Okay, heres' my review. For a season finale that was overloaded with cameos from guest stars in political roles, this was a rather diverse and thoroughly enjoyable show with more good/decent moments than outright bad ones. As host, Tina didn't really dominate the show as much as she seemed to during her previous hosting stints. It truly felt like a hostless cast focused episode. If anyone really did "dominate" the show in terms of airtime, it had to have been Mikey & Alex. I guess they've earned a "victory lap" episode seeing as they will be promoted to repretory player status once the show starts up again. Melissa comes in a distant second but at this point it is safe to say she has established herself. Of course, one may have to look past this shows' excessive (even for SNL in 2018) deluge of political material. I understand them wanting to get some stuff out of their system before summer starts but if any bitter right-wingers criticizing the show for doing nothing but sketches about their "seething hatred for Trump" were watching THIS episode, they just MIGHT have a valid point. Boy, thats' as good a segue as ever into the actual review, isn't it? Let us begin...
Jersey Diner - Well, it was pretty much a given that Alec would be in studio 8H tonight since its' the season finale AND one of his longest running costars was hosting. If they had to try to get in one last cold open with Baldwins' Trump before the season officially ends (lets' hope it will still be the actual last one by the time season 44 rolls around, right?) I do have to give them credit for placing him and his administration in a relatively unfamiliar setting outside the White House. Still, while doing a parody of the Sporanos finale was a somewhat out of the box idea it is now a dated enough pop culture reference to pass for something the show would've done during the Era when Seth Meyers was head writer. Plus, they really didn't have enough of an ending. I was hoping for some genuine format breaking there. While part of me was hoping to see Kates' Guliani again just to see how it would be developed more as a character, I feel like she was really all over the place with it. She seemed to have some of Gulianis' speech patterns down but her voice was a bit too high and I don't quite get what shes' doing with her hands. Overall, it doesn't work that well mostly because Kate is too feminine and down to earth to pull off the role and it really shows here. This is only Stillers' third appearance as Micheal Cohen and yet hes' already starting to feel as run into the ground as Baldwins' Trump. DeNiro was serviceable as Muller in this. With no lines, he wasn't all that remarkable but it's not an impression I'm ready to get sick of yet. Really, the only genuine laugh I got out of this was Alex as Eric parallel parking a big wheel. C+
Monologue - While I liked Tinas' opening jokes and her acknowledgment of her 20th anniversary with the show, I was diappointed at just the idea of another "audience" Q&A session. Still, I did genuinely like the meta self-aware vibe that this gave off (especially with Seinfeld, Bennett, Armisen, Rock and Glovers' contributions). Benedict Cumberbatch was allright (a little better than when he hosted last season, amirite?) but he seemed the most out of place and tacked on among the deluge of cameos here. DeNiro felt a little too tacked on since we literally just saw him seconds ago. Hathaways' cameo did nothing but remind me of how she played Kate Middleton when she hosted in 2010 and then wonder for a brief moment whether we would see her reprise that role later tonight so Cecily could play Meghan Markle (Spoiler alert: She didn't, and...she didn't either...but we'll get to that later). Tracys' cameo was the perfect way to bring this to a close but he seemed much less animated than usual. I guess hes' just either mellow in with age or perhaps the schedule of promoting (if not shooting) "The Last O.G." must be taking its toll on him. B-
Royal Reception - Well, this was certainly to be expected. Mikey as Prince Harry was a solid anchor here and it was nice to see him play off Moffats' Prince William again. Cecily was serviceable as Kate Middleton but I genuinely have to wonder what stopped she show from having her (or at least Melissa or even another female guest star really) from playing Meghan Markle. I know its' 2018 but I don't think Markles' ethnicity or sheer social status should make her off limits for a show like SNL. Beck made me chuckle as Prince Charles. Kate didn't do much for me as Queen Elizabeth but it was refreshing to see someone besides Fred Armisen in the role (and kudos to him for showing some restraint considering he was actually in the building tonight). It just seemed like she was there to set up Kenan for laughs. Chris and Heidi were fine but their roles were small enough to just seem too tacked on. Leslie poked fun at herself very well here. Tina seemed to be playing the type of character she had always been dying to play on the show. I have to wonder if this is one of the likely many things she had a hand in writing tonight considering she and Dratch cowrote all the Boston Teens sketches and this was essentially framed as another one of those. Pete was fine as Russell Brand but I really would have liked to have seen more of how he was handling that impression. Aidy as Elton John seemed like she was just there for the purpose of a cheap sight gag since I can't say much for the actual impression. C+
Mean Girls Rehearsals - I suppose this was a cute idea, but it still seemed a little thin to me. I thought the one-on-one interviews & testimonials really carried it. I also got a few light chuckles out of the coreography/lion costume scenes as well as the wedged in Lin-Manuel cameo. Otherwise, this could just as easily be added to the pile of sketches and filmed pieces that were largely lost on me because they were specifically written by and for the intense theater geeks in the audience. Hell, a girl I follow on Twitter was randomly pointing out all the Broadway person cameos in this on her feed. I definitely would have missed those. Still, it is nice to see Tinas' husband Jeff Richmond get some time in front of the camera for once in his life. C+
Morning Joe III - Tina as the Russian lawyer was the true highlight of this. Aidy as Meghan McCain was another "outside of the box" casting choice and she was very cute in the role. Thats' really all I can say about her part since it was so small and she was just there to be the guest that the anchors talk over (much like her role in the Wisconsin local news sketch from the last time Jonah Hill hosted). Honestly, it was better that they do this than cast Cecily in either one of these roles. Thankfully, this was shorter than the previous two morning Joe sketches that served as cold opens because Kate played it far too big here but Alex was fine coasting on some below average material. Mikeys' reactions were a bit stale and repetitive. C-
Chun-Li - I rarely comment on the musical performances but its' nice to see something more subtle and understated from Nicki Minaj. Plus, she seemed to have so many hardcore, intense fans in the audience it felt like I was watching the Billboard Music Awards instead of SNL.
Update was a little underwhelming tonight. The only jokes that really stood out to me were the jabs at Hannity, Gulliani, Bolton/N. Korea, Marijuana Arrests and the litany of "offensive" jokes at the end (of which only the Boy Scouts & NY Daily News ones were deserving of such a title). The rest just felt so down the beaten path that everybody had done them already. In particular the obligatory "Yanni/Laurel" throwaway joke seemed near identical to a bit Colbert did recently. (Also, fuck you Jost. It's clearly Yanni). Having Alex and Mikey come out as the Trump Boys felt like overkill seeing as they just reprised those roles in the cold open and this was just lather, rinse, repeat but I did get a big kick out of the botched high fives and the "Trump tower design/hidden swastikas" line. The Play-Doh gag seemed very telegraphed but I did appreciate Alex being more animated than usual in the role tonight. I appreciate Kenans' commitment to the role of the bishop who officiated the Royal Wedding even though most of the jokes were lost on me. The only coverage of this I was planning to pay attention to was the HBO special hosted by Ferrell & Shannon as "Cord & Tish". I DVR'd this but hadn't had time to watch it yet. As I'm typing this, I'm beginning to realize how much it showed that this entire commentary had to have been writing this morning. Aidy as the woman who called the cops on those black men just for holding that barbecue in the park was very funny. Why couldn't she have been the focus of an actual sketch instead if Aidy was going to play her? C+
Dateline: Pervert Hunters - I liked the different direction this sketch took once the initial joke was revealed (as predictable as the ending was) but this felt more like something the show should've been doing 12 years ago with Bill Hader as Chris Hansen when "To Catch A Predator" was a current phenomenon. In fact, since Hader hosted two months ago and Hansen occasionally confronts predators in stings on "Crime Watch Daily", I wonder if this sketch was written then but cut from dress or the table read? C+
What We Did For Trump - Since Sarah Palin hasn't really been in the news all that much since she initially endorsed Donald Trumps' campaign two-and-a-half years ago, I was hoping Tina could go an entire episode without breaking her Miss Wasilla imitation out of mothballs like she did in 2013. Still, they showed incredible restraint by waiting until well after Update to air this. Also, I did actually like the angle they went with here where Palin comments on how some figures who have only worked in the Trump white house for a short period of time before being fired are destined to become as politically and culturally irrelevant as she has been in the past ten years. I did like her intentionally bad singing here. Aidy was serviceable but Kates' part seemed a little rushed. I did like how they chose to sneak in Armisen, Goodman and Jones as well. Cecily was.pretty good here. Mostly, I'm glad to see they chose to "Make Cecily Stormy Again" rather than trot out the real Stormy. B-
Poke It Out - I had to genuinely wonder if Nicki had very suddenly fallen ill at the last second and could not perform because the live commercial bumper leading up to her second performancd was a shot of the band instead of the stage. Then, I saw a male guest rapper unaccompanied on a stage full of video screens for some reason and Nicki came out about halfway through her own song for some reason. It was very strange but I understand why a shot of that stage before the actual song might look silly.
At this point, I had to wonder why Nicki apparently did not participate in a sketch or two like both of the previous times she was billed as a musical guest on the show. Then, I combed back through some of the sketches on YouTube just to polish up this review and decided to check out the "Cut For Time: Friendship Song" short film and noticed Nicki was in it even though it was an obvious Haim parody. Well, I can understand why that was cut for "time" since it was kind of a jumbled, heavy handed mess.
High School Talent Show - Nice to see Melissa bring us another decent character even if it felt like a product of a different time. I liked fheir choices of song as well. Pete and Mikeys' intro was very funny.Kyle got a laugh out of me and Leslie's lines were a nice touch. Pretty much every cast member did a solid job in this even if Kenans' dialogue was a little one note and repetitive and the whole thing didn't quite have enough of a build up but still tied together nicely. I guess its' just a coincidence that both of the last two season finales ended with a live sketch set at a high school talent show (or at least had that premise as the last live sketch of the night). B+
Chicago Improv - Okay, this definitely has to be something Tina wrote given her Second City background. The firefighting imagery in the background of shots of heightened drama over improve made.this for me. The bad reviews were icing on the cake. B+
Now, for my absolute final updated rankings of the season so far...
1. Sterling K. Brown/James Bay
2. John Mulaney/Jack White
3. Bill Hader/Arcade Fire
4. Donald Glover/Childish Gambino
5. Tiffany Haddish/Taylor Swift
6. Chance The Rapper/Eminem
7. Tina Fey/Nicki Minaj
8. Chadwick Boseman/Cardi B
9. James Franco/SZA
10. Natalie Portman/Dua Lipa
11. Amy Schumer/Kacey Musgraves
12. Charles Barkley/Migos
13. Jessica Chastain/Troy Sivan
14. Sam Rockwell/Halsey
15. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton
16. Larry David/Miley Cyrus
17. Saoirse Ronan/U2
18. Kumail Nanjiani/P!nk
19. Gal Gadot/Sam Smith
20. Kevin Hart/Foo Fighters
21. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z
Well, that was a decent and fitting way to close put an SNL season that did dhow very gradual improvement over time. Now, we've reached the end of what I've only just recently come to realize is my 10th season writing full length SNL reviews primarily for this board just for fun. Sadly, I didn't have anything big or special to commemorate this. Still, I'd just like to thank everyone here for indulging me for the past decade and thanks to Stooge (wherever you are) for inspiring me to do this at the beginning. Also, I'd like to say how grateful I am to have found this board and to be so readily welcomed into a like minded community of SNL fans with sharp critical thinking skills in regards to the show. I don't really have any plans to retire from doing this at the moment (at least not in the next two years or so since I've found this is the only way I can really keep up with and watch the show, so...see you guys again next season!
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