Skip to Content

The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Search Party

Streaming on Max

Season One of Search Party finds its protagonist Dory Seif (Alia Shawkat) living in New York City, lacking both direction and a sense of self despite her solid friend group, her boyfriend, and her college degree. So when an acquaintance from school goes missing, Dory decides to solve the mystery. Darkly comic, the show parodies millennial culture, the narcissistic impulse to find oneself, and the hazy morality of life in the 21st century. These themes have followed the series into its fourth season—which concluded this week—but it has also undergone shifts in tone, adhering at times to dramedy formats, and elsewhere exploring elements from courtroom dramas and Hitchcock’s thrillers. Search Party is ambitiously constructed, very funny, and sharply satirical. Plus, it co-stars comedian John Early who is never not funny. —C.J.F.