Okay, here’s my review. The only real difference between
this episode and the previous two were how consistent the performers were.
Samberg bought some much needed goofy and fun energy that he’s so well known
for back to his old stomping grounds but unfortunately, he couldn’t have done
without better writing and less reliance on gratuitous cameos and old recurring
features. Most of the newer cast was shoved onto the back burner in favor of
Samberg’s old cast mates stopping by, but I guess that was to be expected.
Anyway, let’s get on with the show.
Message From Jay-Z and Solange - This cold open was decent.
I've seen more clever takes on the Solange incident, but this was good for
current SNL standards. Jay does a great Hova and Sasheer turned in a fine
performance here. Kenan as the bodyguard was funny at first, but got kinda old.
Still, I did like the brief laughing/coughing bit and I liked Jay’s slam at
Beyonces’ “sexually aggressive” music. The spider audio and footage of Bobby as
the security guard were the true highlights of this. Maya's cameo was
inevitable, but it could've been worse. Still, I think they could've shortened
it just a tad. Hell, it almost seemed like they saw this board, read the posts
from some of Maya's true haters and wrote her part just to piss us/them/you
guys off. Oh well, I didn't mind it that much. C+
Monologue -This was surprisingly fun. The "6 live
sketches" line was a joke he repeated last year that I saw coming a mile
away, but I liked his other self-deprecating Golden Globes bits. The Timberlake
photo was also a nice touch. Seth's cameo felt unnecessary, but he and
"Sambags" are best buds after all. The impression off was quite fun
and I loved the rapid fire energy of it. I especially laughed at the Teller/Bin
Laden impressions. His Seth Meyers impression was terribly inaccurate and his
Zooey Deschanel sounded more like Kermit the Frog, but the rest were good. Bill's
cameo was great, too. Short's cameo was nice but felt a little tacked on. B+
Camp Wicwabe - This bit was cute, but felt like it ran a
little too long. Kate, Aidy and Cecily turned in fine performances. I did like
the brief Simpsons/assbutt reference. Kyles brief appearance was okay. Samberg
was the true highlight of this. I laughed at his line about his only pube and
the condom thing. Since nothing else stood out to me about this, I guess the
most generous way I can assess this sketch is that in an era when SNL is
constantly being criticized for being juvenile, it's nice to see something
that's at least endearingly juvenile on purpose. Also, what exactly was the point
to this sketch being set in 1990? C+
Digital Short: When Will The Bass Drop? - This was nice in
that it was something that we weren't totally all expecting. I did like how
they poked fun at the annoying dubstep/EDM craze that's sweeping the nation and
all the brief Zucker-esque sight gags were fun. Even though it started to give
me flashbacks to "Everyone's A Critic" in '08 (especially the Indiana
Jones reference) but anything with that many headsplosions is automatically a
guilty pleasure of mine. C+
Confident Hunchback - This seemed tailor made for Samberg.
Still, I think he underperformed it somewhat. He had some good lines though and
the ladies played well off him. C-
Update went out on a relative high note compared to most of
the rest of this season. The jokes were nothing to write home about. I did like
Cecily's Long Island sleeves joke but Jost's delivery of his Worried
Feet/birthing twins jokes probably did theabsolute least to help his image. I'm
glad they let Kyle bring back Bruce Chandling after it got cut last week. It is
kind of an odd coincidence that this character has now appeared in both the
premiere AND finale of this season which were BOTH hosted by former cast
members. I liked how increasingly bizarre and then dark his jokes got. I'm also
glad they bought back "Get In The Cage" because I've always liked
Samberg's Nic Cage. Andy had several great lines (and great hair/makeup work as
well) here including Never On Demand/tebagging the Magna Carta and his jabs at
Colin. Rudd played off him well and I loved the puns Andy made on his name. C+
Vogelchecks VI - I really don't think we needed to see this
again. At least this time the kissing wasn't as gratuitous as the applause. The
kissing was actually just silly and funny even if most of it was based around
rather tired and predictable gags. The Micheal Sam angle being worked into this
was also a little lame and forced, but it led to some decent lines and
exchanges between Wiig, Hader, Rudd and Armisen. Speaking of Hader, it was nice
to see him again but I wish it was in a different sketch than this. I know how
much he likes doing these, so I guess I'll give him a pass on this one. Fred
breaking character was pretty irritating. Thankfully, they kept this from going
on too long. D+
Waking Up W/Kimye III - I don't totally think we needed to
see this return either, but at least this one sort of made up for the last one
from the Fallon show being such a disaster. It was fun seeing Taran's Bruce
Jenner again. Samberg's character was the true highlight of this. Nassim's
leave/Veera Wang one liners made me chuckle. Jay still performs this well and I
did like the odd ramble about his wedding costume despite how he oddly broke
away from his usual delivery with it. C+
Digital Short: Hugs - Two Digital Shorts?!? Didn't see THAT
one coming! Anyway, I don't know if I liked this better than the first one but
I liked seeing another classic Lonely Island rap number with Jorm and Kiv and
the premise for this was just silly enough to work. The Pharell and
Maya-as-Oprah cameos felt a little tacked on (especially since Pharell was just
on the show last month) but I remembered this was a track they worked on for
the Wack Album about a year ago so this was probably just done for sheer
convenience and timeliness. B-
Legolas From “The Hobbit” Tries To Order At Taco Bell – This
was decent. It was very short so there wasn’t much to say about it except Andy
performed well, Jay played great off him, Bobby as Gimli was a nice addition
and it was just silly enough to make me giggle. C+
Blizzard Man V – I liked seeing this return as I liked the
first few they did around 06-08, but it seemed like Andy really wasn’t giving
this one his all. The 2 Chainz cameo felt a little unnecessary. Was he the only
rapper they could get? I know they need a cameo from a current rapper for
these, but I would’ve liked to have seen someone different. I did like the “ratchet
dames” line, but the ending seemed really lazy. I do appreciate how Kenan
simply said he “dropped out the game” rather than cheaply referencing the last
sketch/episode this character appeared in. Overall, it was one of the better sketches
of the night even if it left me wanting a bit more but I suppose that’s been
par for the course this whole season. C+
Watches – I think the former porn stars are definitely
played out at this point. This is their sixth appearance over the course of two
seasons. I did like the “Cleo-mydia” and Donald Sterling lines. Wiigs cameo was
unnecessarily gratuitous (man, I feel like I’ve over used those words in every
review I’ve ever written now) but she and Samberg were really the only remotely
interesting parts to this. Literally nothing else about this stood out to me.
D+
Well, that was that. This season got just the sendoff it
about deserved. Now, for my final updated rankings of the entire season…
1. Kerry Washington/Eminem
2. Miley Cyrus
3. Lady Gaga
4. Andrew Garfield/Coldplay
5. Seth Rogen/Ed Sheeran
6. Louis C.K./Sam Smith
7. Anna Kendrick/Pharrell
8. Bruce Willis/Katy Perry
9. Tina Fey/Arcade Fire
10. Paul Rudd/One Direction
11. Drake
12. Lena Dunham/The National
13. Andy Samberg/St. Vincent
14. Jim Parsons/Beck
15. Josh Hutcherson/HAIM
16. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake
17. Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons
18. Charlize Theron/Black Keys
19. John Goodman/Kings of Leon
20. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae
Now for my official year in review…
Good: Fey/Fire, Washington/Eminem
Surprisingly Good: Cyrus, Gaga, Drake, Dunham/National
Bad: Norton/Monae, McCarthy/Dragons,
Meh: Willis/Perry, Hutcherson/HAIM, Rudd/1D, Hill/Bastille,
LCK/Smith, Kendrick/Pharell, Rogen/Sheeran, Garfield/Coldplay, Theron/Keys,
Samberg/Vincent
Just Disappointing: Goodman/Leon, Fallon/Timberlake
Maybe I’ll see you again in the fall…or maybe not. Who
knows? We’ll see.
Goodnight, Stooge, and have a pleasant tomorrow.
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