Okay, here’s my review. This episode was completely
indistinguishable from either of Emma Stones’ previous two shows in terms of
quality. Sure, she still gives it her all and she’s still a talented sketch performer
in her own right, but something still seems missing. I don’t know if it’s just
the lack of energy, but it’s almost as if they still don’t know how to use Emma
to her full potential. Granted, she may be working with a different cast and a
different writing staff this time (each with their own different sensibilities)
but I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same. Still, it was considerably
better than the previous live show since it relied less on unwelcome recurring
material. The cast seemed balanced tonight, but things may not be looking so
great for Melissa Villasenor as it’s two weeks until the Christmas show and we
have yet to see anything of genuine substance from her. Anyway, let’s just get
right into it…
Trump Tweets – This cold open felt a sort of unfocused,
derivative and just slightly toothless. Maybe it's because I'm not completely
up on the Trump/16yrold/Twitter story or maybe it's because jokes about Trumps'
miniscule attention span feel a little down the beaten path (or maybe it's
because it was a little too close to their last cold open) but this one wasn't
without it's redeeming moments. Kate and Bobbys' parts were the funniest. Alec
had great “build the swamp/drain the wall” lines. Kenan and Alex had good
inauguration lines and I liked the Grim Bannon the most. C+
Monologue - This have been her best out of the three she's
done so far. It was subtle, revealing and poignant. It didn't blatantly retread
any other monologue and it took us backstage for a bit and made us wonder a bit
more about whether Leslie's relationship with Kyle us as real as her “relationship”
with Jost. Vanessa, Aidy and Bobby had
the best lines and Becks' barely missed hug was funny. B-
Woodbridge High School Theater Showcase V - The high school
theater showcase may have felt like lather/rinse/repeat by this point but Emma
Stone really added something to this. Plus, Kenan and Vanessa had their best
comebacks yet. C+
Christmas Candle – This short was pretty unremarkable. It
just felt like they put "Wishin' Boot" and "Neurotology" in
a blender with a tiny pinch of Sump'n Claus and Egg Nog for good measure and
poured it through a strainer to remove "Wishin' Boot"s' air of
mystique. D+
Posters - This was a big waste. It felt too much like a
jokeless '09-'12 Era sketch for my liking. Everyone pulled their weight but
Emmas' Character was too obnoxious and shouldn't have been the focus of the
sketch. She played a role that would be WAY better suited for Wiig, Abby,
Vanessa or Nassim. In fact, it was like every single one of all of their
performances smashed together. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this got
cut from the previous shows’ dress rehearsal. The payoff was all right but just
wasn't worth the buildup. D-
The Hunt For Hill – This was a little underwhelming.
Essentially, it was a joke that social media had beaten to death by the time
SNL had come back from Thanksgiving break but fleshing it out and executing it
as a sketch didn't do them a tone of favors. They kinda stretched themselves
too thin with this one and showed that it wasn't totally worth the effort of
the execution. C-
Update felt a little lopsided tonight. Either Che was having
a real off night or Jost just happened to get all the best material. Leslie's
commentary was pretty middle of the road for her but the mascot riffs and
mirror instructions were worth a few laughs. The Rachel commentary served its
purpose of drum rolling the Aniston cameo. While it went down like almost every
other impersonator-meets-subject cameo in SNL history, it was one of the least
wasted cameos in recent memory. B-
Cleaning Crew - This was better than it had any right to be.
I did appreciate the strangely oversexualized nature of the Santa songs and the
scattershot nature of the reactions. Also, it seemed strange that this sketch
was Cecily's first live appearance so late in the show. If this was obligatory
Anderlette sketch of the night, I have to give them props because it was less
loathsome than everything else they've ever written. C+
Paley Center Screening - I could certainly tell where this
was headed right away. While I'm still not all that into this new Kate
character I have to say I liked this installment much better than the original
from the season premiere as she had much better material. It's good to see the
same level of acerbic writing is here. Also, while Kate was the main focus of
this sketch it was a wasted opportunity as far as Leslie self-cameos are
concerned. B-
Fischer-Price Wells For Boys - The well sketch was quite enjoyable
despite not being "ha-ha" funny. I'm willing to bet that Julio Torres
wrote this. It smacks of his style even though it's more coherent and straight
forward than the rest of his work. B-
Nativity Scene – While this wasn’t the most inventive
premise in the world or anything, Kyle played his part very well as did Emma.
Also, Emma played her part EXACTLY like Cecily would have. It's almost like
this sketch was originally written for her but was cut from previous seasons'
dress rehearsals. It makes me wonder if this was just resubmitted for Emma or
why couldn't Cecily have just done it instead. C+
Now, for my updated rankings of this season…
1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest
2. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga
3. Lin Manuel Miranda/Twenty One Pilots
4. Margot Robbie/The Weeknd
5. Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars
6. Emma Stone/Shawn Mendes
7. Kristen Wiig/The xx
8. Benedict Cumberbatch/Solange
No comments:
Post a Comment