Search Party (2016)

“Search Party” remains a captivating case study in genre experimentation and cultural commentary. There are minuscule moments that serve up great jokes, sharp appraisal, or both, and it’s impressive to see how long the creators have kept us hooked on these antiheroes — especially now, when tolerance for contemptible leads is at an all-time low.

Search Party now fully embraces Dory’s sociopathic nature, and Shawkat brings a chilling element of detachment to her character’s burgeoning confidence. ... This time around, our black-hearted heroine won’t let anyone tell her what she actually did do, and it’s a thrill to watch.

We are not meant, I don’t think, to love or hate the characters, to identify with them or completely reject them. What we can do is enjoy watching as they veritably crackle with kinetic energy. The series remains at its best when it approaches its players’ individualized tics and gestures from a slight remove—its gaze amused, sometimes even a little sympathetic, but, in the end, thoroughly unsentimental.

Search Party is both over-the-top and fantastically understated. It simmers with the high drama set in motion by its first season finale, but is set in an airless world that has no space for moral reckoning.

The third season of Search Party not only finds its satirical groove but manages to find a measure of currency by focusing on how a pair of white, privileged millennials wind their way through the justice system when they go on trial for murder.

Despite a masterful performance by Shawkat, it's a little difficult to square the guileless Dory of Season 1 with the sociopathic conniver that she has become by the start of Season 3. But that's ultimately a quibble with Search Party's thoroughly satisfying third season, which finds a middle ground between the satirical buoyancy of the series' first year and the mournful surreality of its second.

The new batch of episodes stumbles in places but there’s too much to like in terms of performance, sharp dialogue, and unpredictable plotting to dismiss it entirely. While it may have been stronger when it was more intimate, the writing really carries the season through any minor missteps, along with a refreshing willingness to present its characters in an unflattering light.

If you liked Season 2 of Search Party then Season 3 is more of the same. If you were shocked by the show’s dark turn at the end of the first season, though, don’t expect the show to go back to that season’s tone.