The latest episode of The Afterparty Season 2 plays out like a dramatic ballad about a man’s love for a forbidden maiden. The show seems to be interested in acting out tropes but fails to entertain in any way in terms of being comical around those tropes. This episode revolves around Ulysses’ point of view and why he had to be a world traveler all this time. Considering he’s known as funcle or fun-uncle, you’d expect the episode to be a little more fun, but it’s still one of the better of the series. As we get closer to the end of the show, it seems more like the whole thing was an accident, but we’ll see if Sebastian is still our guy.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens In The Episode?
Ulysses’ story begins back when there was only little Zoe. He had been a dancer with the US Army, and during his time there, he saw a friend of his lose his foot. This completely shattered him and left him with PTSD. In the present day, Ulysses also offers everyone his special Danish babies (pancakes; no need to get worried), and Zoe reminds Aniq not to question her family. On the other hand, Aniq and Danner are certain they need to talk to them to learn more about the case and to make sure they have nothing to do with Edgar’s death. It’s always good to be certain, plus each person’s memories can give a new perspective on the investigation. Although Zoe is completely against her parents answering Aniq’s questions, she too gets suspicious of them when they tell her they’ve already decided not to participate in the investigation.
Ulysses tells Aniq about how Feng is his half-brother, and he essentially took him in after the traumatic incident he went through. During that time, Ulysses was completely depressed, and because Zoe would cry when he spoke, he called himself buncle, or bad uncle. After a while, to get him back to dancing, Feng suggested that he take part in a ballroom dance competition with Vivian as his partner. As one can expect, the intimate dancing and the discipline that Vivian shows Ulysses leave him infatuated with her. But in truth, Vivian also falls for Ulysses. They win the regionals, and during their world tours, they end up dancing on a beach. Vivian suggests a special lift for Ulysses, but he hates the idea. He thinks he’s still not ready to do anything like that. Vivian is sure he can, and she builds him up to do it. After the lift, they get extra excited and end up sharing a kiss.
At first, Vivian was apprehensive, but then she gave in to her feelings. For some time, they continued dancing together and enjoying their time at home when Feng wasn’t around. When Grace is born, Ulysses becomes his funcle self. Even in front of Feng, they start to act up, and on one anniversary, Ulysses ends up putting on the necklace Feng bought for Vivian, and that’s when they realize they shouldn’t be hurting Feng’s feelings anymore. They had already stopped dancing a long time ago, and now Ulysses, who had been happy for so long, has no choice but to let go of the little family he loved deeply. Feng also finds out about the affair and wants Ulysses to never show him his face again.
This is when his travel adventures began, but everywhere Ulysses went, he only saw Vivian. Ultimately, in Patagonia, Ulysses found his calling and began to make up his Apache quotes. After some time, Edgar came along and told Ulysses about Grace and his marriage. Ulysses tells Edgar that he can’t come because of personal reasons, but Edgar’s calculative mind is able to put the puzzle pieces together. Ulysses then told Edgar the full story, and the plan got under way.
Ulysses showed up at the wedding, and Feng got furious seeing him there. He then offered a drink to the table from his travel escapades, and that’s when Aniq ended up spitting it out straight on Vivian’s face, leading Ulysses to clean it up for her. They decide to meet outside, and thanks to Edgar, it comes to Ulysses’ attention that Grace may actually be his own daughter. At the meeting, Ulysses confronts Vivian, but she claims Grace is not his child. Feng appears then and wonders how Ulysses thought it was alright to show up there unannounced. Feng wants to make sure Ulysses doesn’t tell Grace that he’s her father. Ulysses promises he won’t say anything, but what if Edgar tells Grace?
Feng tells Ulysses that he’ll take care of Edgar, but he shouldn’t act up in the meantime. After this, Ulysses showed up at the first dance when Edgar left Grace on the dance floor to find Sebastian. This is when Ulysses stepped in and danced with Grace. What he noticed was that whatever dance move he made, Grace was able to match it immediately with equal grace and rhythm. This leads Ulysses to question once again if Grace is his daughter. He decided to call the remaining guests for an afterparty as a distraction to grab Grace’s glass for a DNA swab. He offers his half-brother a drink in the meantime, to Grace.
Ultimately, Ulysses is successful in his mission, and since there’s nothing more for Aniq and Danner to know, he leaves the room. That’s when Zoe comes in and shares the fact that she found the Instagram account of the man who was taking videos throughout the wedding. On the other hand, Aniq and Danner wonder if Feng may have poisoned Edgar with the shaved ice. The other problem right now is that Zoe doesn’t know anything about the affair, but Aniq does. Although it’s not his secret to tell, Aniq feels guilty for knowing the intimate truth about her family. Additionally, Zoe doesn’t like the idea that her parents aren’t willing to participate in the investigation.
Final Thoughts:
At the moment, we’ve been pushed away from Edgar’s mother’s case altogether. Maybe it’s a distraction, or maybe she truly didn’t have anything to do with Edgar’s death. With just three more episodes, it’s still hard to narrow down who the killer might be. Putting the facts together, Feng and Isabelle seem to be the most suspicious. If Hannah was lying because she’s so deeply in love with Grace, then maybe she could be the culprit as well. Additionally, Grace seems quite shady herself after we saw her hanging out with Hannah and telling her to hide something.
