Season Two: All Episodes Discussion - Where One Word Episode Titles Abound

[Red Bridey]

That was the most realistic skin condition I have seen in a while.  My skin crawled looking at Elliot.  Ugh, I was feeling so bad for that self-obsessed horrid human being!

[JoJos]

I am still loving John Early so much. "Now that I think about it, Drew, why didn't you send me flowers?" And Elliot's commitment to the "seal" story, even after it became completely nonsensical, was hilarious to me. "I said we should break its legs and bury it in a suitcase." "Then it turned out it had a daughter seal...." The shrink's face in that scene was priceless.

Edited December 11, 2017 by JoJos

[Rough Draft]

With only two episodes left, I am really mystified as to how this season is going to end. I have a really hard time imagining the four culprits being caught and convicted, even though that's where we seem to be headed. What kind of series finale would that be? Or could we expect Season 3: Drew on Trial?

When Crystal (the friend of Keith's ex-wife) came to see the police detective with information on "Fat Frankie", I thought maybe that would be a turning point and the police investigation would be diverted into a dead-end (IMO it would be hilarious and ironically appropriate if Dory got them all off the hook just by blurting out that ridiculous name when she was on the spot). On the other hand, I didn't see much indication that the detective took Crystal very seriously.

I guess we'll find out in six days!

ETA: I meant to mention that Portia's performance in the LaBianca play really freaked me out. She looked exactly like Susan Atkins!

Edited December 11, 2017 by Rough Draft

[possibilities]

Portia's director is extremely creepy, right? It's not just me that thinks so?

[niklj]

On 12/5/2017 at 8:31 AM, PaulaO said:

I missed how Agnes Cho is related to Chantal.  Can someone fill me in?

They're friends.

These two episodes weren't as anxiety-inducing as the other ones but I did like seeing Elliot in therapy. I wonder how far his truth-telling will go.

I wonder if Dory is getting freaked out about finding out how good Drew is at lying.

[Milburn Stone]

7 minutes ago, niklj said:

These two episodes weren't as anxiety-inducing as the other ones but I did like seeing Elliot in therapy. I wonder how far his truth-telling will go.

A favorite moment of mine was the death-ray side-eye Dory gave Drew in the detective interview.

[JoJos]

8 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

A favorite moment of mine was the death-ray side-eye Dory gave Drew in the detective interview.

I wanted to give Drew a bit of a death-ray side-eye myself. MY GOD, MAN, STOP TALKING. And while we're on those scenes, what kind of NYPD homicide detective walks up a flight of stairs, sees two people standing in front of an apartment door, and freaks the hell out? That was an insanely over the top acting choice. Or it was written in the script, for some reason. Either way, so weird to me.

[JoJos]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Portia's director is extremely creepy, right? It's not just me that thinks so?

I think the intention is for him to be sort of the Charles Manson to his cast, so the creepiness is completely working.

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Searchers,

A friendly reminder - this thread is for the episodes that have aired on TBS.  This does not include the last episodes of this season.

If you have watched the show through the season finale or any episodes that have not yet aired on TBS, then please use the spoiler thread:  Season 2: Yes, I Did Watch It All

Thanks,

PPAL

[Winston Wolfe]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

Portia's director is extremely creepy, right? It's not just me that thinks so?

From his first second on-screen he had "cult leader" written all over him.

1 hour ago, JoJos said:

And while we're on those scenes, what kind of NYPD homicide detective walks up a flight of stairs, sees two people standing in front of an apartment door, and freaks the hell out? That was an insanely over the top acting choice. Or it was written in the script, for some reason. Either way, so weird to me.

I mentioned that further up on this page.  The Lady Detective seems very high-strung and jitterish.  Wonder if there's some PTSD in her backstory?  Anyways, she's certainly on to the fab four who, when it all hits the fan, are notoriously bad liars.  And they're not getting any better with practice.

[Mumbles]

Quote

I am still loving John Early so much. 

Yeah he's become my favorite. I didn't like Drew at first, given what a lousy lay he was, and just assume that he was some dishtowel of a human being. Seeing what he's capable of - most of it not good - I'm has been one of the more interesting parts of this show. 

[Misstify]

John Reynolds is Drew, John Early is Elliot.  They are both great!  I did not even realize Drew was also the semi-dopey police officer on Stranger Things, until I read it here.

Edited December 15, 2017 by Misstify
Wrong show name, duh!

[bigmag]

 I did not even realize Drew was also the semi-dopey police officer on Search Party, until I read it here.

I think you mean the police officer on Stranger Things, right?

On 12/12/2017 at 2:17 PM, Misstify said:

John Reynolds is Drew, John Early is Elliot.  They are both great!  I did not even realize Drew was also the semi-dopey police officer on Search Party, until I read it here.

You meant on Stranger Things, right?  (Sorry about the double post - didn't use quote option for first reply)

[Misstify]

.

11 hours ago, bigmag said:

 I did not even realize Drew was also the semi-dopey police officer on Search Party, until I read it here.

I think you mean the police officer on Stranger Things, right?

You meant on Stranger Things, right?  (Sorry about the double post - didn't use quote option for first reply)

Yes, I did!  Will edit, thanks.

[possibilities]

I thought they were going to get away with it there for a minute, due to the detective being corrupt and Dory killing the neighbor.

Now I guess we have to wonder who turned Dory in. Was it the detective? Was it Portia and the creepy directer? Or Drew? Drew would throw her under a bus, easy.

She didn't seem to consider the impact on Julian when she stole/sold the photos.

She was the one who wanted to go to the police originally, and everyone else talked her out of it. So they're not all that innocent, even if she's particularly guilty.

[niklj]

That did not go how I expected it to, which is why I love this show so much.

I thought for sure that the end was going to be a dream sequence.

Wonder who else got picked up. Hope there is another season.

[Milburn Stone]

This was a very satisfying season finale. At the same time, unlike many season finales that are designed to serve (at least lamely) as series finales in case of non-renewal, this season finale seemed designed to send a signal to TBS that non-renewal is not an option! The audience simply must find out what happens next to Dory and friends, and if denied this, will descend on TBS with torches and pitchforks.

[JoJos]

11 hours ago, possibilities said:

Now I guess we have to wonder who turned Dory in. Was it the detective? Was it Portia and the creepy directer? Or Drew? Drew would throw her under a bus, easy.

My money's on Drew. We've already seen what he's capable of, and his other plan just fell apart. We know he blames Dory for all of this. He seemed to be warming to her for a minute, but that's when he thought he was going to China. Now he's back in self-preservation mode. An anonymous tip from the detective out of guilt would be an interesting twist, though.

 

11 hours ago, possibilities said:

I thought they were going to get away with it there for a minute, due to the detective being corrupt and Dory killing the neighbor.

I thought so, too. And now I guess we know what they were setting us up for with the detective being so quick to startle. I wonder what will happen to her shooting story now that the "Fat Frankie" killing Keith lie has been debunked. Unless that's used to somehow get Dory off. Cannot wait for season 3!

[Winston Wolfe]

5 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

At the same time, unlike many season finales that are designed to serve (at least lamely) as series finales in case of non-renewal, this season finale seemed designed to send a signal to TBS that non-renewal is not an option!

No doubt in my mind that there will be a Season 3.  My guess is TBS schedules Search Party production to accommodate Alia Shawkat's blossoming film career.  I'm also betting that this show will be a big-time, "sleeper" winner in the next award season.  So well done.

What I'd like to see in Season 3 is more backstory on the four leads.  So far Portia is the most developed; we know all about her low self-esteem and mother issues, etc.  But what about the rest of the crew?  Why did Dory see her life as so empty and devoid of purpose?  Was Drew always the under-cover sociopath we've seen, or did this crisis bring out the worse in him?

4 hours ago, JoJos said:

And now I guess we know what they were setting us up for with the detective being so quick to startle.

I'm pretty interested in Detective Joy's backstory too.  Why was she so skittish?  I'm still of the belief that there's some PTSD going on there.  The knee brace indicates some recent injury - maybe a previous traumatic confrontation with a perp?  If that's the case, why would her Captain send her out without a partner?  Maybe I'm over-thinking here.

4 hours ago, JoJos said:

I wonder what will happen to her shooting story now that the "Fat Frankie" killing Keith lie has been debunked

That's the big problem with all these characters - they're such horrible liars who take things too far.  Detective Joy already caught Fat Frankie moving counterfeit money (even though she didn't have the evidence she saw his accomplice), that alone would have justified the shoot-out.  There was absolutely no need to add that FF claimed he killed Keith.  It's going to come back and haunt her, but I doubt that it gets Dory and crew off the hook.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Winston Wolfe

[possibilities]

I like that even when it looks like they're doing something clumsy or obvious, they manage to surprise me with it.

[SlovakPrincess]

On 11/25/2017 at 5:12 PM, Milburn Stone said:

I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "good" is. Our four main characters are certainly not Nobel Peace Prize Winners! Nor have any of them invented a cure for cancer. Nor would I put them even in the 95th percentile of goodness. But 85th percentile? Yeah, maybe! That is, as flawed as these four are, 85% of all Americans are easily more deplorable than they are. (Sadly.) This gives our characters a solid "B," which is good enough for "good" in my book. Which is why I actually care about them, don't think that jail time is warranted, and want to see them worm their way out of this somehow.

 

This is why I kind of can’t fully enjoy this season.  I like(d) them and didn’t think they were irredeemable.   I know Dory’s motives in trying to find Chantal weren’t pure last season - it was partly boredom with her own life - but I also don’t think this makes her a terrible person or that she deserved to end up like this.   And Drew genuinely thought Keith was hurting Dory when he hit Keith, it wasn’t cold blooded murder.   

Chantal being such an awful person is also not funny to me — every minute this character is on screen, I want to throw something.  

I mean, what is the point?  They’re shallow and clueless so we should ... laugh at the tragic mess they got themselves into?  That they should have been MORE shallow and never gone after Chantal in the first place?  I find it sad, not funny.   

[possibilities]

I don't find it funny-- I actually didn't realize it was supposed to be funny. I find it to be horrifying. It's kind of like watching a slow moving disaster movie-- less action, fewer special effects, but the same general impact carried out on the emotional plane.

[SlovakPrincess]

Well, it's supposed to be a dark comedy, I think.  

Which worked when they were trying to find a missing person last season - there was humor in clueless but mostly well-intentioned people trying to solve a mystery.   It works a lot less well when they've killed someone, and they careen from serious moments (Dory's guilt-induced breakdowns) to doing increasingly unbelievable and stupid things to keep the plot going (Drew taking the murder weapon with him, when it would obviously be missed, leaving it where Chantal could easily find it, and then burying it two inches underground?? -- oh please!!).

[Winston Wolfe]

23 hours ago, SlovakPrincess said:

I mean, what is the point?  They’re shallow and clueless so we should ... laugh at the tragic mess they got themselves into?  That they should have been MORE shallow and never gone after Chantal in the first place?

If being shallow was their only issue, you could possibly feel some compassion for them.  With the exception of Portia (lost soul with low self-esteem seeking acceptance) these folks are rotten to the core.  Drew and Dory were willing to ruin several people's lives to further their own agendas.  Even Dory's casual lie about "Fat Frankie" gets a man killed.  It took April all of one second to call Dory out on her destructive tendencies.  Elliott is a manipulative, pathological liar who once played the sympathy card by lying about having Cancer.  Chantal is just a self-absorbed, narcissistic, train-wreck who incredibly, comes out of all of this looking better than three of the four main protagonists. 

Edited December 27, 2017 by Winston Wolfe

[SlovakPrincess]

True, I get that the show is now telling us that this situation is just revealing who Drew and Dory truly are — I think it seems forced, though, and doesn’t really follow from what we saw last season.  

Last season the show seemed to have some fresh observations about attempting altruism in an age obsessed with social media and self-promotion.  This season, it just seems to be yelling at us - and quite literally, through the character of April - “privileged millennial bad!  Human nature bad!”  

I mean, why is everyone on the show now a completely garbage person?  The political candidate, the corrupt cop, April, Chantal, Portia’s theater director, and of course our four leads (although Elliott was always a selfish liar).   It’s overkill.  

[Maire]

Just had the time to watch season 2, all in 2 days. I thought at the end of season 1 I was  done because really where could they take the show? The story is over. I was very wrong. Loved this season more than the first and can't wait for the next.

[BooBear]

I loved this season two. It really felt like it was the complete book end to the last one. I really enjoyed Drew's character development. He was the first character I think I have seen who came back in the second season different but it felt earned. He was such a wimpy doofus in the first episode (jacking off to service Dory) I didn't want them together or think drew was hot in anyway but the second to last episode of this season I was in full ship mode.  I enjoyed that both Elliot and Portia seemed to bitterly regret ever being friends with Drew and Dory as they had substantial time to deal with what happened and had a more serious tone. 

I have to say though I think getting arrested and everything that happened with April could be a dream or perhaps Dory will start the season in a mental hospital. Just the way everything was done with that red dress seemed off and similar to the panic attack in the second to last episode.  Also, who gets arrested for murder from an anonymous tip?