The Afterparty: Episode 7: Danner
February 24, 2022 6:51 PM - Season 1, Episode 7 - Subscribe
In a departure from the rest of the show so far, we spend most of the episode flashing back to Danner's earlier career on the force and another murder case that somehow gives her insight into solving this crime....
On the one hand, tour de force for Tiffany Haddish, who slaps. I'm usually not sure what to make of her in acting (is she going with dumb? smart? kinda smart?) in what I've seen her in, and this is kind of a mix of all of the above. She has random asides about the egg cooker and whatnot, but she does "mad dog" about solving the crime, while ignoring her dumbass partner.
On the other hand, this kind of breaks the format of the series, since the actual party isn't at all involved in this one. I suck at solving crimes (see "Murderville" thread) so hell if I know what's going on, but I confess I'm a bit stumped as to how this flashback helps her solve the case and how the kid is involved.
I'm also disappointed that there's not going to be a "The Jennifers" episode like I was expecting :P
On the one hand, tour de force for Tiffany Haddish, who slaps. I'm usually not sure what to make of her in acting (is she going with dumb? smart? kinda smart?) in what I've seen her in, and this is kind of a mix of all of the above. She has random asides about the egg cooker and whatnot, but she does "mad dog" about solving the crime, while ignoring her dumbass partner.
On the other hand, this kind of breaks the format of the series, since the actual party isn't at all involved in this one. I suck at solving crimes (see "Murderville" thread) so hell if I know what's going on, but I confess I'm a bit stumped as to how this flashback helps her solve the case and how the kid is involved.
I'm also disappointed that there's not going to be a "The Jennifers" episode like I was expecting :P
I feel the same, drfu. I didn't realize Fred either since he wasn't sounding like his ah, old self, I guess.
I am also too dumb to figure out mysteries and it makes me sad.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:15 PM on February 24, 2022
I am also too dumb to figure out mysteries and it makes me sad.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:15 PM on February 24, 2022
Here's what we learned.
Aniq says to Zoe: "You and Chelsea were on the stairs, you would have seen someone go up before me."
Of the murdering producer case, Culp says: "You think the TV producer dressed up as a woman and acted like a package thief to kill his wife? To do that he would have needed her to open the door at the exact same moment that he was about to steal the package."
Then Danner looks at the open door to the studio and says: " It does make sense. That's it!" then a few beats later, "We just need to tie up a few loose ends, like the wig and Jennifer 2."
And then Maggie, which is also the name of the finale. So what about an open door and Maggie led Danner to crack the case? Don't know, but I may rewatch the series over the weekend to focus on those clues. Could someone in a wig gone up the stairs and hid in the bedroom studio? We know Yasper was there, anyone else? Walt has the ability to move among this group without anyone noticing. And the wig rings a bell, did Indigo wear one? Where the fuck is Jennifer 2?
That's all I got.
posted by Stanczyk at 6:16 AM on February 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
Aniq says to Zoe: "You and Chelsea were on the stairs, you would have seen someone go up before me."
Of the murdering producer case, Culp says: "You think the TV producer dressed up as a woman and acted like a package thief to kill his wife? To do that he would have needed her to open the door at the exact same moment that he was about to steal the package."
Then Danner looks at the open door to the studio and says: " It does make sense. That's it!" then a few beats later, "We just need to tie up a few loose ends, like the wig and Jennifer 2."
And then Maggie, which is also the name of the finale. So what about an open door and Maggie led Danner to crack the case? Don't know, but I may rewatch the series over the weekend to focus on those clues. Could someone in a wig gone up the stairs and hid in the bedroom studio? We know Yasper was there, anyone else? Walt has the ability to move among this group without anyone noticing. And the wig rings a bell, did Indigo wear one? Where the fuck is Jennifer 2?
That's all I got.
posted by Stanczyk at 6:16 AM on February 25, 2022 [3 favorites]
To do that he would have needed her to open the door at the exact same moment that he was about to steal the package."
He could have literally knocked on the door and timed it that way?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:09 AM on February 25, 2022
He could have literally knocked on the door and timed it that way?
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:09 AM on February 25, 2022
He could have literally knocked on the door and timed it that way?
That would have also been caught by the camera.
posted by Stanczyk at 10:27 AM on February 25, 2022
That would have also been caught by the camera.
posted by Stanczyk at 10:27 AM on February 25, 2022
Holy crap these "NOT THE" Easter eggs/clues found by Redditors all flew completely past me. Check out the bulletin board behind Danner in this screenshot and be prepared to watch the whole series again.
posted by bcwinters at 7:46 PM on February 25, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by bcwinters at 7:46 PM on February 25, 2022 [4 favorites]
It sure sounds like it's going to be someone who was waiting behind that mirror[ed closet door?] in the bedroom the whole party (all those shots of other POV characters looking in that mirror!), waiting for the right moment to do it and be able to frame someone else.
(Is Jennifer 2 still behind that mirror? The only problem with her being the culprit is that we've seen so little of her that it might not be narratively satisfying.)
(This episode, I thought, was maybe also separately hinting at Zoë being the culprit, the extra interest in getting one of those headphones in her ear, the assurance to Aniq at the end that she knows he's innocent, but maybe that's a misdirect.)
In any case, Maggie can report on comings and goings from her perch in the car, I guess. Jennifer 1's insistence that Jennifer 2 is no good in the outdoors is another shoe that hasn't dropped yet. (That seemed too peculiar to be merely a standalone joke, right?)
posted by nobody at 7:52 PM on February 25, 2022
(Is Jennifer 2 still behind that mirror? The only problem with her being the culprit is that we've seen so little of her that it might not be narratively satisfying.)
(This episode, I thought, was maybe also separately hinting at Zoë being the culprit, the extra interest in getting one of those headphones in her ear, the assurance to Aniq at the end that she knows he's innocent, but maybe that's a misdirect.)
In any case, Maggie can report on comings and goings from her perch in the car, I guess. Jennifer 1's insistence that Jennifer 2 is no good in the outdoors is another shoe that hasn't dropped yet. (That seemed too peculiar to be merely a standalone joke, right?)
posted by nobody at 7:52 PM on February 25, 2022
Could someone in a wig gone up the stairs and hid in the bedroom studio?
The wig was from one of Xavier's movie roles, right? At some point when we thought we were tracking Xavier's movements were we actually seeing another character in disguise? Could Xavier have died earlier than everyone thinks?
It sure sounds like it's going to be someone who was waiting behind that mirror[ed closet door?] in the bedroom the whole party (all those shots of other POV characters looking in that mirror!), waiting for the right moment to do it and be able to frame someone else.
This was my theory a few weeks back, too, so I went back and looked for scenes involving the mirrored closet door before this week's episode. I can't say I was completely exhaustive but I'm pretty sure that every time we see the door it's closed (Brett, Chelsea and cartoon-Zoe all look in the mirror), except for in Aniq's flashback. So theoretically the killer was in the closet until just before Aniq came into the bedroom. Since it appears no one came down the stairs after that time (they would have been seen by at least Zoe and Chelsea, who were by the stairs) the killer was either still upstairs or they came back down a different way.
Didn't Yasper come into the main living space from the balcony in one flashback, but from the studio/house interior in his own flashback? Did Yasper actually climb down from the bedroom balcony to the first floor balcony and lie to the police about it?
posted by bcwinters at 8:26 PM on February 25, 2022 [4 favorites]
The wig was from one of Xavier's movie roles, right? At some point when we thought we were tracking Xavier's movements were we actually seeing another character in disguise? Could Xavier have died earlier than everyone thinks?
It sure sounds like it's going to be someone who was waiting behind that mirror[ed closet door?] in the bedroom the whole party (all those shots of other POV characters looking in that mirror!), waiting for the right moment to do it and be able to frame someone else.
This was my theory a few weeks back, too, so I went back and looked for scenes involving the mirrored closet door before this week's episode. I can't say I was completely exhaustive but I'm pretty sure that every time we see the door it's closed (Brett, Chelsea and cartoon-Zoe all look in the mirror), except for in Aniq's flashback. So theoretically the killer was in the closet until just before Aniq came into the bedroom. Since it appears no one came down the stairs after that time (they would have been seen by at least Zoe and Chelsea, who were by the stairs) the killer was either still upstairs or they came back down a different way.
Didn't Yasper come into the main living space from the balcony in one flashback, but from the studio/house interior in his own flashback? Did Yasper actually climb down from the bedroom balcony to the first floor balcony and lie to the police about it?
posted by bcwinters at 8:26 PM on February 25, 2022 [4 favorites]
Check out the bulletin board behind Danner in this screenshot and be prepared to watch the whole series again.
I feel dumb but with the resolution on that screenshot, I can't tell what's supposed to be revelatory here. Would someone enlighten me?
posted by lazaruslong at 2:28 AM on February 26, 2022
I feel dumb but with the resolution on that screenshot, I can't tell what's supposed to be revelatory here. Would someone enlighten me?
posted by lazaruslong at 2:28 AM on February 26, 2022
Don’t look at the stuff posted on the bulletin board. Look at the spaces between.
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:40 AM on February 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by DoctorFedora at 4:40 AM on February 26, 2022 [2 favorites]
THANK YOU
posted by lazaruslong at 4:41 AM on February 26, 2022
posted by lazaruslong at 4:41 AM on February 26, 2022
That bulletin board looks more like a vision board than anything you'd find in a police station.
posted by Stanczyk at 7:24 AM on February 26, 2022
posted by Stanczyk at 7:24 AM on February 26, 2022
A Redditor has compiled some pretty solid evidence re: the closet door and Yasper's movements.
That bulletin board looks more like a vision board than anything you'd find in a police station.
Eh, it's not like the rest of the policing in this show is succeeding at verisimilitude.
posted by bcwinters at 8:41 AM on February 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
That bulletin board looks more like a vision board than anything you'd find in a police station.
Eh, it's not like the rest of the policing in this show is succeeding at verisimilitude.
posted by bcwinters at 8:41 AM on February 26, 2022 [1 favorite]
Probably luckily for me, reddit links are not playing well with my adblocker setup. I don't want whatever reddit level of obsession is probably going on over there!
I am upset that there is no episode for Jen 1. I don't know if that means she didn't do it, but I at least wanted to see her take!
So... something about a door and a wig and Jen 2. I'm not sure if it's the panic room door, or a door near the murder scene, but okay. People have definitely been inconsistent about where they were and where they came from. A wig implies someone disguised as someone else. I guess Chelsea and Zoe were 'supposed' to be in X's room, so we could have maybe Indigo or Yasper in a wig? Definitely not Aniq.
I could deal with Yasper as the murderer. Especially if he gets to monologue about it.
Maybe Walt in a wig? Also slim and pale.
I just don't get what's important about a disguise if you're presumably hiding behind a door. Or what Jen 2 has to do with anything. It has also ONLY NOW occurred to me that we can't trust that anyone was texting who they thought they were texting. Like Yasper and X.
Maybe Jen 2 was texting Yasper to get him to go upstairs and maybe... play that high school song just as she murdered X? teamwork?
I think I just need to watch and see. I, too, definitely feel dum, frens. But I'm having fun, and isn't that what murder is all about?
posted by Acari at 6:21 PM on February 26, 2022
I am upset that there is no episode for Jen 1. I don't know if that means she didn't do it, but I at least wanted to see her take!
So... something about a door and a wig and Jen 2. I'm not sure if it's the panic room door, or a door near the murder scene, but okay. People have definitely been inconsistent about where they were and where they came from. A wig implies someone disguised as someone else. I guess Chelsea and Zoe were 'supposed' to be in X's room, so we could have maybe Indigo or Yasper in a wig? Definitely not Aniq.
I could deal with Yasper as the murderer. Especially if he gets to monologue about it.
Maybe Walt in a wig? Also slim and pale.
I just don't get what's important about a disguise if you're presumably hiding behind a door. Or what Jen 2 has to do with anything. It has also ONLY NOW occurred to me that we can't trust that anyone was texting who they thought they were texting. Like Yasper and X.
Maybe Jen 2 was texting Yasper to get him to go upstairs and maybe... play that high school song just as she murdered X? teamwork?
I think I just need to watch and see. I, too, definitely feel dum, frens. But I'm having fun, and isn't that what murder is all about?
posted by Acari at 6:21 PM on February 26, 2022
I am also disappointed at no Jen1 (or "The Jennifers") episode! You cast Tiya Sircar, for fuck's sake.
My mind is FREAKING BLOWN by all those Reddit secret codes. I am boggled as to how anyone figures out the presidents thing or the yearbook thing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:22 PM on February 26, 2022
My mind is FREAKING BLOWN by all those Reddit secret codes. I am boggled as to how anyone figures out the presidents thing or the yearbook thing.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:22 PM on February 26, 2022
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Drove me crazy that I couldn’t tell who he was.
I feel that this show has provided me all the clues to understand how Danner has solved it, but I’m too dum to figure it out.
So dumb I can’t even spell it with a ‘b’.
posted by drfu at 10:10 PM on February 24, 2022