The reviews are unanimous and warm. Most critics take Search Party as a satire of aimless twentysomethings that works because it is also a proper missing-person mystery, the case handing the characters a purpose they would never find on their own. The praise clusters on Alia Shawkat, whom several reviews credit with holding the show together as it shifts between screwball comedy, thriller and something colder, and on the precision of its tone, with more than one critic reaching for art-house comparisons rather than sitcom ones. Several name it among the best new series of its year.
The spread is narrow, from good to excellent, and nobody dislikes it. The reservations concern the cleverness: Variety finds it can turn precious, and The Hollywood Reporter, the coolest of the eight, calls it off-putting and addictive at the same time. Everyone else simply wants the next episode.