Chicago Party Aunt Part 1, an adult animated sitcom, premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2021, and now we’re getting its sequel before the year ends. The show is created by Chris Witaske, Jon Barinholtz and Katie Rich and is led by the following voice cast – Lauren Ash as Diane Dunbrowski, the very Chicago Party Aunt herself, Rory O’Malley as her gay nephew Daniel, RuPaul Charles as Gideon, the new manager at the salon, Jill Talley as Diane’s sister Bonnie, Chris Witaske as Diane’s ex-husband and a TSA agent, Kurt.
The official Netflix description of the series reads:
Chicago Party Aunt Diane is an idolized troublemaker with a talent for avoiding adulthood — and a soft spot for her soul-searching nephew.
Being the life of the party isn’t always easy, but Diane pulls it off somehow. However, in the process, she forgets to live out her adulthood and keeps chasing one high after the other. In the end, her ways are unique and unconventional, but she always comes out on the top when to comes to supporting her family and friends in need, and staying true to herself. And as has been well established, “She is all heart and no filter”.
Chicago Party Aunt Part 1 Recap
As the first episode rolls out on the screen, so does Diane’s history class about Chicago, centred around her hometown Wrigleyville, more like party-ville. Our first meeting with her leaves us with the idea that she’s a sleazy person, and her husband, Kurt shares those sentiments. He decides to leave her for good, after having given their marriage many chances and do-overs. However, his attempts of finding the good life with Diane failed miserably.
She forgets their anniversary, which was meant to be celebrated a day ago, and it acts as the final nail in the coffin for Kurt and he packs up and leaves. Eventually, she’s also kicked out of her apartment. With her beloved nephew, Daniel, having been accepted to Stanford, her sister, Bonnie and brother-in-law, Mark decide to “offload some of their assets”, meaning, they’re selling the condo.
Diane herself works a low-paying job at a salon, and that too she does with a frivolous eye, which depletes her credit score. After her sister lays the bad news on her, she goes on the lookout for a new apartment with the wish of bazillion amenities. As expected, she’s turned away after one look at her balance.
The only choice she’s left with is to move to Hammond, and the mere thought of it is dreadful for her. She stands at the extreme opposite bank of the river from her realistic sister as she’s only interested in chasing one party after another. Bonnie urges her to re-evaluate her life and make things work. Her nephew, on the other hand, isn’t having a great time either. He expresses his disinterest in attending Stanford to his aunt, and in turn, she inspires him to follow his own dreams.
They plan one last hurrah together at her house, with Daniel heading out to Stanford and Diane moving to her new life in Hammond, but the chaotic party is followed by Bonnie’s change of heart. She finds her son, Daniel, speaking out his concerns confidently for the first time in his life and it was all possible thanks to Diane.
She allows her sister to stay back in her apartment with the condition that Daniel shares it with her and finds a job since he won’t be going to Stanford anymore. Things work out well for the both of them, but so it seems. Daniel struggles to find a fitting job and with his mother always hovering over every decision of his, he is unable to think for himself and is pushed into doing things ascribed his aunt. He finally finds his vocation for the moment at Kreativ Jus, the wellness retreat or cafe, whatever you call it.
A lot of incidents follow like Diane and Bonnie’s parents nearly separating after selling their tailgate to the family rivals, the Wycheks, the two sisters are even held in a cell after drunk-driving a cart into the stadium on the day of the Bears-Packers game. While the sister-duo gets caught up in the mess with the Wychek family, the young cousins – Mikey and Daniel, who initially found it hard to find a common ground of collaboration, come together to the oldest Wychek’s aid, ultimately granting their own family with free tailgate access with the Wycheks.
Feeling out of touch with her youth, Diane even almost went under the knife to get a facelift, and Bonnie tried her al to stop her sister. In the heat of the rush, her passionate bond with her husband, Mark is reignited, and gratefully, Diane stops herself from the treatment. Later, Mikey gets together with a girl he like, Gabriella, and they both start dating.
That’s not the end of it. On Halloween, Diane and her boss, Gideon, finally come closer as friends despite their differing opinions on everything. But, Diane misfires again and slips out the detail of him being gay to his mother on the phone, not knowing that he never came out his mother in the first place. He doesn’t forgive for this but their workplace relationship is restored to some extent.
Chicago Party Aunt Part 1 Ending
The final episode is all about Christmas Eve and Diane wanting to spend it with the people she loves. However, they all have different plans on the calendar, without her. Hopping from one location to another, she starts felling lonely on the holiday and finally settles down to mope at her usual bar (even though she doesn’t like the scene) before she gets a call from West Side Hospital, the one beside her favourite pierogi place, about her former second husband having been injured in an accident.
With nothing better to do, despite not having met the man in twenty years, she agrees upon checking on him especially since the party scene already seemed dead anyway.
Back at Mark’s parents’ place, where Bonnie, her husband and Daniel are visiting for the holiday, Diane’s sister expresses the void felt at home in Daniel’s absence. At the same time, Daniel receives a glitchy call from his aunt as she relay her situation at the hospital to him. Mishearing every word she says, he thinks that his aunt has been admitted to the hospital after an accident. Thereafter, his family takes off to go after her.
Diane, however, chooses to stay back at the hospital even after being sickened by the vision of her perverted husband and his words because she has nowhere else to go. In the meanwhile, Daniel contacts Mikey, who’s at the Holiday Bird Show with his girlfriend, dad and his dad’s girlfriend, Heidi. Both he and his father head out to check on Diane as well.
Gideon and the rest of Diane’s work gang is also notified via a text from Daniel and they too leave for the hospital in spite of the ongoing online Borough party with Corporate.
At the hospital, Diane is cornered about signing her ex, Sean Vincent’s outpatient care form. After reminiscing the old days with him, she’s compelled to sign it out of pity for him. In the rush of it all, Kurt’s feelings for Diane resurface in another scene.
Diane eventually tears up the form she’d signed earlier as she discovers that Vincent stole the donation fund installed at the hospital reception for the sick children. Just in time, her family and friends arrive at the scene, worried sick about her. She can’t believe her eyes when she sees them walk in after having renounced their respective fun soirees. Her wish of spending the holiday time with them all is granted after all, and since they can’t party at a hospital, they all head back to her residence for the Christmas bash.
Diane’s eccentric qualities finally rub off on everyone around her, even Gideon, who praises her handmade lotion and is even open to selling it al the salon. Bonnie throws up for the third time in a week and Mark lightheartedly laughs it off as her being pregnant, while she indulges herself with the thought with a smile on her face.
The party and the show ends with Diane apologising to Kurt, taking us back to the first scene of the season when she chose not to do the same. Kurt stutter and clearly has something to say as well but is cut short by Heidi calling out to him for a kiss under the mistletoe. Diane’s party is a hit and they all snap a family picture together before the credits start rolling.
Check Out the Official Clip of Chicago Party Aunt Part 2
Chicago Party Aunt Part 2 drops on Netflix on December 30, 2022, possibly making way for yet another dysfunctional holiday party.
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