Okay, here's my review. Despite our collective lowered expectations going into this show, it turned out to be the best episode of 2017 so far. Kristen Stewart played WAY against type the entire night as someone who was actually excited to be on the show and had chemistry with her coworkers. Obviously, some of her unbridled "awkwardness" from her Twilight days still carries over to her performances to this day, but that didn't hinder her too much here. All things considered, I wouldn't mind seeing her back on the show if she has something to promote and Lorne/NBC agree let her back on the air kmore on that in just a moment). Solid writing and a major unexpected cameo were two other factors in this shows' success. Aside from Sasheer and maybe Cecily, the whole cast got plenty of airtime tonight (even Alex and Melissa are finding their niches and things are looking up for them on the show now) so there was a real sense of balance. Anyway, let me break it down for you.
Oval Office - This cold open was a lot of fun even if it might be overkill to trot Baldwin back out a week before he is due back to host. They sure did cram in all of Trump's fuck ups since the inauguration well. I did like the return of Grim Bannon. Beck as Turnbull and Alex as Pena Nieto were Allright (although they probably should've placed Melissa in that role). Kenan really walked away with this as the dictator of Zimbabwe. During tbe desk switching scene, did anyone else get major flashbacks to tye second of the two Fey/Fallon era Weekend Update Thursday night specials from 2001? B+
Monologue - This started out well but kinda lost momentum. Still, it showed Kristen had much, MUCH more potential as a host than we first thought. She didn't seem like she was difficult to work with at all. It kinda felt like they had two ideas for the monologue and couldn't decide which ONE to use. I'll admit that her referencing Trumps' tweets on her relationship w/Pattinson were very clever. Kate was all right but throwing in Aidy really didn't make any sense. They handled the f-bomb well and I genuinely wonder if they will actually "ban" Kristen or if Lorne will just pay the FCC fine and that will be the end of it. Still, I can already see the uproar over this. B-
Immigration Welcome Film - This was clever, if not a little underwritten. Beck was the real highlight but if have to wonder how hastily they had to edit in his line about the judge block at the end since it just happened the morning of this show. C+
UCONN Dry Fridays - This sketch was all rght but they didn't go far enough with it. I liked the idea of Kristen spouting a series of insane Braskyesque drunken stories but it was pretty one note. They should've had it build to something more. I didn't hate it, but at the same time I was waiting for it to end. I couldn't help but think how any other host might have handled Kristens, role after she and Pete both stepped on the same line. C+
Totino - I should've expected then to do another one of these ads rght before the Super Bowl. The twist here was clever but I still liked the Larry David one better. This could'be also been edited down and it obviously has Julio Torres' fingerprints all over it. B-
Sean Spicer Press Conference - I'm usually not a huge fan of Melissa McCarthys' performances on this show but casting her as Sean Spicer was brilliant. I thought they might just cast Beck or Bobby but they couldn't really capture Spicers' high pitch whine. Mikey or Alex certainly could but they're both too skinny for this part. Jason Sudekis would've been the next best thing if his connection to the show weren't so tennuous. Anyway, Melissa made the most of this role. Kudos to the hair and makeup department. She played well off the rest of the cast and made great use of all her "props". Bobby, Kate, Mikey and Kyle also had very funny supporting partz in this as well. I actually wouldn't mind if this impression became really urging much like LD/Bernie or Baldwin/Trump. A+
Update was pretty forgettable aside from what had to be some of the biggest gaffes in the shows history. Colin really saved Ches' ass after he screwed up his Trump/O'Reilly/dog joke. Che and Kenan really did the same for him after he mistakenly tried to bring it all home after the latter's forced Papi Ortiz commentary. Honestly, that was for the better because Ches' super bowl mini rant was a much better thing to end on anyway. C+
Family Feud VII - I'm actually kinda impressed they managed to keep findimg excuses to do Celebrity Family Feud. Kenans' Steve Harvey is getting better. Sadly, no impressions really stood out (put of the ones we haven't seen before. Leslie as Sam Jackson was another bit of clever stunt casting that didn't quite work out. Kates' Bieber really seemed tacked on needlessly. Alex as Casey Affleck seemed more like an in joke between the staff and us superfans who watch the show with alarming regularity. You would have had to see him host to really find that funny. Melissa was okay as Lady Gaga but I have a feeling it's not one of her well known impressions from her pre-SNL period for a reason. Still, that's okay because that was a pretty small role that she couldn't really add much to. Everyone else was just sreviceable in their roles, but WOW Kristen Stewarts' hoy some legs on her! (and there's REALLY nothing else I can say about this sketch as the introductions are still too much of the bulk of these.) C-
Meet Cute -This was a simple premise that they really mined the hell out of. It was one of the better written short films on recent memory. Pete Davidson really turned in his funniest performance on the show to date. If I had to venture a guess as to who wrote this, I'd have to say that the Britanick guys did. This seems pretty close to their style to me. B-
Willy Wonka - This was the first real dud of the night. It felt like the only true filler sketch of the whole show. Thankfully, it was in the PERFECT time slot. Pete and Kristen were terribly miscast in their parts (Pete more so that Keisten) and Petes' singing was quite weak. Thankfully, Mikey and Kate were able to add something different to it. Plus, Vanessa repeating her only line twice was really pointless. C-
Now, for my updated rankings for this season...
1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest
2. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga
3. Lin Manuel Miranda/Twenty One Pilots
4. Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara
5. Aziz Ansari/Big Sean
6. John Cena/Maren Morris
7. Felicity Jones/Sturgil Simpson
8. Casey Affleck/Chance The Rapper
9. Margot Robbie/The Weeknd
10. Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars
11. Emma Stone/Shawn Mendes
12. Kristen Wiig/The xx
13. Benedict Cumberbatch/Solange
Well, that was a lot of fun. Next week, Alec Baldwin returns to host for a 17th time. Well, I honestly can't say I didn't see this coming from two towns over but if there were any justice in this world he would've hosted on November 5th of last year and that would be the last week he is urgently needed at Studio 8H for quite a while. I liken this to Bernie Sanders hosting last year around this time (both beloved guest stars/friends of the show who played fringe presidential candidates hosting during a sweeps month). Hopefully, they will handle this the same way they handled Larry's Bernie Sanders impression then, too and have Baldwin only play Trump ONCE in a pre-filmed segment (which may be a necessity seeing as it takes him 7 minutes to get made up as Trump) that is if they don't end up having him host the WHOLE show in character as Trump in every sketch or do something else that's that creative or out of the box with him. Still, if they do use his Trump impression sparingly I'm sure Baldwin will do well with the other (hopefully) non political sketches that are sure to fill up the rest of the show. I do agree that having Baldwin guest star nearly every week this season does ruin any sense of excitement for this show but it's just a matter of finding the right balance with Baldwin. See you then.
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