If art is a mirror we hold up to the world in order to show some truth about our existence, then Search Party is a magnifying glass. The first two seasons of the TBS series are now available on HBO Max, which means it's about time you started watching before Season 3 drops on June 25.
Search Party stars Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, John Early, and Meredith Hagner as a quartet of Brooklyn twenty-somethings looking for a friend who appears to have gone missing. In the search for a friend, this group must also grapple with their own oddballs adventures in search of their own sense of self, stability, and purpose. Best of all, Search Party is the kind of twisty, satirical bit of delicious you want to sink your teeth into, binging it because every moment is just that good.
So, below are five very good reasons you should tune in to Search Party ASAP. If you're in need of a laugh, a thrill, a chill, or in general just feel a strong desire to be transported away from your own problems and delight in the hilariously absurd dramas of four adults you've never met, then Search Party is absolutely the show for you.
Search Party Seasons 1 and 2 are now available to watch on HBO Max. Search Party Season 3 debuts on HBO Max on Thursday, June 25. For more on HBO Max, check out our review of the new platform and a list of everything available to watch right now.
Search Party's Vibe Is Major
One of the best things about Search Party is the world in which it lives and breathes: the hip, cool, with-it side of New York City. It's a world we've seen brought to life in numerous other movies and TV shows, most recently in Girls and High Maintenance. It's a world specifically focused on the twenty-somethings who contribute to make up neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Fort Greene and while they're awash in liberal politics, they're really more interested in fulfilling their own desires first. That's not necessarily a neg, mind you, but just a quick picture to help get you into this vibe, too.
To help bring this world to life, Search Party employs some smart, genre-based trickery to better highlight the themes it wants to discuss. A biting satirical eye helps illuminate just how silly the motivations of each character is, while situational comedy helps drive the plot, plunging each our central quartet further into the heart of absurdity as they try to search for Chantal and deal with the aftermath of bringing her home. There is a balance, a keenness, and an aptitude in combining these genres within this world which, as you watch, will only make you appreciate what's going on even more.
The Casting on Search Party Is Spot-on
The Search Party cast is, hands-down, one of my favorite casts on TV right now. Alia Shawkat, John Reynolds, Meredith Hagner, and John Early are very simpatico as a crew, working off one another with total ease. Each actor is responsible for embodying a broad archetype — Dory as competent, slightly headstrong leader; Drew as bumbling nice guy; Elliott as cool, collected, calculating social butterfly; Portia as lovable, too-trusting beauty — and also fleshing them out with nuances as the show goes on. Each actor is more than capable of bringing out the basic truths which fuels their character's neuroses, emotional wounds, and positive qualities, but there is something about the level of skill with which they do it which makes each performance profoundly entertaining to watch.
John Early. That's It.
And while all of the Search Party cast is great, I must, must, must dedicate some time and space to Early's performance in particular. There is a plane of existence Early is operating on which is breathtakingly fascinating to watch. The choices made in certain line readings, the looks, the emoting, the way in which Early can pull off some truly appalling sartorial decisions on behalf of Elliott, and more make both the character of Elliott and Early eminently watchable. He truly steals every scene you see him in, while also keeping his co-stars on their toes. It's unthinkable to imagine how Elliott, a gay man who is in pursuit of easy fame and fortune and doesn't want to be bothered by the heavy side of life, would play if Early weren't the one playing him. But in Early's hands, Elliott is one of the most fun and lovable TV characters in recent memory.
The Way It Depicts (& Makes Fun of) Millennial Culture Is So Good
Be it brunches, proving wokeness, working a dead-end part-time job, monetizing your personal life, committing to the hustle, or living through social media, Search Party never misses a moment to lovingly skewer Millennial culture, especially culture, behavior, and mindsets embraced by older Millennials. This skewering of Millennial mindsets and culture is only natural considering most of Search Party's action takes place in New York City (specifically, Brooklyn), but it also comes out through the depictions of Dory, Drew, Elliott, and Portia, all of who play broad archetypes of this particular generation. Search Party never faults the foursome for falling into the traps of this generational mindset, but it rarely misses an opportunity to have one of those characters walk right into one.
It's a Show With Bite
In Search Party, actions have consequences. Dory, Drew, Elliott, and Portia aren't just allowed to slide for their actions, whether it's fairly innocuous, like sabotaging a book deal, or truly egregious, like committing a murder. Instead, the writers of Search Party use these pretty life-changing events as a means for serious character development, to help heighten the comedy even more, and push the show into places you never would have expected. By the time you hit the end of Season 2, you're absolutely going to be craving the upcoming third season because the cliffhanger finale, which is the obvious result of some of the wildest behavior on this series, will have you jonesing for more.