‘The Afterparty’ Recap: ‘Sebastian’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Jack Whitehall as Sebastian in Episode 205 of ‘The Afterparty’ – ‘Sebastian’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 205 of ‘The Afterparty’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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It is definitely safe to say, that season two of The Afterparty on Apple TV+ is doing something quite special. In that… it really is taking the show’s character development/exploration to outright new heights, through the various genres that the characters see their lives through. Since that is helping us learn so much about how the characters view themselves and feel about their lives. For instance, Travis’ Noir journey explored how out of touch he feels with the world, and Hannah’s explored her fascinating innocent view of the world and well… while this was present in season one, it’s just going deeper in season two, as evidenced by this week’s investigation. Since ‘Sebastian’ is a tale… that showcased how some men, or rather a lot of them… project an image and take part in machismo acts… to feel whole.
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Because we came to learn quickly in this tale, that Sebastian, was not the British gent we believed him to be. He was in fact, a kid from California that spent his youth hustling with his two idiot cousins to get by, and well… the more success he found… the more he changed himself and pushed himself to pull greater scams off. Which brought him to Edgar through one of the best cons of his young life, forging his way into a prep school. Wherein he met his match with Edgar and respected his no-nonsense approach to Sebastian’s way of life enough… to join him on every journey in life. Which went south when Edgar decided to fire him and that of course… helped us to learn how Sebastian, was not the killer we thought him to be. No instead, he was nothing more than a thief out for one last heist. 

Which at first, appeared to be the Crypto that Travis flagged. But in the end, it was just a misprinted baseball card that Edgar kept as leverage over his ability to outwit an old friend. And by getting it back and being the bigger and better man… Sebastian felt whole. For he outwitted his greatest foe and looked cool and macho doing it. Because he was a broken man, who had nothing to hold onto but his ego, and well… using the heist genre of storytelling, in the key of Ocean’s Eleven, spoke to that on a more global level since that made him seem so freakin’ cool and edgy, and really reflected the need for men like Sebastian, to project that kind of image to function and feel. And his journey also, ironically, helped fill in a lot of blanks about that night while still showcasing how small he was and how big he felt through the con and through bravado. 

All of which made for a fascinating story, one that was further enhanced… by the chaos the was brewing outside of the interview room. For the guests began to turn on one another in this tale to get answers and justice for Edgar, and that will undoubtedly lead to trouble down the line if not something ugly. Not to mention… there are more secrets to be had in this story. Making it clear that there is more to some of these stories than meets the eye. Likely a direct result of the escapist nature in which these guests have told their tale, and it will be interesting to see where those secrets take this story. But that aside, it really was quite incredible to see a crime themed comedy… go this deep with its characters and even explore toxic masculinity. Because you just don’t see that happen in this type of show.

But it speaks to the revolutionary nature of this series and the brilliance of its writing, and it leaves us hungry for more. To see how the others view themselves and how they use those views to cover up their flaws and their secrets and well… it would seem we are indeed in for some storytelling treats in the next couple of weeks. Since it would seem that the always happy-go-lucky Ulysses is one the radar as a suspect, and his story will let the talented John Cho shine and it would also seem… that Danner has some secrets of her own she needs to spill. Adding new dimension to her character as well, and that is going to make the wait for next week’s episode of this series quite difficult. Since we are hooked and eager to know who killed Edgar and we absolutely want to learn more about what makes these unique characters tick. Until next time.

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