‘The Afterparty’ Recap: ‘Travis’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Paul Walter Hauser and Anna Konkle as Travis and Hannah in Episode 203 of ‘The Afterparty’ – ‘Travis’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 203 of ‘The Afterparty’. To revisit the Season Two Premiere, 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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There are a great many reasons to love the Apple TV+ series, The Afterparty. For it oft features top notch comedians and top-notch acting, which leads to top-notch comedy. Plus, it offers up a compelling mystery. One that we genuinely find ourselves immersed within since there are no immediate clues regarding who committed the crime in question, and that leads to quite the satisfying finale when it all comes together. But above all, what we truly love about this series… is its creativity. For there is no other show out there that explores crime and the experiences of those who have witnessed it in some capacity, in the manner that this one does. Which is… through the lens of various film genres. 
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For that allows for incredible explorations to take place, the kind that educate the audience on genres they might know nothing about, alongside satire and unique laughs and well, that aspect of the show is top of mind today, simply because the next episode in this saga offered upon one of its best homages to date. For ‘Travis’ is a story that saw Travis sit down with Danner and Aniq to discuss what he learned on the fateful night that Edgar died, and that… brought forth a grand exploration regarding the majesty and the outdated tropes present within Film Noir. For Travis painted himself as nothing short of a Mickey Spillane type gumshoe, one that was tough as nails and had the fine services of his mother at his fingertips and well… his journey truly did remind us why we love this series so. 

Because this was… a perfect homage to the genre, complete with the old 1:33.1 ratio that they used back in the day, and of course… Travis was all about that Noir slang, and the process that a gumshoe might go through and that led to some serious laughs for certain. The kind generated by simplicity, such as having the keyboard on Travis’ new iMac click and clack akin to a typewriter, to ones that were boisterous and amazing. Courtesy of the fish out water manner that Travis approached this ‘case’, and how that got him in hot water often. But it also… advanced the case beautifully. Since we did come to learn that Travis was able to discover that Edgar was starting up his own cryptocurrency and may have resorted to some illegal activities to build it up and that could serve as something worth looking into down the line. After of course… Danner and Aniq explore one juicy suspect.

For homages and tributes aside, there were some fascinating clues revealed in this tale, specifically tied to Hannah. For she spent time planning with Travis to bust up the wedding, making it seem as though she had reason to go after Edgar for reasons unknown. Not to mention, Zoë and Grace came to discover… that the cufflink in Edgar’s coat was in fact, a typewriter key and Hannah… collected them and it turned out… that one of her typewriters was indeed missing that key. But of course, one needs more to go on than just a missing G key, and well, a quick escape from Hannah’s abode when she nearly caught Grace and Zoë snooping around… revealed that the murder weapon, may have been organic. Since Hannah’s Garden is home to a bevy of unique and dangerous plants. One of which was part of the centerpieces she set up, and it causes the kind of behavior that Edgar exhibited right before he died. Making Hannah a prime suspect.

Which of course begs the question… as to whether or not she did it, and likely… she is our next person of interest in this case. But speculation aside, this really was an amazing episode that really paid incredible tribute to the Noir style of filmmaking, and this episode deserves a round of applause for showcasing its best aspects and it’s not-so-great aspects, such as its wanton misogyny. And this episode also deserves a tip of the fedora, for using Noir to really showcase Travis’ character in a fascinating light. Since in many ways, using a genre that is far removed from popularity to help us learn more about this character, was the perfect way to showcase how out of touch he is with others and how he desperately wants to connect. Adding a tinge of tragedy to this character, and well… now that we’ve come to the end of this leg of the investigation, it will be interesting to see what we learn from Hannah, and what genre of film her story will represent. Until next time.  

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