SXSW has long been a place where up television programming is previewed before it is released to the public. In previous years, however, this opportunity was not made available to Interactive badge holders. This year, that changed. Episodic screenings were open to Interactive attendees for the first time. One of the screenings Interactive badge holders were given access to was for a show titled “Search Party.”
The show’s plot revolves around a Brooklyn 20-something named Dory, played by Alia Shawkat, who is struggling to find her professional and social groove. She learns that an old acquaintance from college, Chantal, has disappeared. Deeply affected by the disappearance, Dory finds herself dealing with the emotional fallout of her preoccupation with the missing girl. She begins to mistakenly see her throughout her daily routine and the episode ends with what appears to be a legitimate sighting.
On paper the show might come across as a standard-issue missing-girl mystery. That element is definitely present, but the novel twist is that many of the shows scenes are scripted with the same sort of millennial humor that is signature to shows like HBO’s “Girls.” Shawkat plays the straight-woman to a cast of outlandish comedic figures with definite hipster leanings. Thankfully, the show features a diverse cast. Shawkat, who has Arab heritage, leads an ensemble that features the openly gay John Early and a black actor, Jordan Carlos, in the role of her one-time/possible current love interest.
The screening was followed by a Q&A featuring several members of the shows cast and crew. They described their approach to making the show as being similar to that of making an independent film, and cited both “Twin Peaks” and “Fargo” as influences.
A particularly interesting discussion emerged during their conversation about the role of technology in allowing people to co-opt pain that is not their own and incorporate it into their identity. The episode pointedly sowed seeds that leave the door open to explore this theme throughout its run.
When Dory announces that Chantal has gone missing, her friend Elliott (John Early’s character) immediately tweets a sincere-sounding message of support despite barely remembering who Chantal is. Later, an acquaintance at a party offers comfort to one of Dory’s friends, Portia (played by Meredith Hagner), regarding Chantal’s disappearance. Hagner’s character cannot, at first, figure out why she is being offered comfort; she hardly remembers who Chantal is or that she has gone missing. Nonetheless, once she figures out what the sympathetic partygoer is talking about, she accepts the reassurance and visibly relishes the attention.
The show premiers in November on TBS. Check out Shawkat discussing the film and her character’s forthcoming development below.