A millennial-core noir comedy with a ‘did that just happen’ ending is now streaming on Netflix
I am no longer full of vitriol.
Incredibly good news for the avocado toast crowd who’s actually not nostalgic for 2016. The black comedy series Search Party, which premiered on TBS and then moved to HBO MAX and then vanished from HBO Max last year, is now streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
Search Party is safe for now! The beautiful thing about the series is that it started out with such an innocent premise. Dory Sief, a directionless college graduate played by Alia Shawkat, discovers that her friend Chantal has gone missing and ropes her friend group into trying to find her before it’s too late. Was Chantal a close friend? No, not really. More of a Facebook friend, or what we’d call and oomf in today’s parlance. Did I just effectively end “oomf” by saying that? Good.
Anyway, the series satirizes millennial malaise better than any TikTok or essay could ever dream. Dory, her boyfriend Drew (John Reynolds) and their friends Portia (Meredith Hagner) and Elliott (John Early) are full of the inflated self-importance associated with the generation. But it comes from an earnest place: not knowing how to navigate an adult world that’s falling apart in more ways than they even knew 10 years ago. So even though they’re completely ridiculous, and sometimes evil, you kind of get it.
Seriously, Dory alone is the complex, chaotic and unlikable bordering on monstrous female character that everyone claims to want and can’t handle. Her quest to do one good deed takes her down a path that just gets darker, and darker, and darker. Each season of Search Party takes a bigger swing, culminating in a wild and spoiler alert genre twisting post-apocalyptic ending. You wouldn’t believe what happens in the finale if I told you before pressing play on the pilot. But after going through the journey with Dory and her friend group for five seasons, you honestly won’t be surprised.
The supporting cast portrayed some of TV’s best characters.
I wish I was was exaggerating. Each season of Search Party introduced new characters that blew me away with how specific, hilarious, and memorable they were. There’s Ron Livingston as Keith Powell, the private investigator who teams up with Dory to find Chantal. There’s Jeffrey Self’s character Marc, who recurred throughout the series. Brandon Michael Hall played Julian, one of the only actually good people. There is, of course, Chantal herself played by Clare McNulty. No spoilers about when, where, why she actually shows up on the show, but it takes some wild turns. There’s April and June, twin sisters played by Phoebe and Clare Tyers.
Over the course of the show, other guest stars include J. Smith Cameron, Griffin Newman, Larry Owens, Bonnie Milligan, Christine Tyler, Jeff Goldblum, Kate Berlant, Zach Cherry, Patti Harrison, and honestly so many people from the NY comedy scene that I have to cut myself off or I don’t stop.
But two characters stole not just scenes, but entire episodes and seasons. I am talking, of course, about Cassidy Diamond and Chip Wreck. In the third season, a girlboss lawyer named Cassidy, played by Shalita Grant, burst onto the scene with vocal fry, a practice jury made up of teddy bears, and some seriously good legal skills. She was Dory’s best hope and one of my favorite takes on fourth wave feminism committed to to the screen. In that same season, Cole Escola plays a character first known as “the Twink” or “obsessed fan.” Their name is later revealed to be Chip Wreck, and they completely hijack the fourth season, leading to one of my favorite television episodes of all time titled “The Infinite Loop.” Again, apologies for being so hyperbolic about Search Party. It won’t happen again.
Watch for yourself! Juicy comedies like Search Party that ran for more than a few years and made choices that are hilarious and unorthodox feel so rare these days. If you haven’t had the pleasure, this is your sign.
(featured image: HBO)
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