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A major wedding party takes a downward spiral when the groom is murdered, and every guest becomes a suspect. Welcome to the second season the other party. Good news: The popular Apple TV+ crime comedy is heading up and delivering even more surprises in its second season, which finds Sam Richardson and Zoë Chao reprising their roles as Aniq and Zoë, respectively. It doesn’t take long before Aniq and Zoë lure Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) get back together for another head-scratching potion.
A slew of family members, star-crossed lovers, and business partners are top for questioning as each suspect tells his version of what happened on the wedding weekend. Each episode is told in a different genre, and this year’s cast is at its best.
There’s John Chu – one of the standouts – Paul Walter Hauser, Ken Jeong, Vivian Wu, Jack Whitehall in full Smarmy mode, the genius Zack Woods and the delightful Anna Kunkel (pen 15), and Elizabeth Perkins, well, Elizabeth Perkins at her best. Delightful Surprise: This season’s looks are fresh, funny, innovative and full of twists.
Who killed the party?
Created by Academy Award Winner Christopher Miller (Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse), the second season of the other party It returns with 10 episodes and a story that not only looked good on paper but was brilliantly executed.
Destination wedding events can be hit or miss in TV and movies. (Sorry George and Julia, Heaven ticket in shaky flight). Here, Miller takes Sam and Zoe to the wedding of Grace (Bobby Liu), Zoe’s sister, and nothing goes as planned. Edgar (Zach Woods), the groom, is a successful businessman with many quirks. For starters, he walks around with his pet lizard on his shoulder. There’s a lot of separation anxiety going on there and the guys never make it to their honeymoon – Edgar and the Lizard for that matter.
It doesn’t help that the mother, Isabel (played very wittily by Elizabeth Perkins) is a scathing consumer who’s never shy about speaking her mind. Edgar’s sister Hannah (Anna Kunkel) sounds sweet, but there’s just something there, too, and it’s fun to watch how the Hannah-themed episode plays out in the vein of Wes Anderson.
Zoe and Grace’s parents, Feng and Vivian (Ken Jeong and Vivian Wu), hold their cards close to their chests. Meanwhile, the sudden appearance of “Uncle” Ulysses (John Chu) at a sprawling dinner party reveals further tension in the family. Look for Sebastian Jack Whitehall, Edgar’s longtime friend and business partner, to chew the scenery at every turn, and Travis Ball’s Walter Hauser, who appears to have arrived out of nowhere, to generate more speculation.
In the second episode, once Haddish Danner Detective begins to have her way with this crew, it’s revealed that more than one person didn’t want Grace to come to the wedding. But is that enough to end the marriage? First murder, then mayhem.
Plot twists and other surprises
This season, Miller brought in Anthony King as a co-showrunner. King was a writer on the first season and clearly understands the tone of the show. The first season’s drama unfolded in one night, but this time, the palette has expanded. Everything happens over the weekend.
Fortunately, the writers — and the actors, for that matter — rarely stumble here. There were many points during the season where things could have really gone downhill, but even in some genre-specific episodes that aren’t necessarily all that enticing all around, there’s plenty to enjoy. Genres/episodes that really stand out: Konkle’s Wes Anderson-themed episode, which features a great plot twist, and there Bridgerton The atmosphere in one episode should please.
Other things to know: It’s been one year since Detective Danner solved the murder of pop star Xavier (Dave Franco), thereby clearing the names of former high school classmates Aniq and Zoë, who may be at a crossroads in their relationship here. We learn that Danner has left the San Francisco Police Department and wants to jumpstart her newfound fame and become a writer. The Danner-centric episode of Haddish is a hoot and is bound to elicit laughs. This is Tiffany Haddish, so this comedic powerhouse knows how to land a scene.
Red herrings and plot twists abound here. Zach Woods delivers a terrific turn as the doomed Edgar, and Poppy Liu and Anna Konkle deliver plenty to be irreplaceable in their respective and joint scenes. A terrific comedian, Sam Richardson manages to keep things going even when the joke is on his character, Aniq. The platonic chemistry between him and Haddish seems to be more subtle this time around.
Best of all, Elizabeth Perkins. It does more than just steal scenes; She energizes them so much that her presence sends this already fun frolic to even greater heights. In an age when many shows feel underwhelmed by their plots and ‘woke up’ enough that everything feels underwhelming in execution, the other party is one of those rare shows that keeps things light while still being fun. There’s no ambiguity here: This is the must-watch show.
the other party Season 2 debuted on Apple TV+ on July 7.
