‘Party Down’ Season 3 Isn’t the Same Without Lizzy Caplan

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Season 3 of Party Down.

13 years after its initial cancelation, Season 3 of the cult-comedy Party Down premiered on Starz on February 24. All of the series’ original stars — Adam Scott, Ken Marino, Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, Jane Lynch, and Megan Mullally — returned for the new season except Lizzy Caplan, who had to decline reappearing due to scheduling conflicts. Despite the introduction of new characters and a new love interest for Scott’s character Henry Pollard, Caplan’s Casey Klein will surely be missed throughout Season 3.

RELATED: ‘Party Down’ Season 1 and 2 Recap Ahead of Season 3

What Is ‘Party Down’ About?

Party Down follows a group of waiters at a catering company of the same name, several of which are also Hollywood hopefuls. Kyle (Hansen) is a lovable himbo and aspiring actor, Roman (Starr) a failed science fiction writer with incel tendencies, Lydia (Mullally) an eccentric stage mom, and Casey (Caplan) an aspiring actress and comedian. Henry (Scott) and Constance (Lynch) are both former actors, and the Party Down team is led by Ron (Marino), their try-hard boss who takes his job way too seriously and hopes to one day manage his own Soup R’ Crackers franchise. In the first two seasons, they cater all kinds of events around Los Angeles including a sweet sixteen, a ritzy pre-school silent auction, and an adult entertainment awards after-party.

In the pilot episode, Henry returns to work at Party Down after a failed acting career and quickly forms a friendship with Casey rife with sexual tension. In a group of offbeat characters, Henry and Casey are the most down-to-earth and share a similarly snarky sense of humor, making them a compelling duo to watch over the course of the show’s original 20 episodes.

The first episode of Season 3 shows Party Down catering an event thrown by Kyle to celebrate being cast as the superhero Nitromancer, with only Ron and Roman still working for the company. But when an old video circulates of Kyle performing a song with lyrics that inadvertently reference the Holocaust, he gets “cancelled” and subsequently loses his part as Nitromancer. The episode ends with Ron hopeful for the future of Party Down, before cutting to news footage signaling the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The second episode picks up over a year later, once large gatherings become acceptable and Party Down begins catering events again, with Kyle and Henry returning to work there. Having just finalized his divorce, Henry starts moonlighting at Party Down to supplement his income as a high school teacher.

How Season 3 of ‘Party Down’ Addresses Lizzy Caplan’s Absence

Since Caplan was sadly unable to appear in the new season, the first episode explains her absence by revealing that Casey finally got her big break on Saturday Night Live and went on to become a movie star. She was the only member of the original Party Down team who didn’t attend Kyle’s party, and writer/co-creator John Enbom was wise to write Casey out of the show in a way that makes sense for her character but still leaves the door open for her to return later, should the show be picked up for a fourth season.

While Roman is bitter about Casey’s success, Henry appears largely apathetic despite his previous relationship with her in the first two seasons. Henry is a recently divorced high school English teacher, and with Casey gone, Season 3 introduces a potential new love interest for Henry in film producer Evie (Jennifer Garner), who has just broken up with her unfaithful boyfriend, movie star Jack Botty (James Marsden). With the first two episodes out thus far, the introduction of Garner, Marsden, and new members of the Party Down team Tyrel Jackson Williams‘ Sackson and Zoë Chao‘s Lucy, give us plenty to look forward to for the rest of the season despite Caplan’s absence.

Why We’ll Miss Casey Klein

In a cast full of characters that venture into caricature territory whose behavior ranges from innocuously incompetent to completely unhinged, Henry and Casey are by far the most grounded. Henry is the Straight Man of Party Down, a type of stock character used frequently in sitcoms, but Casey’s character becomes a secondary Straight Man (or Straight Woman, if you will) whose point of view is just as important as Henry’s. Both of them identify and comment on the strange behavior of their coworkers and their often rude clients, but Casey also uniquely experiences the sexism that comes with working as both a young cater-waitress and an aspiring female comedian. Even Henry is not immune to the occasional bout of misogyny, whether it’s crossing a boundary in their relationship or making assumptions about Casey’s sex life, especially when influenced by Roman, who has his own obsession with Casey.

Casey’s deadpan sense of humor and unique charm, executed perfectly by Caplan, make her one of the most entertaining characters in Party Down, as she is written with a bit more depth than some of her co-stars. Her chemistry with Scott is also a highlight, and it’s a shame we won’t get to see what Henry and Casey’s reunion would look like after so many years apart, living vastly different lives. Introducing a new love interest for Henry is a potentially interesting addition to the season, but Caplan’s absence is certainly felt in Party Down Season 3.

Find out how to watch new episodes of Party Down Season 3 each week on Starz.