Arts & Culture editor Hammond Cole Sherouse draws on his vast and eclectic knowledge of semi-obscure media to deliver you mostly coherent reviews of things you probably haven’t heard of. This is Junk Food for Thought.
The fifth and final season of “Search Party” dropped on HBO Max Jan. 7, catapulting an already wild ride of a series to its characteristically unpredictable conclusion.
The comedy series’ first four seasons follow a group of four millennial friends in their amateur search for missing person Chantal Witherbottom (Clare McNulty) and its aftermath, retaining a unique sense of humor through genre shifts from mystery to Hitchcockian suspense to courtroom drama, to name a few.
Its primary strength is its cast, centered around the core group of friends. Alia Shawkat plays the show’s main character, Dory Sief, the all-too-eager driving force behind the investigation. The main cast is rounded out by her pushover boyfriend Drew Gardner (John Reynolds) and self-absorbed friends Portia Davenport (Meredith Hagner) and Elliott Goss (John Early). Their dynamics and individual idiosyncrasies are one of the biggest appeals of the show.
“Search Party” also includes a superb supporting cast and numerous big-name guest stars, including but not limited to Susan Sarandon, Wallace Shawn and John Waters. Even actors with one or two scenes, like Chelsea Peretti as Elliott’s flamboyant attorney, use that time to create memorable characters that leave a lasting impression on the audience.
That cast, combined with the unmatched creativity of a writing team led by co-creators Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, brings wit and freshness to the fairly saturated genres the show explores. Where else have you seen a body buried in a zebra-print suitcase or a courtroom debate over whether a recording says “murdered” or “pancaked”?
The show’s brilliance lies not only in its original concepts, but also in its intricate plotting and impeccable dramatic pacing. Season One’s finale, for instance, manages to tie together disparate threads including a shady private investigator, a bloody blouse in the woods and a cult-like group of “artists” into a satisfying and totally unpredictable twist ending.
Even comedic subplots like Elliott’s compulsive lying and Drew’s animosity toward his intrusive neighbor take on lives of their own as the series progresses. In Season Two, an offhand remark about a made-up mobster called “Fat Frankie” spirals wildly out of control, throwing a mafia-shaped wrench into the works.
Never a show to linger too long in one genre, “Search Party” took perhaps its most sudden turn with its fifth season. Instead of reflecting on the events of the show thus far or wrapping up any loose ends, Season Five hinges on a particularly unconventional twist: making Dory into a literal cult leader.
While certainly a major leap from the show’s original premise, this escalation serves to lay bare the main characters’ meticulously established faults. The heightened stakes act as a final reckoning for Drew’s indecision, Portia’s deference to authority, Elliott’s self-serving deceit and Dory’s indomitable self-assurance.
Though a decidedly new flavor of derangement, Dory’s complete confidence in her newfound “enlightenment” is not completely out of left field. That same confidence manifested in her obsession with Season One’s missing person case, her delusional belief in her false testimony during Season Three’s murder (pancaking?) trial and so on.
The only difference is that now her blend of charisma, ego and resolve isn’t just hurting those immediately around her. Her growing notoriety gains her an audience with tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn (Jeff Goldblum—yeah, the Jeff Goldblum) and eventually access to all his resources and support.
With the stakes higher than ever and the characters at their most reckless, the final third of Season Five takes yet another left turn, pivoting genres one last time in the sort of bonkers move a show can only pull in its final moments.
If you haven’t yet seen “Search Party,” now is as good a time as ever. The full series is streaming on HBO Max and the first three episodes are available for free on YouTube. Its episodes are all an addictively short 25 minutes long, and if you’re anything like me, this show will have you laughing in ways you never knew you could laugh, holding your breath from tension and gasping at every turn.
★★★★★★★★★☆
Photo courtesy of HBO Max
