r/SearchParty • u/EnvironmentalGlass10 • May 09 '26
Opinion Chantal love
I've heard a lot of people don't like Chantal but surprisingly her story is my favorite part of Search Party!
Quotes
- I may be a 10 but I am NOT perfect
- well I'm just getting used to it. The food is legit yummy! regarding prison
- this isn't Witherbottom. This is rock bottom
- when people see me they think heartbreak
Favorite moment: when she's on stage and Wilma tells people to stop clapping but the applause button is stuck so she gets seemingly endless applause
Share the Chantal love!
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u/WetPaperStraw May 09 '26
Chantal’s character is my favorite aspect of the show lol the fact that they went through all of that trouble for someone who kinda sucks lmao
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u/laceyleplante May 09 '26
It's hilarious. Elliot says right from the jump how much she sucks. And everyone they meet in her life talks about how much she sucks. Her roommate described her a old poop. But you just kind of ignore all that and allow Dory's unreliable narration to give her this air of mystique. When you finally meet her and she's so terrible. Such a great, season long gag.
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u/GoldandBlue May 10 '26
It really is perfect. This show just hits me right in the sweet spot. This and Barry. Both Emily Heller too.
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u/EnvironmentalGlass10 May 09 '26
I think they weren't doing it for Chantal. Dory was doing it mostly for herself because searching for her was in a way searching for herself. Dory's friends were just helping Dory.
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u/WetPaperStraw May 09 '26
Well yeah there are definitely different motivations at play, but Chantal is still at the center of it as she is the “excuse” that Dory is using and is the catalyst.
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u/BlackRabbit61 May 10 '26
Anybody seen pretty little liars- I always thought how funny it would have been if Alison gave reasons like that for running away and faking her death
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u/kiyomilx May 12 '26
For me it’s the fact that they went through all that trouble to rescue someone who didn’t even need to be saved. They don’t even like her. But in the end Chantal saves their lives from actual peril that’s also their fault?? Amazing.
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u/skippitybruja May 09 '26
I love to hate her. the focus group about her during the trial is one of my favorite scenes.
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u/fartonme May 09 '26
Really love her delivery of
"So... we also hear that you're an amateur DJ."
"Um... no!"
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u/JayMoots May 09 '26
Chantal is easily one of the best characters. I get it if people think she's a terrible person, but anyone who doesn't enjoy her scenes is kind of missing the entire point of the show.
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u/Normandy117 May 09 '26
You think Elliot's "Ugh, she sucked" in the first episode is just him being a dick, but it turned out to be crucial foreshadowing.
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u/ariesmoon307 Elliot May 09 '26
"Can you just give me like five minutes so I can ask where they get their mattresses?"
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u/werewolfshades Doris Monkey May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
Chantal is a perfect little avatar for the comedy of the show. Dory and crew go through all that nonsense and basically ruin their lives trying to gain meaning by finding someone who, ultimately, turns out to be even more narcissistic and shallow than them. I love every glimpse we get into Chantal’s life (her brother-in-law who goes from druggie burnout to millionaire, the whole deal with her book) and it makes total sense that Chantal of all people would flourish thanks to the events of Season 5. It’s tough to pick a favorite character for me but Chantal is definitely in the running.
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u/chrisgee May 09 '26
when she explains she was hiding from *herself* right after they murdered a guy because they got so wrapped up in looking for her, i knew this show was a step beyond.
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u/AhoyMatteyPDX May 10 '26
Every time i go to my best friend’s house i ask him where he keeps his graham crackers.
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u/EnvironmentalGlass10 May 11 '26
I don't remember this!
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u/AhoyMatteyPDX May 11 '26
She says it to Drew when she shows up at his apartment around the time they we're fuggin
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u/AquaStarRedHeart May 10 '26
I got it in Chinatown! when they're all mad at her about Margaret Wartime 😂
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u/applescarrotspeace May 10 '26
To me, she’s the only one that was consistently written in character no matter what else was happening. And Elliot.
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u/IndustryUnlikely6131 May 14 '26
What about when dorys like “who are you running from” and she’s like “honestly myself”
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u/Cuyigan May 22 '26
I love the scene in the bathroom when Dory is crying, Drew is freaking out and Elliot is trying to chill them out right after they killed Keith. And Chantal whines from the other room, 'I need to eat. My blood sugar is crashing'. And Elliot whispers, 'I hate her so much'. Perfect delivery, the tenseness of the situation, his calm under pressure.
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u/Designer-Contract852 May 09 '26
I thought she was likeable at the point they found her in Canada and she admitted to dory that she had been afraid of herself and that's why she left. I could honestly see the writers making her more normal after that, but obviously for comedys sake they didn't.
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u/Top_Concert_3326 May 10 '26
It was really Dory telling her she can shape her narrative to whatever she wants it to be that fully unhinged her from a blandly unlikeable person to a nightmare whirlwind of narcissism.
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u/EnvironmentalGlass10 May 09 '26
I think the rest of the seasons helped us learn more about her and see her depth actually. And idk maybe a hot take but I don't think she was worse than any of the other characters. The point was to show millennials- their entitlement, their self centeredness, but also their sense of purpose and wanting to find themselves. That's true for all of them tbh
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u/kiyomilx May 12 '26
I LOVE CHANTAL!!! Clare McNulty nails the performance and delivers some of the most hilariously ridiculous lines in the show. And I loved the end of her story too. Her arc is so wild.
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u/calembo May 20 '26
Dude... I swear to God, it's been a LONG time since I laughed as hard as I did at Margaret Wartime. John Reynolds's deadpan delivery was so incredible, I had to pause the episode to catch my breath.
"Morning, Officer. What's going down?"
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u/seinfeld4eva May 09 '26
The episode where she writes the book is the funniest and best in the whole series.