Okay, here’s me review. Compared to last weeks’ show, the
highs were higher but the lows weren’t quite as low. Of course with this being
an election year (and still a particularly outlandish one at that) the topical
material stood out the most. Lin Manuel Miranda proved to be a fun and
energetic host when he was being used and his presence wasn’t being
overshadowed by the news cycle that SNL was forcing itself to keep up with. As
far as the cast goes, good to see Vanessa and Sasheer again (being used more to
her own strengths and potential). Also, good to see them give Melissa some more
airtime from last week even if we’re still not getting to see her full range
quite yet. Alex Moffat is still someone who we haven’t seen break out yet and I
still can’t get a handle otn what he brings to the show due to his lack of
visibility. Anyway, let’s get down to it, shall we?
VP Debate/CNN Breaking News - The cold open was quite fun.
Even though a lot of the material felt really telegraphed, it was just as
cathartic as last weeks’ full length debate parody given what the actual
election news turned out to be. Good to see they were able to cover as much of
the VP debate as they absolutely needed to. Kudos to Melissa on getting the
role as the moderator and her fourth-wall breaking moment was nice. Mikey and
Beck played the Kaine and Pence roles well (although I thought they'd be
switched). The CNN transition was great. Baldwin still does a very committed Trump
and I’m still shocked that they were able to get away with saying “grab her by
the pussy” unbleeped this early in the show. Kate still very much relishes the
Hillary role and Cecily was a great foil to both of them. B+
Monolgue - Lin Manuel gave us a very fun, sprawling
monologue, but I would’ve liked to have seen them throw in some cast member
interactions just for good measure. He is actually quite a talented rapper now
that I've seen him perform. This looked like it was going to set an exciting
tone for the rest of the show but that didn’t quite pan out. B-
Campfire - This sketch is a poor follow up to both of the
things that preceded it. I got a strong Anderlette vibe here. Kyle made me
laugh and Kudos to Vanessa for getting in something so early on in the show
after being completely shut out last week. D+
Crucible Cast Party – This was pretty much tailor made for
someone with Lin Manuels' talents. He performed this well, but otherwise it had
too much of a throwback vibe. The whole high school setting and the fact that
it was another all-female cast music video made it feel like a leftover piece
from 2014. The biggest laugh was Aidy looking around at all the flamboyantly
gay boys who she assumed were into her. Speaking of Aidy, is anyone able to
identify the extra who played the lights-on aunt in this? Didn’t she also play “Jean”
in “Twin Bed” and the neighbor in “Back Home Ballers”? Is she perhaps a freidn
or relative of Aidys’? C+
Substitute Teacher - This sketch was something I really
started to like once I saw what they were going for (deconstructing all the tropes
of a certain type of movie). Lin fit the role perfectly and Kenan, Mikey, Pete and
Leslie scored some laughs and kudos to Sasheer for finally getting a decent
part with some decent lines. C+
A Day Off With Kellyanne Conway - This was a very well
written and directed short. I did like how Kate had to drop everything she did
to defend increasingly ridiculous Trump tweets. B+
Update had a very strong start but seemed to lose momentum.
I'm glad to see they had a plethora of material on the Trump tape and they
really hit it out of the park. I'm also glad some more focus was given to
individual jokes. It's nice to see they gave Pete his first commentary of the
season. It didn't blow me away but it's nice to see some different material
from Pete on how he is growing and maturing as a person. Hell, he almost made
me forget that he’s still younger than me. The Tina/Jimmy Philly undecided
voter commentary was all right but could've been edited down a bit for length.
It didn't have a lot of focus and the only thing that was truly funny were the
string of Pence comments and the subtle Trump/Fallon hair tussle jab. Also,
what really threw me for a loop at the beginning was hearing the name “Denise
McDonough” when Jost was introducing them. I was expecting Fallon to come out
with Rachel Dratch by his side as I remembered that being the name of Dratchs’ “Zazu”
character in their Boston teen’s sketches. It honestly took me about a minute
to put together that he was doing this bit with Fey, not Dratch, and that they
were doing Philladelphia accents, not Boston ones. Naturally, Tina did well
with her accent while Jimmy struggled with his. I wonder if Tina, being from
Philly herself, had to spend an inordinate amount of time coaching Fallon on
the accent. B-
Wells Fargo Wagon – This was a clever way of addressing the
Wells Fargo scandal even if it seems slightly like old news by now. Kyle had
plenty of funny lines and Lin played another role well that was right up his
alley. I have a feeling if Kelly and Schnieder didn’t write any of the Trump/Conway
material in the pre-Update portion of the show, they probably wrote this. C+
Diego Calls His Mom - This was rather strange. A lot of the
intended humor was lost on me since most of it was in Spanish, but it did have
its moments of quirky, low key charm if you were willing to follow it. Since
Alex Moffat was so heavily featured in this, I have a feeling he may have
written it. D+
Stranger Things Season 2 Sneak Peek – This parody was okay.
Even though I haven't watched Stranger Things (yet) and didn't get some of the
more specific references to the show, the basic premise wasn't lost on me.
Kenan, Leslie, Sasheer, Beck and Melissa all played their parts well. C+
Melania Moments II – This was much darker and funnier than
last week. B-
A Degree Of Valor - This sketch felt strange. It reminded me
a lot of a similar sketch from five seasons ago when Baldwin hosted the
premiere but this had a feeling like Pete or Mikey or Robinson/Kanin could've
written it. I did like Petes' sassy death at the end, though. C+
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