Ty Watches "Search Party"

Today I want to write about a new show that I am really enjoying right now. That show is "Search Party" on TBS.

I had heard a lot of things about this show because I am a Michael Showalter fan. He created one of my all-time favorite movies, "Wet Hot American Summer", he put out the "prequel" to that great movie on Netflix a few years ago, "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp", he directed the wonderful "Hello My Name is Doris", and now he has "Search Party". He is clicking on all levels as a creative artist right now. He had one of the best binge-worthy shows that has even been put on Netflix. "Hello My Name is Doris" is not only an indie darling, but is even getting some early Oscar buzz, mainly Sally Field. And now, he has a great episodic show on national TV. He can do no wrong right now.

As I said, I heard a lot about this show before it came out, and everything I heard about it, it made me want to watch it that much more. I was excited to hear that it wasn't going to be a straight forward, goofy comedy like much of Showalter's stuff. He proved that he could do some different things with "Doris", and he is putting that to use on "Search Party". Now, that is not to say that this show does not have comedic moments, because it has a lot of them. There are times that I have laughed out loud while watching. But, each comedic moment is met with moments of clarity, sadness, self reliance, drama and intrigue.

"Search Party" is about a group of over privileged, hipster kids that live in New York. They have little to nothing going on in their lives, although they act much more important than they really are. They are kids born with a silver spoon in their mouths, and it shows. But, the main character Dory(Alia Shawkat), sees a missing person photo on the street in the pilot episode, and we come to realize she recognizes the girl from college. They weren't necessarily friends, but Dory has memories of her. She meets up with her core group of friends, her boyfriend Drew(John Reynolds), Portia(Meredith Hanger) and Elliot(John Early) to tell them the news, but it is met with deaf ears. Dory's friends either don't care, or are way too interested in their own stuff to feign interest in their missing college "friend". But, Dory cannot shake it. She now feels like she needs to find her old college acquaintance. There are a lot of reasons she makes for wanting to find their friend, but it mainly seems like she doesn't have a lot going on in her life. She is bored and tired of the hipster scene and she wants something that will make her feel important. She actually acts kind of selfish in her quest to find Chantal(Clare McNulty). She becomes singularly focused on this search, putting everything else on hold.

Alia Shawkat is tremendous in this show. I know it may sound like I think she is kind of selfish, but that is just her character. Shawkat has been in a lot of stuff, and has been pretty good in her minor rolls, but this is a great vehicle for her as far as starring roles go. She shines as Dory. She is so, so good on this show. I have become a big Alia Shawkat fan during the run of this show. But, the three other friends are great as well. John Reynolds as Drew, Dory's woebegone boyfriend, is excellent. He plays a total pushover with no backbone really well. He is at Dory's beck and call and does anything she asks him. But, he also has heart and soul, and you begin to feel for him when Dory, or anyone else for that matter, starts to go off on him. Meredith Hanger as Portia is perfect as the pretty blonde actress that wants so badly for everyone to like her, but also be proud of her and her career choice. She is an actress, but she is a very mediocre actress that plays small roles on corny crime procedurals. She works hard on her show, but outside of that, she is self-involved and careless. But, she does have moments when she seems to be a caring, loyal friend. She wants to believe that Dory has seen Chantal, she goes to weird parties with her and she genuinely cares for Dory's safety when Dory goes out to do PI work.

Then there is John Early as Elliot. He is so god damn good on this show. Early was excellent on "Wet Hot: First Day of Camp", but man oh man, is he awesome on "Search Party". He is so funny, he has so many skeletons in his closet, he is constantly making up and breaking up with his boyfriend, in very comedic ways and he has a terrible secret that he has kept since he was a teenager. Early has taken the direction to be a New York hipster to the absolute perfect point. He is so douchey and self-involved, and I couldn't love his character more. He is the second best person on this show, next to Shawkat.

There have been some great recurring characters played by some big name people as well. Christine Ebersol is great as Portia's mom that doesn't give her enough attention. Rosie Perez is really good as a crazy lady that claims she has seen Chantal as well, when her and Dory meet for the first time. Christine Taylor is so awesome as Dory's boss, who lives in a whole different world than everyone else on this show. Tunde Adebimpe, as the leader of some weird cult that may or may have some kind of involvement in Chantal going missing, is both mean, but also very funny. Then there is Ron Livingston as the PI that follows, then eventually hires Dory to work with him to find her friend.

"Search Party" is a really good show. All ten episodes were shown in 5 days, 2 episodes a day, and they are all on TV for your viewing pleasure right now. I have watched 7 episodes so far, I will be finishing it this afternoon, and I cannot wait to see how it all ends. Obviously I recommend this show. Check it out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He loves new and interesting television, tell him about a show you like. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

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