Okay, here's my review. While this show didn't quite take as many risks as last week, they showed they had by now completely shaken off all the cobwebs from their holiday break. Overall, there were less inconsistencies in quality from last week. This may be due to the writers relying on some semi-obscure recurring characters to close out the show with and everything before that being at just about the same level of quality (aside from two very strong sketches from the middle of the show and one weak one near the end). This episode did have two major redeeming qualities to make up for that. Jessica Chastain proved to be a perfectly game host who gelled extremely well with the cast. Also, as some have already said, the cast really worked together as an ensemble (especially since this show was just filled with big ensemble sketches that focused on the entire cast as a cohesive unit.). Anyway, let's break it down.
Trump Physical Press Conference - This cold open was pretty bland and middle-of-the-road even for this season, but at least we get a nice break from Alec as Trump. I did like Aidys' lines about the wall and Becks' "Propecia/sex test" bit. I did chuckle at Pete playing himself but I was hoping that would lead to a more meta, self-deprecating moment. Cecily also crushed her one line aa a reporter. Maybe Trumps' physical got washed out of the headlines by the end of the week (as evidenced by the throwaway government shutdown jokes at the top) or maybe that post physical press conference was already so ridiculous to begin with that there was barely any room left for fresh jokes or maybe it was just a difficult task to follow a surprise Bill Murray appearance but I could barely get in to this one. C-
Monologue - This had its moments. I appreciate the self awareness buried in the "strong woman/nagging girlfriend" joke. I'm not too crazy about the idea of two musical monologues in a row but at least this had cast walk on to break up the monotony. At least Jessica bought a lot of enthusiasm to proceedings here and showed she'd be a confident host. Also, it was a bit strange to just so blatantly see Kate hanging out by the side of the stage as Jessica made her entrance. That may be the first time I've ever seen anything like that. B-
Car Hunk - When did it become an unwritten rule that SNL has to do an off brand CVS Bachelor parody every January like clockwork? I mean, this is the fourth year in a row now! Anyway, at least this was a decent showcase for the past couple of seasons' worth of featured players (I have to actually wonder if Heidi was intentionally doing her Kristen Schaal impression agsin here) and Jessica had some good material here even ifvthe voice dhe went for was a little too naive and childlike for me. Still, one thing that bugged me was how she mentioned playing a dead body on the HBO show "Crashing". Given that this show stars comedian Pete Holmes playing a more pathetic version of himself with an actual failing career, I have to wonder if whoever wrote this episode has even seen the show (or if I just haven'haven't seen enough of it) or if they just picked the show title out of a hat. Also, one Tide pod eating joke in both sketches on each side of the monolog just seems sloppy to me. C+
The Fresh Prince - This parody was one of the funnier segments of the night. I liked how it was a big showcase for Chris and I thought the increasingly dark turns this took were very funny. Jessica seemed well within her comfort zone here but this sketch used her well. Also, I'm curious as to who were all the black extras were and how they got to be on the show. Additionally, it was nice to see Akira Yoshimura again but in a non-Sulu role. B-
Google Talks - This was, to me, the funniest sketch of the night. As one note as this was, Mikey absolutely owned this in a hilarious way. Maybe me being such a hard core Simpsons fan made me appreciate this more, but this was the hardest I laughed at SNL in quite some time. The worst thing I could say about tuis is that Jessics dragged it down a little, but at least it was the inly thing she wasn't so great in. B+
What Even Mattees Anymore? - This game show sketch at first seemed like something that was written under duress or out of sheer desparation but it's obvious Jessica had pitched this from the moment they broke the fourth wall. Still, it worked. I enjoyed Jessicas' commitment as well as her brief jab at Mike Pence. I also thought the final/written response round was the funniest part of the whole sketch. I don't know if anyone else here remembers Beck Bennetts' game show sketch from last season where he tried to get Aidy and Vanessa to explain why host Benedict Cumberbatch was considered attractive, but this really reminded me of that (again, mostly because of the relative absence of any fourth wall). B-
Update got off to a slow start but had its brief moments scattered here and there. I wasn't feeling much of it but it started to pick up with Ches' Stormy Daniels/Womens March/Urn/Black Unemployment rate comments and both anchors physical exam jokes. Speaking of which, I'm sure none of us were surprised to see Cecily portray Stormy Daniels tonight but lets' be honest Cecily was really just portraying herself here (which I didn't necessarily mind either). Still, it was nice of her to show us a slightly different perspective on the feminist diatribes she usually delivers. The other two commentaries were fun as much as they meandered. It was nice to see two other figurehead offspring impressions from Mikey and Alex (Mikey seemed slightly miscast as Prince Harry but Alex was pretty much born to play Prince William). I did like the fun and loose vibe between the two as forced as it came off at times. I also have to admit the "Wet Willie/Moist Matthew" line made me laugh. as did Josts' UK Ministrr of Loneliness joke after their bit. Speaking of casting choices, Kate as Robert Muller was a bit jarring and way more out of left field than it really should'be been (and kinda defeats the desired effect of her playing Sessions in the wake of McCarthy's Spicer if you think about it for a minute) but again, it was quite fun. B-
Amazon Headquarters Sketch - This was enjoyable. Some parts of it were well constructed on paper while some parts were well performed. Kyle and Chris were perfectly cast as Bezos and Booker and Chris really performed the hell out of this. The Boston presentation seemed to be missing something in execution (namely, Beck and Jessica having an easy time handling those Boston accents). Still, it was a nice excuse to see Alexs' Casey Affleck again. The Atlanta presentation seemed to be the strongest part of the sketch as Kenan, Leslie and Aidy were given the best material. The Miami presentation didn'the seem to go anywhere or allow the sketch to have a real ending (I do have to wonder what they had to cut from this between dress and air). Mikey does an unremarkable Pitbull but Cecily and Melissa looked pretty damn great here. I heard that Denver was also in the running for Amazons' next headquarters. I realize that SNLs' writers may not have many non-weed related directions to go in there, but maybe it would'be been a good way to sneak in Heidi as Kristen Schaal with maybe Kate as Lindsey Vonn with the Winter Olympics just around the corner. I mean, their both Coloradans and Schaal is even from my hometown of Longmont and even went to the same high school as I did! C+
Taco Math - This was definitely the weakest sketch of the night. It was one note in a bad way and didn't really didn't go anywhere. Jessica didn't come off as obnoxious here and while I liked seeing Heidi get a lead role again, I wish the writers would trust her this much with better material. Aside from this, I did like Aidys' walk on as well as Heidi confessing that she got sick from raw beef and the reveal of both girls being surgeons. D+
Doctor's Orders - I'm surprised that this is the third time we're seeing Petes' "Chad" character this season and the last time was less than two months ago. Still, at least that one was less by-the-numbers as the preceeding two. If they're going to let Pete keep bringing this back this often (it's sadly, his only "character" after all) I feel like this was a tiny step backward. Still, I did like Petes' "noice/I peed/titty" lines. Plus, I have to admit this is a serviceable way to make use of big dramatic/serious actors like Chastain and Cumberbatch. Also, I've noticed these have more and more gradually turned into two-handers between Pete and Mikey since Mikey joined the cast. I wonder if he, Pete and Streeter Siedell all cowrite these? C-
Movie Set - I'm a little surprised they bought Kenans broad mugging take director out of mothballs considering its' been almost three whole years since we've seen this character. I wanted to like this more but it just wasn't as fun as the one from Tina and Amys' Christmas show a few years back. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift
2. Chance The Rapper/Eminem
3. James Franco/SZA
4. Jessica Chastain/Troye Sivan
5 Sam Rockwell/Halsey
6. Saoirse Ronan/U2
7. Larry David/Miley Cyrus
8 Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk
9. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith
10. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters
11. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z
Well, if nothing else, this episode proved to be a decent pallet cleanser. Next week, Will Ferrell returns to the show for his fourth time as host and I'm positive I'm not the only one excited about it. I do hope this episode turns out to be much better than his previous one. Hopefully, they were saving Alec Baldwin for next week for a possible "G.W. Bush Meets Trump In The Oval Office" sketch (and maybe another Bill Brasky if they can also get Adam McKay and Tim Meadows to also participate. As far as other recurring impressions and characters go, I'm not so sure there are many more places they could go with "Celebrity Jeopardy!" at this point so I feel that at least Bobby and Bobbi Mohan-Culp may be a safer bet somehow. Hell, we might have a better chance of getting another "Jeffreys" sketch if they can get Fallon and Sanz to participate. See you then!
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