The Afterparty S2E4: Hannah

Having seen Hannah from three different perspectives so far, could her “mind movie” be anything other than the stitledly twee-tastic pastel universe of Wes Anderson? Odd and precocious kids abound in the Andersoniverse and Hannah even introduces herself in her story as a “precocious child.” This is of course after asking if “they like music” (to which Aniq replies Aniq-ly “I think everyone likes music”). And it sets the tone for where we’re going as Anderson’s movies are as much about showing off his musical taste as telling his stories.

Fittingly, the album Hannah grabs to place on her vertical turntable is by Belle & Sebastian, essentially a Wes Anderson flick in Scottish indie pop band form. We’ll talk more about how perfect a choice they are for this homage in the strays. Everything is pretty pitch perfect in this episode — from the stark typeface in front of still shots to, well, song after song after song. Like with Anderson himself in his movies, this parody packs in every kind of genre the director loves, from French pop to baroque pop to indie pop.

As we’ve already seen plenty, Hannah builds her personality around arcane pursuits and anachronistic artifacts. She grew up in the same environment (and emotional neglect) as Edgar, but instead of forging awkwardly forward with precise focus, she meanders back while longing for an earlier time. She built her yurt outside the family mansion when she was ten — well, had her yurt built by workers and packed it with garish oddities and antiquities. She also has the luxury and inherited wealth that allows her a life of leisure. In short, it’s exactly how a Wes Anderson character would live.

The gasp factor comes when Grace enters the picture and we get some insight to another reason the bride was anxious the day of the wedding. And why she would be frustrated that Edgar — while not wrong about the joy bringing Funcle Ulysses to the nuptuals would bring — disappeared for over a month before the big day. Hannah and Grace connected when Edgar stood his fiancee up in Amsterdam. They then took it further when, following Zoe’s “whisper-shouting” incident at the bachelorette party, Grace and Hannah shared a kiss. And it didn’t stop there, as the pair were entangled in a torrid affair up until the rehearsal dinner.

Back in the future, Zoe is incredulous at the suggestion Hannah and her sister (not adoptive) were lovers. When Aniq posits that Grace would not have told Zoe because it would make her look “super guilty,” Zoe storms out, asserting that their investigations should be separate, as Danner stops Aniq from following his girlfrien, as “that’s some sister shit.” However, when Zoe confronts her sister with what she rejects as a ridiculous claim by Hannah, Grace reveals that indeed, she and her fiancee’s sister were an illicit item.

So, Travis was telling the truth about Hannah’s plans to stop the wedding. He also, as I suspected last week, was not exaggerating the intensity with which she was coming on to him. Their actual plan was for the bumbling Reddit Sam Spade to chime in with Edgar’s misdeeds when Hannah, as officiant, asks the famous question about audience speaking vis a vis holding their peace. She backs off this plan when she hears Edgar, in his inside-the-box vows, truly speak of her with words of love. They’re filled with a passion she’s never seen emanate from him. She realizes he is the one who truly should win Grace and she will back off. Or at least that’s her story.

Another revelation comes when a drunken Sebastian stumbles into her tent. And we’re not using the word “stumble” metaphorically here. Hannah’s is the first memory to paint Sebastian in a not-so-suave light. She rejects his clumsy advances, but that’s not the key point. What will ultimately spark a light bulb moment for Aniq is Sebastian’s comment about how “she is losing a brother, while he is losing a partner.” This sends Aniq reeling out of the room faster than Danner. When she finally catches up with him, he shares his epiphany: the list Travis found was not potential alter egos. That paper consisted of people Edgar was interviewing as Sebastian’s replacement.

And as we close, the camera pans in on Sebastian in front of a pastoral background, talking to an investor. His smarmy nature, along with Aniq’s big reveal, signal that he’s next up in the prime suspect chair. And he does himself no favors in our eyes when he launches into a perfect pitch rendition of Edgar telling a possible investor that he’s alive and well and gives Sebastian his full endorsement when it comes to speaking for their business.

Stray Clues:

• About Edgar’s words of love: they are distinctly different from how Grace heard them. It also makes her comment implying the words weren’t all that romantic make a bit more sense. Grace’s mind translated his number-heavy, biorhythms-obsessed, improvised vows into the language of love.
• Ready for a musical shocker that could be the seed of a new Mandela Effect? Belle & Sebastian have never appeared on a Wes Anderson soundtrack! While the band is the epitome of the Anderson soundtrack sound, it has more to do with shared influences. The Scottish collective synthesized the French pop, Nick Drake, Kinks, and others favored by the Texas-born director.
• The song “Piazza, New York Catcher” is an album track from B&S’s 2003 Dear Catastrophe Waitress and detailed lead singer and primary songwriter Stuart Murdoch questioning sexuality in the midst of wooing his future wife. So a bit on the nose for this episode. For what its worth, the “sexuality” Murdoch was questioning was not his own or his spouse’s, but the titular baseball player about whom rumors persisted in the 1990s and early-aughts.
• By the way, former New York Mets catcher (and MLB Hall of Famer) Mike Piazza had the closest thing to an answer to their question (“are you straight or are you gay?”) a year and a half after the release of the song. He unconfirmed his bachelorhood when he wed a Playboy model with whom he would go on to have three kids. I mean, you know, but still, it’s his business, Mr. Murdoch
• By the way, the B&S song also references the 1966 top ten hit “Walk Away Renee” by Baroque popsters the Left Banke. To really up the (maybe accidental but also maybe.. not?) meta, that song too is about a love triangle. And it’s a similarly screwed up one too as keyboardist Michael Brown wrote the song to express his love for the band’s bassist Tom Finn’s girlfriend Renee Fladen. In fact, most of their debut album, including their only other top 40 hit “Pretty Ballerina,” were about Brown’s fawning over Fladen. As Finn sang back-up vocals on the song, Brown essentially forced Finn to sing a song about his bandmate trying to steal his girlfriend. Renee wisely walked away from all this nonsense and would marry someone named Howard I. Kamm the next year. Fladen-Kamm was herself a prominent vocalist who was friends with the Beatles. All this makes me ask the question, Why Is This Not a Movie?
• Back to the whodunit: who ordered the suit of armor and how does it play into Edgar’s fate? The obvious suspect Hannah disclaims it. Isabella ponders it might be hers, but given she is likely to prove the least reliable of all the unreliable narrators of the season, it’s probably not her. Is it a clue? A potential maguffin?
• Also, what’s up with Feng’s assistant/videographer? His Mr. Cellophane-esque deference implies that his fly on the wall status may come into play. Or is he the surprise killer (sorta) hiding in plain sight.
• I’m thinking more and more that not only is Travis’ purported girlfriend not of the “Canadian” variety and is in fact totally real, but that at some point we will meet her.
• An Anderson-esque list of non-narcotic things Aniq gets high on: life, family, friends, ducks in general, babies and adults, leather goods (such as belts), Toblerone, a violin.
• Hannah ends her story on one last affable affectation as we see Grace at the center playing scrabble, making a heart as she picks up each tile. Oh, well, two. She shouts “Fin.”
• Based on what we’ve seen, as much as Danner calls Hannah’s testimony “all motive,” her lack of artifice makes me feel our killer can’t be her. We’ll see if that stands after we hear from Mr. Way Too Obvious Suspect, Sebastian.
• What DID Sebastian do for Edgar to fire him on the latter’s wedding day where the former is the best man? While we do know that Edgar has an odd worldview, that seems excessively harsh. We have to presume he just found out, but it couldn’t have been a last minute decision given that he already had a list of names. There’s obviously more going on here and we’ll find out today. Based on both the opening credits and EVERY. SINGLE. THING. about Sebastian, this one will be a Bond tribute.