Okay, here’s my review. I don’t know what else to say about
this episode except that it was not nearly as bad as I expected it to be but it
was just as strange and overall it was rather uneven. They seemed to have
bought back all the recurring material it would have made sense for them to do
given which of Freds’ previous castmates were actually available for a cameo
and Fred put the exact style of comedy on display that we have all come to
expect from him. It made for an odd show as he didn’t bring back his most
overrated or obnoxious bits and this show had plenty of fun moments for those
willing to look for them. Still, Freds’ brand of humor seems to clash with the
stylings of this cast and he looked more and more like a product of his own
time as the show went on. You’ll see what I mean.
Bernie And Hillary At The Bar - Glad to see Larry reprise
his Bernie once more before the season ends. Most of the actual lines in the
sketch seemed pretty ham fisted but I did enjoy the sprawling dance number that
ended with Larry being thrown in the elevator. Also, it was nice to see Jon get
in one at least one LFNY before his inevitable departure. B+
Monologue - I like that Fred tried to get this off to a
sincere start but the rest of the monolog seemed way too derivative of his
later period pieces such as Tommy Palmese, Danish playhouse and his part in the
high school theater announcements sketch from the Dane Cook/James Blunt
episode. Plus it seemed to go on way too long. I did, however like his
"impression" of Lorne and the audience interaction bit as one note as
it was. C-
Lewis and Clark -
This sketch felt too much like a bad 13-14 sketch to really enjoy but Kyle was
Allright in it and the Jon/Sasheer/especially Pete reactions made the sketch
for me. D+
Digital Short: Finest Girl - It was nice to see Samberg
return with another musical Digital Short and I liked that he was promoting
"Popstar" (which genuinely looks funny) in character as Conner4Real,
but this was something I didn't quite know what to make of. He really got all
the mileage he could out of the premise and it only got funnier as Vanessa got
more intensely into her Bin Laden assassination fetish. Plus, it reminded me
quite a bit of Iran So Far. It was catchy as hell though. Still, I hope it's
not actually featured in the movie. C+
Regine III - I'm real glad to see Jason Sudekis get some
genuine applause for his second ever live cameo after leaving and I love how
physically comitted he is as a performer, but I really wish he would'be come
back for something, ANYTHING, besides Regine. That role, hell...that entire
sketch in general was never right for him. Also, what does it say that Aidy did
the most to utterly derail this sketch in terms of breaking? C-
Farewell Mr Bunting - This may actually be my all time
favorite thing that made it to air in season 41. I loved the dry, dead serious,
overly dramatic buildup to a well drawn out and we'll executed extreme gross
out gag. This would've been right at home in the Paul Rudd/Beyonce episode from
'08...but I mean that in a good way. A-
Update made a strong comeback from last week. Jost and Che
had several strong jokes and I liked that they pretty much went all out with
the audience. They really found a clever way to sneak Maya onto the show. Her
bit was strange in that while it reminded me a lot of her previous characters
such as Charo and Rebecca, it felt like she took a new (or at least slightly
different approach) to doing those exact same characters. I don't think we need
to see Willie again but I did appreciate how this installment took a darker,
more insane turn. B+
Escape Pod - This sketch also had a big buildup but it
didn't come close to paying off as well as Mr Bunting. Thankfully, it had a
competent ending. C-
Theater Showcase IV - This had its moments. I normally don't
have any problem with this sketch, but Fred is far too old to be playing the
role of the high school drama student. I like how they worked Larry David into
this but they could've got more mileage out of him here. Vanessa and Kenan had
good reactions. I also liked the MJ/Prince jab, Becks' "nature-ology"
line and Aidys' malaria bit. B-
Harkin Brothers Band - There was the obligatory Armisen
fronted band sketch. I do like how they worked in Samberg, David, Sudekis,
Rudolph and Brownstien along with literally the ENTIRE current cast but this
ultimately went nowhere. There was nothing even resembling a joke anywhere here
and felt like a much, much, much, MUCH inferior version of the Goodnight Saigon
sketch from the Will Ferrell/Green Day finale. I actually liked Freds' band
sketches from when he was actually in the cast than this. Hell, this didn't
even look like it was that much fun for the live audience. It looked like they
were running real short on time and had to cut way too much material from this.
D-
Now, for my updated review for this season…
1. Larry David/The 1975
2. Tracy Morgan/Demi Lovato
3. Elizabeth Banks/Disclosure with Lorde & Sam Smith
4. Tina Fey & Amy Poehler/Bruce Springsteen & The E
Street Band
5. Brie Larson/Alicia Keys
6. Julia Louis-Dreyfus/Nick Jonas
7. Ryan Gosling/Leon Bridges
8. Ariana Grande
9. Peter Dinklage/Gwen Stefani
10. Drake
11. Melissa McCarthy/Kanye West
12. Fred Armisen/Courtney Barnett
12. Jonah Hill/Future
13. Chris Hemsworth/Chance The Rapper
14. Adam Driver/Chris Stapleton
15. Donald Drumpf/Sia
16. Miley Cyrus
17. Matthew McConaughey/Adele
18. Russell Crowe/Margo Price
19. Amy Schumer/The Weeknd
20. Ronda Rousey/Selena Gomez
Well, this season might have petered out a bit. Still,
there’s hope as next season will take place during a presidential election
season with no incumbent running. Let’s hope next season turns out more like
’00 or ’08 (or even ’12) rather than ’04 in terms of political material. I
realize this election season has been so ridiculous that it is now beyond
effective satire but I would still like to see SNL rise to the challenge. See
you in September!
