You may be wondering what took me so long to write this
review. Well, there was a stomach flu going around and my sister had it when I
helped her move out of her dorm so while I did watch the show…I was far too ill
to do a live review. Plus, in the middle of all this I had to move and take a
few more classes to fulfill my last remaining credit hours before I graduate
this year. I’m all better now and I’ve found some time in my surprisingly busy
schedule to type this up, so here goes.
Okay, here’s my review. This show was possibly the most inconsistent
of this whole season and casts’ airtime and the host’s performance are perhaps
the greatest evidence of this. While Charlize seemed to be committed to a
sketch when needed, she also seemed to be phoning it in at other times. Still,
there were plenty of bright spots and pleasant surprises. Nothing stood out as
tremendously bad. What was good was good and what was bad was just mostly due
to its derivative nature. So, let’s get right to it.
Mother’s Day Message from Michelle and Hillary – This was a
decent cold open premise wise, but something small was lacking in execution.
Shasheer did a fine Michelle and kudos to the show for making good use of her
here. Vanessa’s Hillary wasn’t totally baseless, but it seemed to get worse as
it progressed. It sounded more like a cross between Miley and Tina’s Palin.
There weren’t a lot of laughs here and Vanessas’ voice got more grating as she
shouted her lines even louder as the sketch progressed. I agree that Kate would’ve
been a better choice. Still, I did like the jabs at Michelle making several
guest appearances and the obesity lines. That’s the best thing I can say about
this open. D+
Monologue – I vomited right from the obligatory “14 years to
come back” joke and didn’t stop until the current cast came out for their big
musical number. Coincidence? Anyway, there wasn’t much to this premise wise but
I do admire Charlize for committing to lame singing and being embarrassed at
being so multi-talented in other areas. I also liked Beck’s brief “I don’t care”
line and anytime SNL acknowledges its own past (no matter how recent or
irrelevant) is always nice. D+
Come Do A Game Show w/your Mom, It’ll be Fun! Yes, it Will! –
This reminded me too much of the Lifetime game show from Anna Farris’ second
episode, but this had some better writing and performances to it. Kate, Bobby
and Kyle’s performances really saved this. Aidy and Charlize didn’t add all
that much. Good that they found a suitable role for Brooks here, too. There
were plenty of good lines here too and thankfully they knew how to keep it from
getting old and stale (mostly thanks to Kate’s considerable talents). Possibly
the second best live segment of the night. B-
Girlfriends Talk Show VI – This was probably the weakest of
all these sketches…and THAT’S saying something. Aidy had decent lines here as
always, but this time not even she could do as much to save this. She’s also
starting to play her character as too much of a wet blanket at this point.
Cecily’s character has gotten to be almost useless at this point but this
sketch’s bizarre ramble about her “boyfriend” was her best yet. Charlize’s
performance was quite strange. She showed commitment to the role of an
over-the-top drama teacher, but not nearly enough. At times, she put enough
into her performance and at toehr times she didn’t. Still, it’s kind of a
sketch trope we’ve seen countless times already so it’s not like we would’ve
been missing much either way. Also, is it just me or does Charlize closely
resemble Taylor Swift no matter what kind of wig they put her in?
Dragon Babies – I think it’s safe to say this is the best
performance of Mike O’Brien and Cecily Strong’s SNL careers so far. Also, kudos
to whoever produced the computer animation on this one. I’d like to know more
about how they pulled this off. Taran, Noel and Nassim all played straight off
them well. I also liked the gun firing gag. This was quite an ambitious premise,
but it worked. Good to see that Mike and Cecily seem to have patched things up.
B-
Heshy II – I’m honestly surprised they bought this back, but
at least I don’t remember totally hating it the first time. Honestly, this
version wasn’t any better but it did bring out a rather sweetly endearing
quality to Nassim’s character. Charlize
barely added anything, but Vanessa’s intro/outro lines were pretty funny. C+
Update is showing visible signs of improvement in terms of
writing at least. The jokes are getting a little better despite Colin and
Cecily’s jokes not really adding anything to them. “Breaking Nudes” was pretty
dumb, but the sheer silliness and spontaneity of it made me giggle. Barbara
Walters proved to be a good sport, but something did seem a little off about
her. Both she and Cecily could’ve been more open to tougher jabs and a little
less brown nosing. I did like the brief impression montage and the
Kardashian/president camera switching. Drunk Uncle was pretty much the same,
but it was fun this time around. I did like the e-cig and selfie slams but
having him call Jost “Seth” was pointlessly predictable. C-
Bikini Beach Party – This was probably the best live sketch
of the night (and probably in the top five for the whole season). Sure, it
seemed a little one note in spots and would’ve felt right at home during ’94-’95,
but it felt quite ambitious in terms of this season (especially props/staging
wise). Current SNL is seriously lacking in this flavor of darker humor. I did
like how they threw in some jabs at ‘50s/’60s beach movie tropes for a nice
balance and a joke about Taran’s character being 26 while all the girls were
13. Kenan’s cameo was okay but we could’ve done without it. Thankfully, they kept
this from running on too long. Charlize introducing the Black Keys covered in
whale blood was also a nice touch. This sketch is definitely better appreciated
when you’re not prone to vomiting like a Scottish Soccer Hooligan. B+
Whiskers R’ We – I feel like this is the one sketch all
night that definitely ran on too long, but Kate was okay in it. I did like the
sociopath/jaguar/bald eagle eating lines toward the end. Charlize’s voice was
okay, but the joke about her being a Smithers-esque closeted lesbian was too
predictable and got kinda old. Incidentally, “Bandit” happens to be the name of
my sister’s cat. C+
Good Neighbor: Tourists – One thing I liked about this was
how the humor didn’t come as much from Good Neighbor mimicking the genuine
documentary feel as much as it came from the cast messing with unsuspecting
people on the street. The best characters in this were Kyle, Beck, Jay and
Bobby. Kate’s accent was really well done as was the makeup on Charlize.
Overall, while maybe not their most memorable short but it was a very different
style outing for Good Neighbor. It reminded me more of a remote segment Fred
Armisen would do around 02-04. B+
Now, for my updated rankings of the 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. Jim Parsons/Beck
14. Josh Hutcherson/HAIM
15. Jimmy Fallon/Justin Timberlake
16. Melissa McCarthy/Imagine Dragons
17. Charlize Theron/Black Keys
18. John Goodman/Kings of Leon
19. Edward Norton/Janelle Monae
Well, this episode certainly wasn’t as memorable as Charlize’s
previous outing from 2000 (certainly not for HER performances anyway) but still
managed to find a few small saving graces here and there. Andy Samberg returns
soon to host the finale. I’m actually looking forward to bringing some kind of
energy that the current writing is lacking. See you then!
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