Okay, here’s my review. From what I’ve seen in the promos
for this weeks’ shows and SNLs most recent social media feeds, Chris Pine
seemed like he was going to be a fun host who would be game for anything. He
certainly tried to engage the shows audience as well as he engaged the shows’
cast and brand throughout the week. He also gave off the impression that he
loved being at SNL the whole week and a lot of the cast had fun with him. I can
see them inviting him back and I would not mind if they did in a few years’
time. Yes, Chris Pine had some impressive sketch comedy chops after all.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t translate his skills into making the show all that
memorable. He was a fine host who I could eventually see becoming a five timer
(if hosts Scarlett Johansson, Melissa McCarthy and Louis CK can join the club)
but he didn’t exactly blow us away with his first time performance as hosts
like Timberlake, Hamm, Baldwin and Hathaway have in the past. One other thing
this show had going for it is that much like CKs’ recent episode, the writers
and cast seemed to be willing to take more creative risks (although not to the
extent that CK was willing to). At the same time, this show felt seriously
lacking in topical material given what was in the news this week. I would’ve
liked to see something on the Fyre festival but I understand why that would’ve
seemed like old news by Thursday when news broke of the ACA repeal/house
passing of AHCA but even that seemed like it was barely touched. Still, I am
quite grateful that the WGA and AMPTP were able to make a deal to avoid the
writers’ strike so these last three shows could even happen. Good to see the
cast is pretty evenly balanced (aside from Pete and Melissa) and that they are
using plenty of Bobby and Vanessa in what may be their third to last episode.
Morning Joe - I liked this cold open despite its minor
flaws. I can't really gauge the accuracy of the Joe and Mika impressions but I
did like how Alex and Kate played off each other. Kudos to Alex on scoring
another political impression in a cold open and getting his first LFNY. Bobby,
Beck and Mikeys' uncomfortable reactions were all right. It seems like they
captured the vibe of this show well enough from what little I've seen of it.
Overall, it reminded me a little too much of the sketch from Eric McCormacks'
2002 episode where he and Tina were CNN anchors who were falling in love with
each other right on air to Parnells' and Dratchs’ delights and Poehlers'
disgust at their unprofessionalism. Also, I saw Baldwin on Ellen and Conan this
week* and wondered if he would be able to fly back out to 30 Rock in time for
this weeks' show. His literally phone in cameo this week makes in abundantly
clear that he wasn't. I did like how they worked in a reference to Trump posing
as his own publicist over the phone years ago even if it seems very dated now.
I also liked how they worked in the LFNY line. C+
*Speaking of which,
Baldwin mentioned on Ellen that they actually asked Trump to make a cameo in
the episode he hosted in February. Quite frankly, I was stunned to hear that
they apparently learned nothing from having him host while he was actively
campaigning for president. Thankfully, he didn't agree to be on the show again
so I'may grateful we at least dodged that bullet.
Monologue - This was okay despite its weak spots. I'm glad
they addressed the Pratt/Evans/Hemsworth confusion right off the bat. Pine has
a decent voice but the singing wasn't totally necessary. I did like, Kate, Pete
and Leslies' walkons but this could've been cut down a bit. C+
Where In The World Is Kellyanne Conway? - This seemed pretty
dated (seeing as Conway has made far fewer public/TV appearances in recent
weeks) until they revealed that was the entire point and cut right to the end.
Good to see Pine got over his singing jitters right away. Overall, as brief as
this was it was a strong choice to lead off the post-monologue/pre-Update
portion of the show. B+
Slavic World Peace Rap – This was pretty funny considering I
was very familiar with the real life video they were parodying. If you haven’t seen
it, do yourself a favor and Google “Speak Stop The War” and prepare to be blown
away. Beck nailed the guys' voice and it was nice to see Kyle got to sneak in
his real Dutch hip hop character. Pines' singing didn't hurt one bit. It didn't
seem to go anywhere and they leaned a little heavily on the porn addiction
jokes, but that didn't bother me too much. B-
SWAT Recon Party - This sketch was just as gleefully,
stupidly silly as all get out but strangely that was what made it work. Kenan
and Beck seriously commenting on Mikey, Chris and Leslies' activities seems to
be what was selling this even before they and Bobby joined them. It was pretty
obvious that Mikey wrote this. B+
The Boy Is Mine - This seemed to be the most one note sketch
of the show so far but it was fun to watch as Aidy and Vanessa did their
damndest to sell this. Pine played well off them and he sold the ending as
well, but by this point it was starting to look like they were leaning a little
too heavily on having him sing to the point where this show was eerily reminiscent
of Forrest Whitakers' episode from ten years ago (which, IIRC, was one of the
few large weak spots of that largely great season). I have a feeling that Aidy
and Vanessa collaborated to write this. C+
The House: Seattle: Season 6,000 - I liked seeing Beck and
Kyles' Good Neighbor style humor after what felt like an interminable long
drought of their filmed pieces on the show. Chris' acting really added to this
and I liked the cameos from Pete as the robber and the random Asian guy who wasn't
even in their house. I liked how the interviews/confessionals were meant to hype
up the inane, nonexistent “drama” on the show. Still, there wasn't a lot
besides that that stood out here from the last time they did these reality
elimination show parodies but this one does hold up better on repeat viewings. C+
Update was serviceable. It's obvious Che continues to get
the Lion’s share of better jokes but this week the only ones that stood out
were the ones near the end that got near unanimous hate groans from the
audience. I'm not sure if Vanessas' meteorologist was based on any real
newscasters but it's pretty much exactly what we've come to expect as a bare minimum
from Vanessa. Leslie's commentary was nice if not a little subdued given what
we've seen from her as recently as this season but I am glad to see she
apparently found her Mr. Right. C+
Auto Shops’ Drag Race - This was fun to watch. Bobby, Beck
and Chris walked away with it but it reminded me a bit too much of a similar
mechanic sketch with Bill Hader and Paul Rudd from the end of Rudds' first
episode in '08. B-
The Handmaids' Tale - This was unfortunately the biggest
bomb of the night. Even the live studio audience had no idea what to make of
this and their resulting silence was deafening. This had to have been a female
written sketch and while I can kind of see what they were going for (kudos to
Chris, Mikey, Alex and Kyle for holding their own) it felt way too underdeveloped
and underwritten for something that was supposed to have that much substance to
it. D-
Star Trek: Spocko Lives – This was much funnier than it had
any right to be. Kenan' Neil Degrasse Tyson seems to be an atrophy in
impression but plays him so gleefully smug and geeky you can't help but laugh.
Chris Pine, Beck Bennett and Alex Moffat do fine impressions of young Shatner,
Doohan and Koenig respectively. Kudos to the staff for keeping the
"Akira-Yoshimura-as-Sulu" running gag going 41 years strong! Bobby clearly
stole this whole sketch and really made the most out of a very simple and
straightforward premise. If I had to guess who wrote this, I would say Kent
Sublette and possibly Colin Jost. B-
Couples Game Night - This sketch had the hammy showtune
stink of Anderlette all over it. Strangely, it was the second sketch of the
night that reminded me of something else from Eric McCormacks’ episode. This
was clearly a rewrite of a group singing sketch they did last Christmas with
Chris Hemsworth. Just when you thought you had enough of Chris Pine singing, he
gives us one final encode (although I will say his singing voice suited this
particular sketch just fine). Well, at least this was buried at the end of the
show and the ladies all looked damn fine here. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season…
1. Dave Chappelle/A Tribe Called Quest
2. Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga
3. Kristen Stewart/Alessia Cara
4. Lin Manuel Miranda/Twenty One Pilots
5. Louis C.K./The Chainsmokers
6. Jimmy Fallon/Harry Styles
7. Aziz Ansari/Big Sean
8. Chris Pine/LCD Soundsystem
9. Alec Baldwin/Ed Sheeran
10. John Cena/Maren Morris
11. Scarlett Johansson/Lorde
12. Felicity Jones/Sturgil Simpson
13. Casey Affleck/Chance The Rapper
14. Octavia Spencer/Father John Misty
15. Margot Robbie/The Weeknd
16. Emily Blunt/Bruno Mars
17. Emma Stone/Shawn Mendes
18. Kristen Wiig/The xx
19. Benedict Cumberbatch/Solange
Well, everyone gave it their all to put on one heckuva show.
Still, I think it’s safe to say at this point that the novelty of SNL going out
live coast to coast to close out a historic season has officially worn off
before the second of four shows where they planned to do this even started.
That’s really no fault of the staff, though. Let’s hope the next two hosts can
turn that around. Melissa McCarthy will be in studio 8H next week followed by
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to finish the season proper. While you can easily
point to what the latter has to promote, the same may not be able to be said
for the former but she is a welcome presence and a friend of the show. Plus, she
is another game host and talented physical comedienne who the cast loves
working with. Her performances seem to age well and she certainly has a valid reason
to be on the show THIS season. I’m curious as to how they will work that into
the show with her hosting. See you then!
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