatic psychological thriller from the mid-20th century? Cue the spooky soundtrack...
posted by not_on_display (16 comments total)

The Hitchcock cameo was delightfully on-the-nose, and I enjoyed the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it return address on the box of napkins being from Dial P for Party
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:28 AM on August 31, 2023 [8 favorites]

I’m convinced that Feng got some of the speed pills given what he said about being up all night thinking of business ideas, and Ulysses seemed to be the cause of that (did the brothers try to poison each other and Edgar got caught in the crossfire?)

Also the step over the hedge was some of the best physical comedy I’ve seen since The Nice Guys
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:30 AM on August 31, 2023 [9 favorites]

I am 100% rewatching Vertigo this weekend because of this delightful episode
posted by dis_integration at 11:47 AM on August 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Also the step over the hedge was some of the best physical comedy I’ve seen since The Nice Guys

I lost it when they zoomed out and the hedge was just a few feet long, with plenty of room to walk around it. Incredible stuff folks!
posted by dis_integration at 11:49 AM on August 31, 2023 [4 favorites]

Loved this but also gotta say, how are you going to do a Hitchcock homage and not have a scene where Elizabeth Perkins's hair gets all mussed up?

Also

HELL YEAH MARTIN MULL IS IN THE HOUSE

LET US IN LET US IN
LET US OUT LET US OUT
posted by thecaddy at 6:59 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

Yes, Feng got the speed pills. In her episode, Grace dosed Edgar's scotch with Adderall to get him to stay up later. In Feng's episode, he put his scotch glass down next to Edgar's and took Edgar's. So Feng got Edgar's Adderall, but we don't know what (if anything) had been placed in Feng's drink.

Travis has been VERY OBVIOUS about drinking the Devil's Trumpet tea and stating that it proves the timeline because he started hallucinating 15 minutes later. I think Travis made a tea with nothing in it so that he could make people think that the poisoning happened 15 minutes before Edgar's hallucinations. I think Travis poisoned Edgar earlier than that. And I think we'll find out when he tries to kill Sebastian. (It wouldn't even surprise me if it turns out Travis is pretending to be more of an idiot than he is.)

I also think that Sebastian has something else going on because of his "become the house" line in this episode, and there will be a reveal about that, too.
posted by rednikki at 11:33 AM on September 1, 2023

Oh, but there's also when Grace said to Hannah, "But I didn't tell them everything." There's another reveal coming there, too.
posted by rednikki at 11:33 AM on September 1, 2023

I'm feeling it might be worth doing a complete rewatch before the final episode. And it wouldn't be a chore, because every episode this season has been delightful. It's so good, and I hope the writers strike gets resolved soon so they can make more.

Series creator Christopher Miller has been tweeting out movie posters for every episode. Aniq 2: The Sequel, Grace, Travis, Hannah, Sebastian, Danner's Fire, Ulysses, Mr. Feng, and Isabel.
posted by WhackyparseThis at 5:16 AM on September 2, 2023 [2 favorites]

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, as Isabel starts jumping up and down in a fancy dress on a trampoline...

I liked this one. Edgar was gaslighting his own mother?! Dude deserved to die!
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:22 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Was he, though?
I think you might be misinterpreting things. Try to get some rest and reconsider in the morning.
I've got these sleeping pills to help you. It must be so awful to not be thinking straight!
posted by Acari at 8:58 AM on September 2, 2023 [5 favorites]

But really, how are we this close to the end already? I kind of want Sebastian and Hannah (she's adopted) to have teamed up to do the murder. I can buy the theories about the brothers poisoning each other, and I don't have any reason to suspect this particular team, but...
posted by Acari at 9:05 AM on September 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

But, somehow these pills aren't making me sleepy!!!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:38 AM on September 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

I wonder if the music choices are anything? The funcle episode felt deliberately 90s in its music choices. And then, I totally failed to recognize the lyrics to MMMBop.

I appreciated the Jack Handey reference: "When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep - not screaming, like the passengers in his car."


> HELL YEAH MARTIN MULL IS IN THE HOUSE

Ahhhh it’s Gene Parmesan!
posted by Pronoiac at 1:02 AM on September 3, 2023 [5 favorites]

Elizabeth Perkins was so funny! She completely committed to the drama and played it 110% straight, which made it amazing.

"mmmBop."
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 5:21 AM on September 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

Okay, I just went through the posters...and there may be more clues here.

Grace's poster says, "An unexpected love." Which, duh, isn't Edgar, it's Hannah.

Travis's says, "Obsession is his alibi." But he seems a bit obsessed WITH his alibi, if you ask me.

Feng's says, "The Proof is In the Bing." What if that's a clue?

Or maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there. (Like Isabel?)
posted by rednikki at 12:14 PM on September 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Aniq 2: Murder is so... awkward
posted by not_on_display at 10:00 PM on September 3, 2023