When Starz revived Party Down, fans of the cult series knew they’d be in for a whale of a time. Unfortunately, the party’s over, with the third season coming to an end on Friday. Luckily, though, the series went out with a bang (and hopefully, a tease for another season).
(Warning: Spoilers ahead for the Party Down Season 3 finale, “Sepulveda Basin High School Spring Play Opening Night.”)
Almost everyone from the original cast returned for Party Down Season 3: Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, Megan Mullally, and Jane Lynch, who almost exclusively appears via FaceTime. New stars like Jennifer Garner, Zoë Chao, and Tyrel Jackson Williams also joined in the festivities. But the life of the party, Henry’s (Scott) love interest from the original run, Casey (Lizzy Caplan), wasn’t able to return. Until now.
Yes, that’s right—Lizzy Caplan returns for the finale. After all that hubbub about her being unable to film the show (due to conflicts with Fleishman is in Trouble and the Fatal Attraction reboot), we’ve learned that was (almost) all a lie.
In interviews with The Daily Beast, both lead stars, Scott and Marino (who stars as Ron in the show), confirmed that Caplan wouldn’t be in the reboot.
“Yeah, we were all bummed, including Lizzy,” Scott said in early 2022. “It was a blow, for sure, because she’s incredible and brings so much to the show and to the role of Casey. Of course we were hoping, as she was, that it could all be worked out, but it's just so hard to nail everyone down. The stars aligned to get all of these people together. And maybe it’ll happen again and Lizzy will be available, who knows?”
Marino echoed that in an interview earlier this year to promote the reboot: “Yeah, it sucked. Lizzy was a huge part of why the first two seasons of Party Down were so special and worked so well. So it was a real bummer.”
Well, Caplan has returned in full Casey fashion: In her big reunion with Henry, she grabs a massive bottle of vodka to drink all by herself. Now a big time TV star, Casey is at a party that has employed the Party Down team as caterers. She’s in Los Angeles to promote her new show The Stabilizer—which she confesses she hates.
In just this quick scene, it’s still obvious that Casey and Henry are meant to be together. My apologies to Garner, who stars as Henry’s new love interest in Season 3—at least we’ll (hopefully) get a love triangle out of this in the next season. Casey tells Henry she’s going to quit the foolish show she’s on and that the two should “hang out,” later adding that they should see each other “very soon” because she’s having a rough time in the entertainment industry.
Thank goodness Casey’s back. And, better yet, we should all be rejoicing that Season 3 sets up the party to continue into a new season. Starz, make good on your old mistakes—renew Party Down and make sure Caplan returns!
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