Search Party
Season 5
The poster shows Dory Sief dressed in white, her hands extended in a messianic pose. Portia, Elliott, and Drew are positioned below her with hands together in prayer, looking happily at Dory.
Official promotional poster
Starring
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes10
Release
Original networkHBO Max
Original releaseJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Season chronology

The fifth and final season of American dark comedy series Search Party was released on HBO Max on January 7, 2022. The season consists of ten episodes, each with an approximate running time of 25 minutes.

Season five centers Dory's search for enlightenment in the wake of her near-death experience (shown in the finale of season four) and an extended stay at a psychiatric facility. She collaborates with a tech billionaire (portrayed by Jeff Goldblum) to develop an enlightenment pill, which leads her to become a cult leader. Dory rekindles her relationship with Drew and begins a romance with Portia, who quickly becomes a devotee. Elliott seeks the pill to control his unsettling adopted son.

The season received positive reception and holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[1]

Plot

"Search Party Season 5 sees Dory (Shawkat) enter a very public business partnership with charismatic tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn, played by guest star Jeff Goldblum, on the other side of her near death experience. Dory folds her old friends Portia (Hagner), Elliott (Early) and Drew (Reynolds) into the venture as they embark on an altruistic but terrifying journey."[2]

Cast

Main[2]

Recurring

Guest starring

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
411"Genesis"John LeeSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
As Dory embarks on a curious new path, Portia, Elliott, and Drew contemplate how to move forward in life, work, and love.
422"Exodus"John LeeSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Dory spreads the word about her enlightenment while attempting to make amends with her friends for what happened.
433"Kings"John LeeStarlee KineJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Dory invites the gang to a meeting of the minds with tech billionaire Tunnel Quinn, giving them a chance to talk to someone with power.
444"Leviticus"Heather JackAndrew Pierce Fleming & Matt KrieteJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
The gang kicks off a nationwide search for the first recipients of their highly-anticipated enlightenment pill.
455"Acts of the Apostles"Heather JackCraig RowinJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Dory makes a shocking discovery about the Lyte pill that calls her beliefs and everything she knows into question.
466"The Gospel of Judas"John LeeAndrew Pierce Fleming & Matt KrieteJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Dory suspects that she's being poisoned from within, while Drew casts doubt upon some of her teachings.
477"Book of the Wars of the Lord"John LeeSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Dory and her disciples orchestrate a hostage situation as they race against time to finish the pill's formula.
488"Song of Songs"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersStarlee KineJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
Dory's enlightenment brigade prepares to take the pills as Chantal attempts to fend off the end of the world.
499"Lamentations"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersCraig RowinJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
After discovering the pills' grisly side-effects, the squad scrambles to save humanity before it's too late.
5010"Revelation"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 7, 2022 (2022-01-07)
The gang crosses paths with an unlikely saviour in their desperate fight for survival and hope they can be saved.

Production

Development

HBO Max renewed Search Party for a fifth season on February 9, 2021.[10] On November 9, 2021, it was announced that the season would be released on January 7, 2022 and that it would be the final season.[2] Series co-creators Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter remained as co-executive producers with Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez.[2]

Rogers and Bliss focused season five's plot on the themes of rebirth and enlightenment as the logical next step after the season four finale, in which Dory is technically dead for a momentary period.[11] They studied personal accounts of near-death experiences as well as media related to cults and cult leaders. Dory's spiritual leader persona was also inspired by public figures including Deepak Chopra, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Marianne Williamson, and Ram Dass.[12][11] Rogers and Bliss described Dory's descent into becoming a cult leader with good intentions as a "full circle" transition from season one, when her altruism also transformed into narcissism.[11]

The season was shot in New York and production wrapped in the summer of 2021.[13]

Casting

Jeff Goldblum was cast in a recurring role on July 8, 2021,[4] followed by the casting of Kathy Griffin, also recurring, on August 11, 2021.[5]

On November 29, 2021 the casting of recurring cast members Angela Trimbur, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Greta Titelman, Joe Castle Baker, Larry Owens, Michelle Badillo, and Aparna Nancherla was announced.[6]

Release

The season premiered on HBO Max on January 7, 2022 with all ten episodes released simultaneously.[2]

Critical reception

Season five of Search Party received positive critical reception. It holds a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 8.1/10 based on ten critics' reviews.[1] Naveen Kumar of them. hailed the series: "Among a swelling array of TV shows that lampoon navel-gazing Millennials, Search Party has stood out for its mordant humor, razor-sharp wit, and pitch-black plot."[14] The A.V. Club's Saloni Gajjar rated the season a B+ and described it positively: "The HBO Max comedy dials up the absurdity in the last few episodes of season five, mostly pulling off a whiplash-inducing third act pivot like no other TV show can, thanks to a virtuoso but vastly underrated cast."[3]

The performance of the main cast was praised by several critics.[14][9][3] Series co-creator Sarah-Violet Bliss commended Alia Shawkat's performance as lead character Dory Sief throughout the five seasons: "The comedy was on the page, but when I had imagined the character, she was a little bit less self-possessed. What Alia brought was intelligence and maturity — she made her grounded and real."[13]

Critics noted that the series continued to bend genres, as it has taken on the style of true crime, legal drama, noir, horror, and psychological thriller across the first four seasons.[15][3][16] Time writer Judy Berman characterized season five as "surreal sci-fi", fantasy, and a "strange existential comedy."[17] The unusual tone was described as "frankly, bananas" in Thrillist.[18]

Slash writer Valerie Ettenhofer stated that the season's satirical focus is consistent with the overall series: "No matter how pie-in-the-sky it gets, "Search Party' is still, at its core, a biting satire about the rich and soulless...In the season premiere, Elliott makes plain the type of hollowness the series loves to poke at, saying gleefully, "We're adults, and adults don't care about making a difference!""[19] Esther Zuckerman of Thrillist described the characters as those who "want fulfillment by cutting corners. They don't want to do the work. They want an easy fix—something outside of themselves that will cure their unending melancholy."[18]

Brian Tallerico of The Playlist described the season as "inconsistent as the show has ever been in terms of plotting and theme" but praised the show's humor, "insane structure", and twist ending.[9] Multiple critics connected the off-the-wall tone and plotting to the destabilizing and unprecedented events that took place in the United States between Search Party's 2016 debut and 2022 finale.[17][19][20] Daniel Kurland rated the season 5/5 stars in a review for Den of Geek, and further praised the ending: "I’m still a little speechless for the direction that Search Party ultimately takes and where it ends. The story reaches a ridiculous place, but the world has become so destabilizing that Search Party’s bold choices actually work and come across as smart satire."[20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Season 5 Search Party". Rotten Tomatoes.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Del Rosario, Alexandra. "'Search Party': HBO Max Series Will End With Season 5, Streamer Sets Premiere Date & Unveils First-Look Photos". Deadline. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Gajjar, Saloni (January 5, 2021). "Search Party mostly pulls off an ambitious genre switch in final season". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Del Rosario, Alexandra (July 8, 2021). "'Search Party': Jeff Goldblum Joins Season 5 Cast Of HBO Max Dark Comedy". Deadline. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Rosario, Alexandra Del (August 11, 2021). "'Search Party': Kathy Griffin Joins HBO Max Dark Comedy's Season 5 Cast As Recurring". Deadline. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Petski, Denise. "'Search Party': HBO Max Comedy Adds Seven To Season 5 Cast". Deadline. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Squires, Bethy (January 7, 2022). "Search Party Recap: Let Me Know in the Comments". Vulture. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  8. ↑ Caruso, Nick (January 6, 2022). "Search Party Final Season: Cast, EP Talk 'Surreal' Experience of Working With John Waters and Jeff Goldblum". TVLine. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 "'Search Party' Season 5 TV Review: The Satire Is Still Funny & Riveting As The Series Goes Off The Rails In The Final Season". theplaylist.net. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (February 9, 2021). "'Search Party' Renewed For Season 5 By HBO Max; Creators Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles Rogers Ink Overall Deal With Streamer". Deadline. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  11. 1 2 3 Rosario, Alexandra Del (January 6, 2022). "'Search Party' Creators & Star Alia Shawkat Look Back At Genre-Bending Series, Tease 'Polarizing', 'Fantastical' Final Season – Q&A". Deadline. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  12. ↑ Herman, Alison (January 12, 2022). "No One Saw That Wild 'Search Party' Finale Coming. Not Even the Creators". The Ringer. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  13. 1 2 Itzkoff, Dave (January 6, 2022). "For One Last Season, Alia Shawkat Is the Life of 'Search Party'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  14. 1 2 Kumar, Naveen (January 7, 2022). "Search Party's Alia Shawkat and John Early on their Very Queer and Horny Final Season". them. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  15. ↑ Rosario, Alexandra Del (January 6, 2022). "'Search Party' Creators & Star Alia Shawkat Look Back At Genre-Bending Series, Tease 'Polarizing', 'Fantastical' Final Season – Q&A". Deadline. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  16. ↑ Cadenas, Kerensa (January 6, 2022). "Search Party Finally Grows Up". The Cut. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  17. 1 2 Berman, Judy. "Search Party Captured the Absurdity of Millennial Adulthood". Time. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  18. 1 2 Zuckerman, Esther. "'Search Party' Finds a Climax in the End of the World". Thrillist. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  19. 1 2 Ettenhofer, Valerie (December 29, 2021). "Search Party Review: The Satire Pivots Wildly During An All-In Final Season". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  20. 1 2 Kurland, Daniel (January 5, 2022). "Search Party Season 5 Concludes a Modern Comedy Classic". Den of Geek. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
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