Okay, here’s my review. This was one of the weaker shows of
the season. It relied too much on recurring material and a rather shaky host
and musical guest but still, for all its faults it maintained a certain amount
of this seasons quality. Anyway, let’s get on with it.
Palin Endorsement Speech – Well, they had to do it. Even
though Darrell has played Donald Trump on SNLs’ last three live episodes in a
row and Tina has played Palin twice in a span of just less than five weeks,
they couldn’t get away with NOT doing this. As forced as most of this seemed,
it was a fun cold open and while giving asides to the camera felt a little
jarring and unnatural, I can see how it was one of the easier ways to insert
commentary on Palins’ speech itself. I mean, it must’ve been hard enough to
make this speech MORE ridiculous than it was in real life but Tina did well
enough with it. Darrell had great lines about Scrooge toward the end. B-
Monologue – Ronda was a little stiff and seemed to rush
through a lot of this like she was out of her element, but she handled a rather
meta, premise driven monologue capably. It was very gracious of her to
congratulate Holly Holm on beating her. Kenan played a decent corner man. Beck
and Taran were great as color men. Kyles disappointed audience member was
funny. Kate as Justin Bieber also seemed a little forced. They picked the exact
right spot to use Selena and for once a singing monologue did not feel
gratuitous or unnecessary. B+
Screen Guild Awards – This was probably the strongest piece
of the night and had some of the sharpest writing behind it. The black cast
gave great shade and side eye and Che displayed some surprisingly great
dramatic acting chops in his taped segments. I did like how each of the “white
guy roles” in the Oscar analogue clips became increasingly small as the
premises became more and more blatantly black centric. A-
Love Struck – This was probably the best use of Rouseys
talents all night. I liked the dark turns this took. Good on Vanessa for
writing this and being so committed to it. She seemed to be channeling Cecily
at certain points. Beck getting throat punched was also a nice touch. B-
Bland Man – I can’t believe they carbon copied “Farm Hunk”
from Blake Sheltons’ underwhelming outing a year ago. Hell, I’m shocked they
threw together a Bachelor parody without even referencing how one of their
current contestants looks just like Cecily. I’ll give this one points for replacing
Blake with Taran, though. This was probably Rouseys’ second weake3st
performance of the night. Selenas’ cameo was the only true highlight. D+
Good For You/Same Old Love/Hands To Myself – It is rare that
I comment on the musical performances, but I have to say Selena (or her
singing) didn’t bother me here as much as the mens’ snapping chorus and
mattress choreography did.
Update was kind of uneven. They gave a good effort with the jokes
even if the audience wasn’t that into them. Che got in a good jab at Lorne and
great slams at Trump and the Oscars but I’m shocked no one jumped on his ass
for using the term “window licking waterheads”. It was nice to see Leslie
behind the desk again, but this Leo Dicaprio commentary wasn’t her best work.
Glad Jost seemed to find it much funnier than I did. Willie just bought the
whole thing down…again. C+
Three’s A Crime: The Janet-Johnson Luna and Kara Torkelson
Civil Trial – I can’t believe they recurred THIS either (even as an excuse to tack
on Ronda Rousey into another live sketch) but as expected Pete easily walked
away with this. I, of course, liked the text/traffic cam/GIF/Vine evidence as
well as Petes’ laundry list of peer nicknames. D+
Super Crew – This felt like a big swing and a miss. I’m
shocked anyone even thought this worked on paper. Kudos to the cast for at
least performing the hell out of this, though. D+
At The Club – This oddly felt like something any sketch
comedy outlet BUT SNL should’ve been doing. Beck stole this (which isn’t saying
much) and Taran demonstrated some decent rap skills but overall, it felt like a
rehash of the Jack Sparrow music vid with Taran and Jay as the Lonely Island
and Beck in the Michael Bolton role. D-
City Council II – This worked much better during Amy
Schumers’ show. It was another sketch I’m surprised they thought would work
again. I did like Leslies’ walk off, Kates’ general insanity and Petes’appearance.
I appreciated Kyles’ effort. This was definitely Rouseys worst performance of
the night. C-
Football Party – This was worth seeing just for Kyle and
Becks silliness. Otherwise, it was pretty forgettable. C+
Now, for my update rankings of the entire season so far…
1. Tracy Morgan/Demi Lovato
2. Elizabeth Banks/Disclosure with Lorde & Sam Smith
3. Tina Fey & Amy Poehler/Bruce Springsteen & The E
Street Band
4. Ryan Gosling/Leon Bridges
5. Chris Hemsworth/Chance The Rapper
6. Adam Driver/Chris Stapleton
7. Donald Trump/Sia
8. Miley Cyrus
9. Matthew McConaughey/Adele
10. Ronda Rousey/Selena Gomez
11. Amy Schumer/The Weeknd
Well, that went about exactly as most expected it too. Next
month, Larry David comes back for his first hosting stint in what has to be the
most exciting announcement of a host booking since Louis CK or Zach Galifinakis.
See you then!
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