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Search Party season 4

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Search Party
Season 4
The characters Portia, Elliott, and Drew are depicted at the bottom of the poster looking distressed toward the horizon, while an image of the profile of Dory's screaming face with a shaved head is magnified above them. A home with a snow-covered roof, lined on either side by pine trees separates these images. The poster is colored with tones of bright red, white, and light blue.
Official season 4 promotional poster
StarringAlia Shawkat
John Paul Reynolds
John Early
Meredith Hagner
No. of episodes10
Release
Original networkHBO Max
Original releaseJanuary 14 (2021-01-14) –
January 28, 2021 (2021-01-28)
Season chronology
Next →
Season 5

The fourth season of Search Party began airing on January 14, 2021 on HBO Max. It was the first season to be produced exclusively by the streaming service after its move from TBS. The showrunners are co-creators Charles Rogers and Sarah-Violet Bliss. The first three episodes were released on January 14, 2021, episodes 4-6 were released on January 21, and the final four episodes were released on January 28.

The show picks up after Dory was last seen kidnapped by a superfan, Chip. He keeps her locked in a padded basement and insists her friends were a bad influence. Drew hides out of state working at an amusement park; Elliott is hired to become a right-wing pundit on a cable news show; and Portia portrays Dory in a film based on the murder trial. After they realize she is missing, the trio begins to search for Dory.

Plot

Having been kidnapped by twink superfan Chip in the season 3 finale, Dory awakens in the home of Chip's Aunt Lylah located in Babyfoot, Massachussetts. He locks Dory in the basement, which has been designed to be a replica of her Brooklyn apartment, except every object is made of felt and other padded materials. Chip insists Dory is his best friend and that her friends are a bad influence and don't appreciate her.

Back in New York, Portia and Elliott are upset that Dory is nowhere to be found because they are throwing her a "congratulations, you were found innocent!" party. Drew meets up with the group at his and Dory's apartment and finds a handwritten letter from Dory, actually written by Chip, which states she's going to Europe and no longer wants to be friends with them. The letter makes them angry and they all leave withering voicemails for her.

The three go about their lives. Elliott is approached by a right-wing cable news show to appear first as a liberal news pundit opposite conservative anchor Charlie Reeny, then as a homophobic Christian conservative news pundit on his own show. Elliott faces public backlash but enjoys his newfound fame. Portia is cast as Dory in Savage: The Dory Sief Story, a film about the murder trial, but the director Lassie Kazaar hates her acting. Drew goes to work at an out of state theme park called Merry Merry Land, using the name Andrew and claiming to be from South Africa. He is satisfied with his life and works with his new girlfriend, Cindy.

Dory tries to escape but every ploy falls through. For a short time she is imprisoned with Aunt Lylah's neighbor, Paula Jo, until Chip kills her by triggering her peanut allergy. Eventually, Dory accepts Chip's insistence that she is innocent of any crime and relaxes into her imprisonment, displaying symptoms of Stockholm syndrome. She begins wearing a blonde wig and using the name Stephanie. She and Chip go to a local ice cream parlor as Stephanie and Aunt Lylah when she sees Marc, Elliott's ex-fiancé.

The three are unaware that Dory may be in harm's way until Chip posts a photoshopped image of Dory at the Leaning Tower of Pisa on her Instagram account wearing a sweater that Drew knows he put in storage. He moves back to Brooklyn to search for Dory with Elliott and Portia. Their search takes them to the trailer of the young man whose identity Chip assumed in order to gain access to Elliott's wedding. After being robbed by a man who offered them a ride, they find their way to a convenience store and see Chip's face on a package of Lil Sticky's cinnamon buns. The trio reaches out to the company via Twitter and receives a tour from the married executives, Richard and Gertrude Wreck. The couple claim that the photo on the packaging was taken decades ago and they don't know anything about a kidnapping, but after the group leaves, they express anxiety that their son Chip may be involved.

Elliott, Portia, and Drew are convinced that the couple was lying. Then, they see that Marc just posted a photo of him and Dory (in her blonde wig) on Instagram.

Cast and characters

Main

Recurring

  • Cole Escola as Chip Wreck, a wealthy, psychotic man obsessed with Dory[2]
  • Chloe Fineman as Charlie Reeny, a young conservative news pundit[3]
  • Tami Sagher as Lassie Kazaar, the director of the Dory Sief film
  • Rebecca Robles as Cindy, Drew's new girlfriend and another employee at Merry Merry Land
  • Clare McNulty as Chantal[4]

Guest

Production

The season's showrunners are co-creators Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers,[2] who executive produced with Michael Showalter, Lilly Burns, and Tony Hernandez.[5] The season was the first exclusively produced by HBO Max.[6] Filming took place from December 2019 to February 2020.[6]

Rogers stated that they intended the fourth season to be "the darkest season yet."[3] The writers were influenced by Misery and did not know where they would take the character of Chip when they wrote him into the third season.[3]

Release

The season debuted with the first three episodes released simultaneously on January 14, 2021.[7] Episodes 4-6 were released on January 21, and the final four episodes (7-10) were released on January 28.[8]

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		Title [9]Directed byWritten by [9]Original release date [10]
311"The Girl in the Basement"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 14, 2021 (2021-01-14)
322"Something Sharp"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersChristina LeeJanuary 14, 2021 (2021-01-14)
333"Escape to Nowhere"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersEmily HellerJanuary 14, 2021 (2021-01-14)
344"Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJordan FirstmanJanuary 21, 2021 (2021-01-21)
355"Doctor Mindbender"John LeeMatt Kriete & Andrew Pierce FlemingJanuary 21, 2021 (2021-01-21)
366"The Thoughtless Woman"John LeeStarlee KineJanuary 21, 2021 (2021-01-21)
377"The Infinite Loop"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersMatt Kriete & Andrew Pierce FlemingJanuary 28, 2021 (2021-01-28)
388"The Imposter"Alia ShawkatStarlee KineJanuary 28, 2021 (2021-01-28)
399"The Inferno"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 28, 2021 (2021-01-28)
4010"The Shadows"Sarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersSarah-Violet Bliss & Charles RogersJanuary 28, 2021 (2021-01-28)

Reception

The season received positive critical reception and holds a 100% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes as of January 23, 2021.[11] Rachel Syme reviewed the season positively for The New Yorker: "The season is part “Room” and part “Silence of the Lambs,” while still maintaining its sardonic, quippy tone. The result is a truly absurdist, effervescently trippy ride."[12]

Joshua Rivera wrote for The Verge that the show continues to skewer "coddled, internet-ruined millennials", and noted the lead character Dory is now "imprisoned by the sort of parasocial relationship she first formed with her missing classmate and then encouraged others to build with her."[8]

Alia Shawkat's acting was praised by Inkoo Kang of The Hollywood Reporter: "Escola and Shawkat make for fantastic scene partners, and the actress in particular seems determined to showcase her wondrous range this season."[2] Lexi Lane of NBCNews.com also praised guest star Cole Escola and wrote, "the show asks viewers to contemplate whether he and Dory actually have very similar personalities in terms of both their extreme denial about their actions and, perhaps, their affinity for wearing wigs in public."[13]

Mashable writer Proma Khosla referred positively to the season's plot development, "The season illustrates yet another art of which Search Party never failed to flex its mastery: escalation. Few shows succeed at the task of inflating or complicating conflict...but we see this with every season, every episode of Search Party."[4]

Bitch co-founder Andi Zeisler and writer Marina Watanabe noted parallels between Elliott Goss' conservative persona and actual right-wing pundits: "This feels especially relevant when we’re hearing stories of GOP members who have publicly defended Trump for years but not-so-secretly hate his guts."[14]

Critics noted that the series continues to cross genres, and it exhibits aspects of thriller, horror, and dark comedy.[4][8][14][15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Shaffer, Claire (2021-01-05). "'Search Party' Season 4 Trailer: The Gang Goes Searching For Dory". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e Kang, Inkoo (2021-01-14). "'Search Party' Season 4 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b c Zalben, Alex (2021-01-13). "'Search Party' Creators Tease Season 4: "Our Darkest Season Yet"". Decider. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ a b c Khosla, Proma. "'Search Party' Season 4 is a magnificent horror movie". Mashable. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  5. ^ a b c d e Pedersen, Erik (2021-01-05). "'Search Party' Season 4 Full Trailer Sees Dory Get "Better Version" Of Her Life – Update". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ a b Rindner, Grant (2021-01-14). "The First Episodes of "Search Party" Season 4 Are Out Now". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  7. ^ Amore, Samson (2021-01-14). "'Search Party' Season 4: How Dory Became the Missing Person". TheWrap. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ a b c Rivera, Joshua (2021-01-19). "In Search Party, the journey from poster to influencer to monster is a slippery slope". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  9. ^ a b "Search Party – Episodes". Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  10. ^ ""Search Party" Season Four Premieres January 14 on HBO Max". WarnerMedia (Press release). December 15, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  11. ^ "Search Party Season 4". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  12. ^ Syme, Rachel (2021-01-18). "Search Party". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ Lane, Lexi (2021-01-14). "HBO Max's 'Search Party' Season 4 uses its genre to explore how millennials think about identity". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b Watanabe, Marina; Zeisler, Andi (2021-01-14). "Season 4 of "Search Party" Is the Best (and Worst) Pandemic Companion". Bitch. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ Peters, Fletcher (2021-01-11). "Search Party Season 4: HBO Max's Millennial Satire Takes A Dark Turn for the Better". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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