Okay, here's my review. While this show had considerably more energy than last week (not a lot though) something about the writing and the material they had really dragged it down. The show as a whole felt so unfocused that I'm not sure any host could have saved this week given what they wrote and ended up putting on the air. Jason Momoa seems like a good guy who gave it his all but he wasn't quite the strong host I was expecting him to be. I realized at some point that Jason is more a big popcorn blockbuster action star in the making than an actor's actor. Plus, he must not have had that much acting experience at this point in his career since he's basically only know for two distinct roles and to my knowledge, this is the first time he has acted or performed in a live setting anywhere. This occurred to me when I had noticed that Jason really excelled in the two pre taped segments he was in tonight than in any of his live sketches. As far as airtime goes, the show was pretty much dominated by Beck/Kyle, Mikey/Alex/Pete and Kenan. Kudos to Chris for making enough live appearances tonight to make up for his virtual absence from the last few shows. As far as the female presence on the show, I've noticed that newer hires like Heidi and Melissa were all over the place while the senior women on the show (Cecily, Kate, Leslie) were barely used at all (with Aidy still being visible). I really got the impression tonight that Cecily and Kate were planning on this being their final season while Heidi and Melissa had proven themselves enough to be widely visible and used as utility players by this point. It's almost as if Lorne is grooming them to take over for the women who might be leaving. However, I'm starting to get a little more worried about Ego. She seems like a strong performer who is definitely meant to be a great fit for the show and she has had one breakout sketch in the first three shows of thy he season but she hasn't had any other "breakout" roles since then where she got to be front and center. Granted, it is still her first season but it's almost like she is being unfairly punished because (through no fault of her own or the show) her breakout sketch caught some flak from the real life Baltimore police department. This is obviously not something that should keep her from being on more her first season let alone getting a chance at a second one. Anyway, we've got a lot to unpack here as I'm sure you can already tell so let's get to it.
Eric's Bedtime Story - If nothing else, a nice palette cleanser from last weeks' mess. It's nice to see the Eric & Don Jr. bits have gotten less and less formulaic to the point where they work even better away from the Update desk. Alex had some good malapropisms here. Deniros' Muller is probably the most welcome of the show's stable of recurring political impressions just by virtue of it being one of the least obnoxious characterization of anyone the show currently satirizes. Honestly, the worst thing about this one was Deniro stumbling over a few cue cards. Even though the ending came off a little awkward thanks to Deniro, I was glad to see it didn't belabor the point. C+
Monologue - This came off quite strange and given the host's stature I was a little disappointed that it ultimately failed to set the right tone for the rest of the show. I'm glad to see Jason Momoa is a self professed SNL "nerd" and even wanted to move to New York to join the cast at one point but I wish he could've made that sheer enthusiasm translate better here to more than just the P-Funk pastiche he took part in at the very end. Speaking of which, I think the bigger problem here is that this monologue seriously lacked focus. It felt like they had ideas for three different monologues and could not settle on which ONE they thought would work best to save their lives. It really felt like a cross between all the monologues Sterling K. Brown, Hugh Jackman and Chadwick Boseman did in that order. At least it ended on an up note. I do have to wonder how Jason got Lorne to let him host the show without shaving his beard. That is a rarity nowadays. C+
Elves On The Shelves - This had a pretty one note premise but the writing was the main thing that made it watchable. Thankfully, this didn't belabor the point by the time it ended either. It felt like it could've been done with literally any male host but somehow Jason playing his role in a similar way to how I imagine Liev Schreiber would've had this sketch taken place just outside a woman's restroom really added something to this. Strangely, my biggest issue with this sketch was how jarringly unnecessary the voice modulates were. C+
GE Big Boy Appliances - This was an enjoyably simple piece. I mean, this wasn't exactly the first time that anyone has taken a hard look at the different ways household products are marketed toward men and women and tried to mine it for comedy but this worked due to the sheer levels of committment to broad visual gags. Jason did well here because again, this piece was being carried on the strength of its' absurd props so he barely had to contribute anything. B-
Khal Drogos' Ghost Dojo - I expected Jason to do much better than he did in the night's requisite "Game Of Thrones" sketch. After all, he's playing what up until very recently may have been his best known role. He should have been well within his comfort zone if not for the whole "live" aspect. Still, he was HARDLY the biggest problem with this sketch. It was basically all over the place writing wise and had far too much going on. It felt like the second piece of the night that the writers couldn't decide on one theme or central premise for. Even Kenan seemed to be thrown for a loop as he's never been known to break in any sketch or even stumble over any lines as he did here. Ironically, it seemed like it was going for mass appeal but at the same time gave us a string of GoT references that were so hyper specific that they couldn't have been meant for anyone other than obsessive GoT fans who've seen and analyzed every episode multiple times over (and I point this out fully aware of any inherent irony in what I'm writing right now). This seemed like it played about 10 times better at the table read on Wednesday than it did for the live and dress audiences but they felt like they had to keep it in the show anyway due to the subject matter being so relevant to the host's career. With the addition of Beck as Hodor after seeing him as Santa, it's become pretty obvious that they're now using him for the same types of roles they would have used Bobby Moynihan for two years ago. That must be an odd feeling for him if he has ever had to think about this. Good to see Pete make attempt at playing a character that wasn't entirely "himself" even if it started to unravel. Kate as King Joffrey oddly felt like a bit of a throwback in terms of go to Got references in pop culture (based on who hadn't been killed off yer) and yet very current and prescient in how Kate is being used on the show. Staging a ridiculous slap fight between her and Aidys' character just felt like the audience was having one more thing thrown ar them unnecessarily. While I thought the gag with Kyle was funny, it is also starting to feel dated. Not just because people have made fun of the general premise of discussion shows and after shows before but it now seems like society is actively trying to make them less of a thing now either because the first shows to have them ended or because of what came out about Chris Hardwick (who was the first person to become famous by hosting those shows and is thus the person most strongly associated with the genre). D+
Them Trumps - Well, it's nice to get a different take on the goings on in the Trump white house than what the show usually gives us. Still, while the examination of racial double standards in our legal system isn't exactly fresh ground (hell, Chappelle already did "what would our current Republican president be like if he were black?" as a sketch premise nearly 15 years ago now) but this sketch just goes to show how well Kenan does serve the show as the anchor/glue of this and the last few casts. Plus, after the sketch that came just before it, I was very glad to see something that got in, got right to the point it was trying to make and got out. B+
Update was the most consistent and well written part of this episode and thus tonight's stand out segment. Che really got it going and then Jost picked up the slack and really sold all of his material. Nice to see Aidy play a well thought out character that was grounded in reality after some of the rare misses Heidi had been giving us recently. Ches' bidet commentary was funny and I do like the format/fourth wall break the show employed to deliver it. B+
The Ghost Of Xmas Extra - Okay, this HAD to have been written by the same persons who wrote the Cleopatra sketch from Awkwafinas' episode and the "GPYASS" sketch from Steve Carell's episode. It did have that exact same ultra feminized trending Twitter meme sensibility to it and seemed written solely to pander to Jason's female fans. Other than that, I liked Mikeys exaggerated exasperation. I'm glad they knew that the perfect place to end this would be right after the twerking. C-
Day Of The Dorks - Well, I was really expecting the reveal behind Jason's character to be a more substantial payoff than it ended up being. This was just full of too much useless exposition. It seemed like it was written just to harness Jason's manic bro energy from the weeks' promos. I'll bet whoever wrote this also wrote that NOT!Scooby Doo sketch from Mikey's first episode two years ago with Margot Robbie. D+
Sleigh Ride - Well, that was a great mislead with Leslie, Kenan, Kyle and Melissa (who had a great exit line, by the way) because I wasn't expecting Cecily as Gemma to show up. Frankly, it was a little strange to see her first live appearance so late in the show. What was also strange but pleasantly surprising was Jason's performance here because only by this point in the show had he gotten over his nervous habit of tripping over cue cards and gained a sense of comedic timing. I liked how different of a setting this was and how much more outlandish the dialogue was. The ending to this was satisfying as well. B-
First Impression - This was fun to watch due to the way Beck and Jason played off each other and Melissa and Heidi playing off of them. It gave me immediate flash backs to Paul Brittains' Lord Wyndemeire (sp?) from season 37. The ending could've been trimmed a bit because it killed the momentum the rest of the sketch built up. B-
Rudolph's Revenge - This got off to a bit of a slow start when they basically gave us the Cliffs Notes version of the Rudolph story. Pete really shined in this. He probably had plenty of personal life inspiration to draw from this week. The only other stand out performer was Jason mostly because he was the second actor in this show alone to play the role of Santa Claus. B+
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
2. Adam Driver/Kanye West
3. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
4. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
5. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
6. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
7. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
8. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that barely lived up to any expectations I may have had. Next week will be the final SNL of 2018. Matt Damon returns to host for his second time ever in sixteen years seemingly just on the strength of his surprise Brett Kavanaugh impression from the season premiere. If that was any indication, we are in for a far more competently acted show than this one. He was a strong host in 2002 and he should make for a fun show even if he has sort of shown us his ass in recent years re: #MeToo and diversity related issues (thankfully, that was more anything dumb he might have SAID than what he actually did). Still, I think now his presence will somehow feel a bit less tone deaf. See you then!
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