The Afterparty Killer Left Clues for You All Season Long

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the season finale of The Afterparty. Read at your own risk!] 

After eight episodes and just as many witness statements, Detective Danner (Tiffany Haddish) finally cracked the case in the Season 1 finale of The Afterparty. For a minute there, we thought it was Bret (Ike Barinholtz) who pushed Xavier (Dave Franco) over the balcony in a jealous rage, but an open closet and a cell phone ultimately revealed that Yasper (Ben Schwartz) was the killer — also in a jealous rage. Pissed off that Xavier would hold their high school ska band breakup against him and refuse to help the aspiring musician break into the industry, Yasper hid in Xavier's closet and pushed him over the balcony after Chelsea (Ilana Glazer) left the room, but before Aniq (Sam Richardson) woke up from his party coma. 

From his initial email conversation with series creator Chris Miller, who executive produced the series with regular collaborator Phil Lord, Schwartz knew his character was the killer, and it only made him more eager to be part of the murder mystery.

The Best Shows and Movies on Apple TV+ Right Now

"I couldn't believe it, because I get to have that scene [like the ones] at the end of the movie where you're like, 'Fine, it was me and this is how I did it and f--- you!'" Schwartz told TV Guide. "I was so excited to have that moment. Chris really took care of me. It did feel like someone kind of wrote the role for me, because it was me getting to do whatever, and then he let me improvise like crazy. He was such an incredible partner on set. Both [Miller and Lord] are just geniuses... I'm so proud of the show." 

Of course, knowing he was the killer the whole time allowed Miller, Lord, and Schwartz to embed Easter eggs throughout the season that point to Yasper's guilt. Schwartz revealed that the biggest tell for his character came as early as Episode 3. 

"There is a moment [at] the end of [Episode] 3 where I realize there's a camera in the movie poster... There's a camera in the Private Eyes poster," he said. "When I realized that, my character is realizing that he's dead. There's footage of him killing somebody. He just realized, 'Oh my god, I'm a f---ing idiot'... So when you see Yasper realize that to Sam Richardson's character, I literally have my first moments of, 'Oh my god, I'm dead.' Then I try to transfer that to [Aniq]. It's a huge little acting moment." 

But there are also smaller moments throughout the season that viewers could catch if they've got eagle eyes and lightning-speed reflexes with the pause button. 

"Anytime I put my left hand in my pocket, I'm reaching for Xavier's phone. Anytime I'm reaching for my right pocket, I'm reaching for Yasper's phone. We always kept one in one pocket and one in the other," Schwartz explained. "There's a scene where I'm in the shower, and Chris kept five frames. We see me singing into Xavier's phone, so if you pause the screen, there are five frames that show both phones in the shot. There are little things like that we put throughout the whole thing, which is exciting because now you can rewind to be like 'Oh my god!' We put in such tiny little details." 

No matter how many times you watch the season or discover new clues that point to Yasper, it won't change the fact that the "Two Shots" singer is heading to prison for a very long time. But the series will return for a second season with Detective Danner taking on a new case, and Schwartz has some ideas about how Yasper can still be part of the fun. 

How to Get an Apple TV+ Free Trial and Other Deals

"I did have an idea that [in the second season] someone dies and the only way to catch a killer is to talk to a killer. Then you wheel me out like Hannibal Lecter. That was denied," he said with a laugh. 

But Schwartz is very down for Yasper to somehow be involved in cracking the new case. "I think it'd be funny if I was the detective in some way. I think it'd be fun, even if it's just like my Get Out of Jail Free card is, 'If you solve this murder, we'll let you go'… It would be so fun to play a Pink Panther-ish silly, silly detective. Then you find out at the end of the episode that I killed that person too. Then I'd run away like Zoidberg in Futurama." 

Even if Yasper does not become the next Hannibal Lecter-inspired prison detective, Schwartz is absolutely sure that his character will continue to pursue music behind bars. His ideas for Yasper's prison mixtape did not disappoint. Schwartz's title track pitch is, "Everything Will Be Good in 75 to Life," or "whatever his sentence is." 

"I think that would be really fun. He has a workout montage of doing push-ups for the first time," Schwartz elaborated. "I think there's gonna be a lot of sad love songs." 

We just hope we get to hear them. 

The Afterparty Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV+. The series has been picked up for Season 2.