'Search Party' Season 3 Preview: Did Portia confess about the gang's crimes to Elijah?
'Search Party' returns to HBO Max for a third season after almost three years since the conclusion of Season 2. The TBS show, which follows a group of friends who set out to find a missing girl but get embroiled in the ensuing chaos, has since moved on to HBO's new streaming service.
Created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers and Michael Showalter, Season 3 of 'Search Party' "finds the gang swept up in the trial of the century after Dory Sief (Alia Shawkat) and Drew Gardner (John Reynolds) are charged for the semi-accidental murder of a private investigator". Keith Powell (Ron Livingston) was accidentally killed in the previous season - in a surprising turn of events - by Dory and Drew. While Elliott Goss (John Early) and Portia Davenport (Meredith Hagner) weren't directly involved in the murder - they were accomplices in hiding the body.
Towards the end of season 2, Portia realizes that she had been wrongfully swept up in the thrill of helping Dory solve the mystery and now wants out of this whole mess. In the final episode of the previous season, the gang seeks to tie up loose ends in their lives — love and professional — before facing the sobering reality that they might all be arrested by midnight.
So Elliott Goss (John Early) visits his on and off boyfriend Marc (Jeffery Self), once again sabotaging his new relationship. And Portia visits her extremely weird director Elijah (Jay Duplass in a truly hilarious performance). Here, she is ready to confess the truth. Elijah promises that "I would die before I betray you," which reassures the very impressionable Portia. The last glimpse of the couple is with Elijah saying "Tell me".
For some inexplicable reason, Portia shares a very intimate bond with her director. For many of us in the audience, it is a disturbing one as Elijah seems adamant on removing anyone close to Portia from her life. He managed to manipulate her into cutting ties with her own mother. Soon after that, Portia abandons Dory to deal with the April crisis all by herself.
Considering how she completely trusts Elijah (to make decisions for herself), she is very likely to tell him the truth - possibly off-screen. This is no good news for the gang since a character as facetious and self-centered as he is not going to keep a secret. Portia may have caused Dory and Drew any damage, but the upcoming season will be trickier to navigate as she must grapple with whether or not to testify as a witness.
Season 3 of 'Search Party' will premiere on HBO Max on June 25. Season 1 and 2 are currently streaming on the service.