Search Party - General Discussion

[Aethera]

This topic replaces the old Search Party forum which has been vaulted at the location below:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/2874-search-party-v/

[Mannahatta]

https://deadline.com/2019/10/search-party-move-from-tbs-to-hbo-max-season-3-gets-season-4-renewal-1202754499/

Quote

TBS’ Search Party is becoming an HBO Max original. The upcoming third season of TBS’ cult comedy series will air on the upcoming WarnerMedia streaming platform, which also has ordered a fourth season of single-camera series.

Season 3 of Search Party, starring Alia Shawkat, Meredith Hagner, Brandon Micheal Hall, John Early and John Reynolds,, will debut on HBO Max at launch in Spring of 2020, two years after it was originally ordered by TBS.

A critical darling, the dark comedy about a group of privileged, self-absorbed twenty-somethings covering up a murder, was never well suited for a linear network like TBS.

Well, I for one was happy to read this.....

[peachmangosteen]

I had no idea this was going to HBO Max until today when I randomly saw in some unrelated article that it’s premiering this Thursday. What a nice surprise! Does anyone know if HBO Max puts out all their episodes at once or is it weekly?

[krankydoodle]

On 6/22/2020 at 7:52 PM, peachmangosteen said:

Does anyone know if HBO Max puts out all their episodes at once or is it weekly?

According to Decider, all episodes will be available on June 25.

[Corgi-ears]

Shalita Grant stole the season.

[zibnchy]

1 hour ago, Corgi-ears said:

Shalita Grant stole the season

At first, when she was introduced, I thought WTF? But then she proceeded to steal every scene she was in. Excellent work.

[crimsongrl]

I loved the visual of the Judge's ever changing Tupperware snacks! One day he'd have fruit and the next day he'd have licorice or chips. 

Murdered or Pancaked? 👂

[khyber]

When will this be on regular HBO?

[HollyG]

I'm on episode season 3 episode 2. Who is the ghost girl appearing to Dory? I don't remember her character at all. 

[crimsongrl]

4 hours ago, HollyG said:

I'm on episode season 3 episode 2. Who is the ghost girl appearing to Dory? I don't remember her character at all. 

She lived in Dory and Drew's apartment building. She heard them yelling about killing Keith and was going to blackmail them. She met Dory on the ferry in the infamous Red & Black dress and Dory pushed her overboard.

[HollyG]

25 minutes ago, crimsongrl said:

She lived in Dory and Drew's apartment building. She heard them yelling about killing Keith and was going to blackmail them. She met Dory on the ferry in the infamous Red & Black dress and Dory pushed her overboard.

Thank you! 

[p-chaff]

I didn’t like this season as much as the first two, but there were some great lines/moments/performances.

 

My favorite was Portia belting out that endless version of “I’ll Make Love to You” at Elliott’s wedding.

[Guest]

I was surprised to see this show come back three years after disappearing from TBS. (Hey, HBO! Can you please bring back People of Earth, too?!)

I did enjoy this season a lot but need to go back and rewatch the others because I do not remember Dory being a burgeoning psycho in the first two seasons. 

Really thought Shalita Grant's character was going to be cartoonish but wound up enjoying her very much. 

 

[peachmangosteen]

On 6/29/2020 at 6:53 AM, Giant Misfit said:

I did enjoy this season a lot but need to go back and rewatch the others because I do not remember Dory being a burgeoning psycho in the first two seasons. 

She started getting there in season 2 imo but I was still surprised she went pretty much full on psycho this season.

Season 1 was the best imo and season 2 was pretty good. This season wasn't as good but there was still some great stuff.

I laughed for like 5 minutes when Drew puked on the first day of the trial.

[krankydoodle]

Search Party returns in January with Busy Phillips, Ann Dowd, an R.L. Stine cameo, and more fun guests

I've fallen way behind on this show, but the new season sounds like a lot of fun so I'll have to try to catch up.

[peachmangosteen]

I was rolling at the scene in the first ep where Drew, Portia, and Elliott just started kissing each other. And then Portia falling and picking herself back up lol.

I’m over Dory almost getting away and it failing though. It’s already boring.

[Nellise]

I don't know what they're trying to do with season 4. Watching someone be tortured is not entertaining. I'm done with it unless I see enough people say it somehow gets interesting for the rest of it.

[Guest]

On 1/15/2021 at 12:03 AM, Nellise said:

I don't know what they're trying to do with season 4. Watching someone be tortured is not entertaining. I'm done with it unless I see enough people say it somehow gets interesting for the rest of it.

To each their own! While I'm not a fan of the (contextually understandable) constant sobbing and screaming, to me, it's already miles more entertaining than season 3, which really dragged imo. I feel like Alia Shawkat just wanted the fun/Dramatic Depth of playing Dory unhinged or "evil" and it got really one-note. By the end, every scene was her giving the same smirk and glazed stare to every character she had dialogue with. It was like a high school senior's interpretation of how a sociopath would act. The courtroom scenes were often boring and a lot of subplots, like Chantal's sham business that existed for what looked like a week and Drew banging that juror, had no apparent payoff (although I'm still half-expecting the juror sex come back as a pretext for throwing out their acquittal or something).

All of that to say, as someone who had no idea S3 even existed until a few weeks ago, I struggled to motivate myself to finish S3, but watched the first three eps of S4 consecutively and was disappointed there weren't more. Alia structuring Dory's plots the past 2 seasons as essentially one-man plays is starting to feel a little self-indulgent, but I'm excited to see the gang try to find her. I also feel like being locked in a basement and becoming increasingly mentally ill from social deprivation turned out to be the perfect quarantine metaphor. 

On 1/14/2021 at 1:38 PM, peachmangosteen said:

I was rolling at the scene in the first ep where Drew, Portia, and Elliott just started kissing each other. And then Portia falling and picking herself back up lol.

I’m over Dory almost getting away and it failing though. It’s already boring.

Apparently the three-way kiss was unscripted, which makes it even funnier. Portia falling down really sold it for me. Meredith Hagner is a comedic gem. I enjoyed that that scene was just all 3 actors having fun improvising being sloppy drunk together. And as someone who has a massive crush on John Reynolds, it really worked for me lol. I also laughed at the half-assed neck/shoulder kissing while everyone else is just milling around in the background three feet away. That make out weirdly encapsulated their friendship. I love that they're all messy, terrible people who still love and support each other unconditionally.

I'm not really interested in Dory at this point, except for how she motivates the rest of "the gang" to stay together. I can appreciate the character arc of Dory starting as the only one with empathy in S1 and now having the roles reversed, but the supporting characters are much more compelling.

I also have higher hopes for the new season because individual subplots are much stronger. I'd much rather watch Drew as a carnie with his accidental murderer princess girlfriend (appreciated that twist!) or Portia trying to play Dory in a movie than anything that happened last season.

Edited January 19, 2021 by Guest

[peachmangosteen]

33 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

And as someone who has a massive crush on John Reynolds, it really worked for me lol.

I have a massive crush on him too so same lol. I also do love it even more now that I know it was unscripted so thanks for that info.

I also completely agree with your entire post. Season 3 was easily the worst season and this season is already better IMO. I’m slightly annoyed they decided to not dump this season all at once because I want to watch them all now!

[Guest]

It says a lot about how much I cared about Elliott's relationship that I didn’t recognize his fiancé until after he talked about leaving him at the altar. 

So I guess they are releasing three eps a week three times and then maybe the finale the last week? I hope the finale is longer. 

I thought there was a lot of comedic potential in the fussy neighbor and them potentially escaping together, so I was disappointed she bit the dust so quickly, but then again I guess they needed Chip to murder someone so they have the option of sending him away permanently once Dory gets back. Also, I understand that things have to move quickly because of the plot and the rest of them needing to go find her, but I was especially bummed that the Portia movie filming barely lasted an episode. That was probably the subplot I was most excited to see. (Movie Drew was also hot. @peachmangosteen) I don’t really care about Elliot and the conservative lady - was she supposed to be killed by that book? LOL 

Dory’s scenes are predictably starting to drag. It feels like Alia just wants to build an Emmy reel submission for herself. Don’t get me wrong – her performance is phenomenal and I am genuinely impressed by her ability to convey so much emotional nuance just within sobbing alone - but it’s retreading the same beat episode after episode. I’m much more interested in what everyone else is doing. The sticky bun journey was hilarious, as was Drew trying to explain the Twink drama to the CEOs. I also liked the reveal that they are Chip’s parents.  

Not that I care or ever thought she was relevant after the first season, but where is Chantal?

Edited January 22, 2021 by Guest

[peachmangosteen]

6 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Not that I care or ever thought she was relevant after the first season, but where is Chantal?

When she appeared in that little flashback to their college reunion I figured she was gonna turn up again in the present. I'm still assuming she will even though yea she just feels irrelevant now.

[Guest]

Well, I guess my question was answered. "Yay, a Chantal bottle episode!" said no one. No insult to the actress, but I've never found her compelling or cared about her backstory. While I FFed through the vast majority of her ep, I did laugh at her microdose fever writing being mistaken for a child prodigy's book. It was a clever callback to S1 to hook in the final line as a trigger to snap Dory out of brainwash mode, and I thought the ensuing memory montage was incredibly well done. It felt like a bit of a waste to write an entire episode as a build up to the final 30 seconds (*cough* THE FINALE *cough*). Chantal's final monologue about not knowing any of them but appreciating how Dory made her feel special was the most I've ever felt for her character (incredible performance by Claire McNulty) and would've been nice closure for her arc overall had it not been undone.

Other highlights: Princess Girlfriend's botched public proposal, Drew's subsequent freak out and admission of love for Dory (John Reynolds is a very underrated dramatic actor), and Elliot's fiancé randomly adopting a baby. Susan Sarandon was pretty great too, although I thought the sibling incest twist was superfluous. The sequence where she and the gang don't realize they're trying to tail each other and wind up angrily speeding around the roundabout is hilarious.

With that said, I was very frustrated with the finale and thought it was a giant waste of (precious) time, especially when you consider each season only has 10 episodes. The funeral was essentially an excuse to give everyone dramatic monologues. (Portia's mom was the only highlight.) It would've been gutsy for the show to actually kill off Dory. I was devastated for Drew, but intrigued by the prospect of just him, Elliot, and Portia moving forward. But the show is Alia's baby, so I should've known. Every time Dory has been onscreen lately for the past 2 seasons it's felt so forced and extreme and emotionally maxed and like Alia just wants to showcase herself. She's a phenomenal actress, but it's getting tiresome having Dory suck up so much narrative oxygen without even having the payoff of bonding with the others...at this point, why do they even like her, beyond their criminal ties and general codependency? I suppose that's the answer. Did we really need to spend the entire last episode and 10% of the season on a near death funeral hallucination, especially when we already blew an episode on mind control hallucinations? 

I hope Dory gets to calm the fuck down next season.

[ciem]

I wrapped up S4 yesterday, and I cannot believe how the show creators chose to crater the entire show with this season. It was positively awful. The whole torture arc was difficult to watch (I had to skip it). I suppose the need for a season where Dory feels bad for being bad was needed after her gloriously villainous turn in S3, but I wish they tackled this soberly and not through some abstract bullshit that doesn’t have Dory any closer to reckoning with what she’s done. Ugh. I hate biblical scolding. Search Party has always been my favorite “oh a new season just dropped!” type of show, but S4 simply did not work for me. 

[peachmangosteen]

Has the show officially been renewed for season 5?

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

Has the show officially been renewed for season 5?

Not yet as of yesterday, but it's apparently under consideration.

[Guest]

On 1/28/2021 at 5:46 PM, SnarkEnthusiast said:

The sequence where she and the gang don't realize they're trying to tail each other and wind up angrily speeding around the roundabout is hilarious.

That was an absolutely terrific scene! 

I wound up really enjoying this season with one lone exception and this really explains what that was:

On 1/22/2021 at 11:43 AM, SnarkEnthusiast said:

It feels like Alia just wants to build an Emmy reel submission for herself. Don’t get me wrong – her performance is phenomenal and I am genuinely impressed by her ability to convey so much emotional nuance just within sobbing alone - but it’s retreading the same beat episode after episode. I’m much more interested in what everyone else is doing.

I agree she's a good actor but this really did feel like a season of "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION" for Alia. Thankfully, the supporting cast's storylines and performances are enough for me to root for another season. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Giant Misfit said:

I agree she's a good actor but this really did feel like a season of "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION" for Alia. Thankfully, the supporting cast's storylines and performances are enough for me to root for another season. 

Exactly! I get that the show is her vehicle and consequently it's always going to bend towards spotlighting her/Dory, but it's reached oversaturation to the point where the writers are actively, constantly sacrificing overall narrative progression to give Alia 5687 breakdown scenes. I feel like we watched her go through the same journey of despair every episode. It was a well of diminishing emotional returns and the supporting cast's (much more interesting, imo) plots suffered for it.

[ladle]

Okay, I ... have questions. Maybe I’m just reading too deeply into the nitty gritty of this and should just let the show wash over me or whatever, but... what actually *happened* in the final episode?? Was the whole thing just an hallucination of Dory’s (and, if so, how did it contain information that Dory wouldn’t possibly have known? Like, the fact that Elliot’s former fiancée was getting a baby, or that Dory’s ex had been paid off and was now independently wealthy?). Or was it like a magical realism thing where it really DID happen in an alternative universe but then she was given a second chance? I’m lost. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, ladle said:

Okay, I ... have questions. Maybe I’m just reading too deeply into the nitty gritty of this and should just let the show wash over me or whatever, but... what actually *happened* in the final episode?? Was the whole thing just an hallucination of Dory’s (and, if so, how did it contain information that Dory wouldn’t possibly have known? Like, the fact that Elliot’s former fiancée was getting a baby, or that Dory’s ex had been paid off and was now independently wealthy?). Or was it like a magical realism thing where it really DID happen in an alternative universe but then she was given a second chance? I’m lost. 

That was a point of confusion for me too and part of the reason why I assumed it wasn't a hallucination because why would Dory bother with hallucinating Elliot's ex or Portia's mom or randomly getting posthumously #MeTooed by her mentor/benefactor lady/I don't care about that character? I had also totally forgotten that Dory hooked up with the dude who got paid off and I don't get why he was included at all this season, unless he's being set up as an extremely long Chekhov's boomerang to extort the mayor (?) paying him off to help Dory avoid charges for April??? But I think that's giving the writers too much credit. This show really needs to learn the value of letting smaller characters go when their arc is done or keeping them on the sidelines when they're irrelevant to the current plot.

So, to answer your question, I don't think the writers cared about the logic of the finale beyond shock value and faking out the audience, which I guess is why they threw in all those side character moments to make it feel like the universe (beyond Dory's perspective) was moving forward. (Also why hallucinate the ex you're in love with daydreaming about ending up with a hot partner who isn't you? lol). What we ended up with was a wishy-washy midpoint straddling hallucination and magical realism - basically a limp Christmas Carol-esque bottle episode imagining where everyone would be without Dory. For the season finale of a show that has a strong chance of being cancelled, especially given its consistent niche status and Covid filming restrictions. We could've had an incredibly emotional Dory/Drew reunion or closure for Elliot or Portia or even have Chantal tell Dory how much she appreciated having friends who looked for her as a nice series bookend. But hey, we got to watch Alia chew the scenery for the 92nd time this season as she gulped for air three inches from the camera, which, y'know, I'm sure is just as gratifying as giving actual potential endings to characters and relationships we've watched for 5 years. I'm no screenwriter, after all!!!!

Edited January 31, 2021 by Guest

[peachmangosteen]

When they brought back so many characters for the 'funeral' I actually assumed it was because this was intended to be the series finale. That made sense to me. And just in general, it felt series finale-y to me. But then the ending happened and I got very confused as well lol. And yea, I still don't understand whether all that was real or not. Based on the Dory parts and then her saying, 'I was dead' at the end, I am thinking it was just her imagining it or whatever while she was 'dead' but that makes very little sense for the reasons @SnarkEnthusiast mentioned.

I would love to see Meredith Hagner, John Early, and John Reynolds get some noms come award time. I don't expect it though. I hope this show doesn't finally get award recognition and it's only for Alia, who is imo the worst part of the show lol.

[Nellise]

I ran out of other stuff to watch so did finish this. It felt like 2 different shows: 1) the still fun and entertaining Drew, Elliot, and Portia show; and 2) the unwatchable Dory and Chip show that was just absolute garbage. And the finale was another nice FU to the viewers, which of course came from Dory.

I did like the Susan Sarandon character, she fit with the good trio in being over the top in a funny, yet horrible way. The roundabout chase was great. No idea why they added the incest thing.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Nellise said:

I ran out of other stuff to watch so did finish this. It felt like 2 different shows: 1) the still fun and entertaining Drew, Elliot, and Portia show; and 2) the unwatchable Dory and Chip show that was just absolute garbage. And the finale was another nice FU to the viewers, which of course came from Dory.

I did like the Susan Sarandon character, she fit with the good trio in being over the top in a funny, yet horrible way. The roundabout chase was great. No idea why they added the incest thing.

True, this season was very tonally disjointed. Apparently (per random extra clips with Alia & crew), Chip was inspired by Kathy Bates' character in Misery and the scenes where he has her tied on the bed were direct parallels to the film. There must've been a horror buff in the writers' room this season, because I think Dory's arc seems to be loosely inspired by the South Korean film Oldboy, in which a man is held captive for 15 years in the same hotel room for unknown reasons, only to realize he's being held in retribution for witnessing a classmate's sexual encounter with his own sister as teens. So....I guess that's where the Susan Sarandon incest thing came from? Early scenes, like Dory being fed the same meal every day and marking the passage of time with the apple stickers, are also direct parallels to the main character's captivity in the film.  So if you’re not a film aficionado, the A-plot of the entire season makes no sense, lol. I kept impatiently waiting for the scene to cut away from Dory. Cole Escola (Chip’s actor) did a great job with the material, but again, it was basically watching the same scene repeatedly. Alia allowed her ambitions as an actor to jeopardize her own show. Like I said, she gave herself a ton of material for an Emmy reel submission, but it actively hindered the plot and contributed nothing to any of her relationships with any other character. I never cared about her relationship with Chip, even from a psychological thriller perspective, because it was very repetitive. She tries to escape, he tortures her, she successfully escapes, he finds her, etc. And How To Get Away With Murder already did the "fucked up murderer is a secret sibling incest baby" twist last year!

I wanted to see Dory with Drew or Dory with Portia, but instead we were treated to a game of faux intellectual cat-and-mouse between Dory and Chip that no one asked for. Maybe cool for 3 episodes, but a whole season?? Media outlets and social media are lavishing praise on Cole Escola, which I'm not saying is undeserved, but the frustrating part is that this show shines as an ensemble cast, not one-man Emmy bait. I've been disappointed that John Reynolds, (especially!) Meredith Hagner, and John Early haven't gotten more recognition.

When Dory spat in Drew's face, it was a good metaphor for what her character has done to the show, haha.

 

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Media outlets and social media are lavishing praise on Cole Escola, which I'm not saying is undeserved, but the frustrating part is that this show shines as an ensemble cast, not one-man Emmy bait. I've been disappointed that John Reynolds, (especially!) Meredith Hagner, and John Early haven't gotten more recognition.

Ugh, this. I mean, Cole Escola is fine, even great for the first couple eps until it became repetitive as you said. The other 3, and I agree especially Meredith, are consistently fantastic and have been for 4 seasons.

[sandwoman]

This season wasn't perfect of course, but the highs way outweighed the lows for me. The "When you know you know you know" scene was epic. I find myself a week later still randomly thinking about it. And the roundabout scene! 

I do think the finale episode was a reflection of the writing staff not knowing if the show will be picked up or not and... that's okay for me with this type of heightened reality show. It was fun to see so many characters and I really loved seeing how borderline healthy Drew, Portia, and Elliot's relationship had become. If they get a Season 5, we can worry about if Dory's dead or not. 

Oh and I really enjoyed all the guest stars, from Susan Sarandon to Griffin Dunne to Lillias White to RL Stine (that moment was amazing). Times are hard and this weird little show brought me a lot of joy, even if went too dark sometimes. 

[Guest]

Season 5 is a go!

[Milburn Stone]

I can buy that the entire Season 4 finale was Dory's death vision. The mere fact that she'd have no "reason" to imagine certain characters and conversations in her altered state is no barrier to my believing she imagined them. I don't know about you, but my dreams are cast with lots of characters I have no "reason" to put there. And those are just dreams! Who knows what you see when you're dead?

 

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by Milburn Stone

[peachmangosteen]

‘Search Party’: HBO Max Series Will End With Season 5, Streamer Sets Premiere Date & Unveils First-Look Photos

[Nande]

entire season 5 is out guys

[AngieBee1]

The series ended only the way it could: completely distanced from Its original conceit yet still endlessly satisfying 

[gesundheit]

I can't find a "previously on Search Party" video on HBO Max and my memory of the last season is garbage. Is there a good synopsis anywhere so I can figure out what did and did not really happen?

[BoffoDaWonderSheep]

Here’s a recap of season 4:

https://www.distractify.com/p/search-party-season-4-recap

21 hours ago, gesundheit said:

I can't find a "previously on Search Party" video on HBO Max and my memory of the last season is garbage. Is there a good synopsis anywhere so I can figure out what did and did not really happen?

 

[peachmangosteen]

Hated how they ended it but there was a lot of hilarious stuff this season. And I will forever be angry John Early never won an Emmy for this.

[gesundheit]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:03 PM, peachmangosteen said:

Hated how they ended it but there was a lot of hilarious stuff this season. And I will forever be angry John Early never won an Emmy for this.

He still could, right? (I know, I know, he won't though.)

[gesundheit]

Did Pepper ever get followed up on? The one follower who stayed in that room at the arcade?

[peachmangosteen]

28 minutes ago, gesundheit said:

Did Pepper ever get followed up on? The one follower who stayed in that room at the arcade?

She was a zombie.

[30 Helens]

I hated this season— except for the last two episodes, because these characters are most hilarious when they’re in panic mode. Episodes 1-8, I was mostly irritated and/or bored (except for the Bad Seed Robot child— that was just weird enough to be interesting); episodes 9-10, I could not stop laughing. So at least it ended on a high note.

I just wish a few more characters had popped up in the finale. Zombie Captor Guy from S4 would have been fun to see, especially if he were snacking on Jeff Goldblum. And what happened to the evil child? I suspect he was immune to zombie bites.

It was a wild ride. I liked the first 2 seasons the best, but I applaud the show for its creativity and constant reinvention. And I will miss John Early in this role. Elliot was the best.

[peachmangosteen]

3 hours ago, 30 Helens said:

And what happened to the evil child? I suspect he was immune to zombie bites.

They showed him as a zombie.

[SomeTameGazelle]

Liked the cast, binged the series pretty quickly since the episodes were nice and short. Drew in S2 reminded me very strongly of Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates being questioned. I wasn't delighted with the arc of Dory as cult leader but I didn't mind the Misery arc, loved Ann Dowd as the neighbour and the roundabout car chase with Susan Sarandon, and the resolution to the question of why Chip was always looking for a brand of hollowed-out chocolate bar that no one else had heard of. (But Susan Sarandon could have been his mother without Griffin Dunne being his father for that specific mystery to work, just saying.)

I did like the irony that when Dory was most calm and peaceful and enlightened that that was what made her friends decide that she must be unwell and should be committed to an institution. That's probably one of the reasons why I wasn't crazy about the fact that she did ultimately endanger a large number of people.

I also really enjoyed Gail (Dory's employer who was going through the divorce and lent her her car to take to Montreal), Dory's lawyer, Chantal's brother-in-law, Wallace Shawn, and Tunnel (even though at first I assumed Jeff Goldblum was playing himself and was surprised to hear the character name). I even appreciated the shallow, self-centred Chantal, especially during the phase when she was trying to get rich with her heartbreak idea.

There were a couple of things that are minor in the scheme of things but I have a hard time letting go so I have to dump them here:

• Assuming there were no grounds for a mistrial, I can't believe that Polly would not have made it a priority to try to bring a case against Dory for April's death. I would rather have seen some of that even if doomed to failure than the zombie outbreak. (I am also still mad that I was in the habit of checking the IMDB for the cast during episodes and spoiled myself that April had a twin right before Portia and Elliot realised they were following the wrong person.)
• Unless Chip was maintaining Dory's shaved head, her hair should have been longer after she had been in for however many stickers she had on the door.

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 1/22/2021 at 11:43 AM, SnarkEnthusiast said:

I was especially bummed that the Portia movie filming barely lasted an episode. That was probably the subplot I was most excited to see.

I would have adored a callback to the movie in S5 where we could see a scene of how it actually turned out (assuming that they finished it with someone else as Dory).

[iMonrey]

I thought most of the season was boring and pointless but once the zombie apocalypse broke out things really picked up, LOL. Definitely not the turn I expected the story to take. Nice bookend with Dory looking at all the "missing" fliers, Interesting Chantal thinks she's the one who brought about the apocalypse. Is she right? It was her self-imposed disappearance that started Dory on her journey in the first place, after all. I'm just not sure that's what Chantal meant.

This season had a real cavalcade of guest stars, although I'm not sure Kathy Griffin's character ever really fit. I think they could have dropped most of Chantal's story up until the very end when she ends up saving the day. 

I'll miss this show. It was cute and it was fun. It maybe didn't set the world on fire but I got a kick out of it.