Okay, here's my review. This was honestly the best show of the season at this point. It was even better than Mulaneys' show from last season by quite a lot. I mean, I was expecting Mulaneys' second show to be quite similar to his first in terms of substance. I was expecting another show full of more fun, creative and unique sketches coming from a very detail oriented comedy writer's perspective. This show gave us that and so much more. Everyone got their chances to shine but Mikey, Leslie and Ego felt like they were put on the back burner a bit more since they were featured slightly less than everybody else. Let's just jump right in because this was a particularly densely packed episode.
Michael Cohen Hearing - Aside from one major thing, this was mostly what everyone who keeps up with the hard news was expecting them to do. I was also expecting this to mostly be an unremarkable boiler plate by-the-numbers rewrite of the Kavanaugh hearing from the season premiere but they actually added more to this one and kept it at what felt like a more reasonable length. Stiller pretty much went through his motions here. Like always, he was serviceable as Cohen but his presence was no surprise. His checks and letters presented as evidence were the best part of his testimony. Also, this seems like a weird place for them to try and work in Khloe Kardashian and Natalie Imbruglia jokes. Kenan was a solid anchor as Elijah Cummings and had his share of funny lines. Bill Hader (in a role most people probably expected Mikey Day to be cast in) clearly sprinted away with this and Kyle "Mr. Malapropism" Mooney came in a close second. Kate, Heidi, Alex and Ego did a fine job bringing up the rear. I sincerely wished Melissa's AOC could've been a slightly bigger part of this. If nothing else, this sketch made me realize that both episodes Mulaney has now hosted have both had Ben Stiller playing Michael Cohen (in lieu of Baldwin's Trump) in them as he made his debut in the role in Mulaneys' first episode last season. A-
Monologue - Mulaney really led with his strongest material here. This was much better than his first monologue from last year (and even that one has grown on me more in recent viewings). The only part of this monologue I didn't really care for was the bit about police sirens. Otherwise, everything worked for me. B+
What's That Name? III - Although I personally would've been fine with this being left back in season 36 from whence it came (I didn't even know Mulaney wrote it until just recently) I do appreciate how they substantially change a good portion if it each of the three times they have recurred it so far. Last time, we found out that Lady Gaga remembers literally EVERYONE she has ever met. This time, we take a step back as Haders' host forces us all to confront our own deeply ingrained borderline mysogynist gender biases (which I suppose might be the only way this sketch could make it to air again in 2019). Fortunately, this sketch is immediately saved by Mulaneys' writing skills and Haders' effortlessly commanding performance as the latter gives us a deeper look into his characters' life and inner psyche. A-
Toilet Death Ejector - This is as close to a "blackout" sketch as the show seems to be willing to get in this day and age. Still, for all it's intricacies that was what served it well. This just got in, fully explained its premise in as much details as timing would allow and got out with it's dignity intact. Another filmed piece that set itself up and executed itself flawlessly. B+
Shark Tank: Legal Edition - Wow, there's certainly a lot to unpack here. First off, Pete & Mulaney were surprisingly competent choices to play Avenatti & Dershowitz mostly going solely on the latters' voice and the formers' undiscovered until just this week facial resemblance alone. This was also a good way to use Cecilys' Judge Pirro and Kate's Gullianni. I'm guessing Cellino & Barnes are just local New York attorneys as SNL and other topical New York based late night shows (definitely Stephen Colbert, probably Seth Meyers, maybe Trevor Noah) are the only places I ever hear them mentioned anywhere. Becks' Robert Kraft was accurate and got some laughs and I'm almost impressed they found a way to tactfully dance around the Jussie Smollett controversy. I did like how this managed to be topical without having a whole lot to do with the Trump White House. Overall, this somehow manages to be both the second best and second worst Shark Tank parody the show has ever done. I'd say they're still 1 for 3. B-
The Unknown Caller - While I'm still not sure "Chad" is a character that needed to be bought back, I do appreciate how they place him in different settings and situations for him to blunder his way out of unscathed like he's the Road Runner. I liked John's Saw/Scream/Momo/Crispin Glover hybrid character and how the moronic and increasingly obnoxious Chad was physically and mentally unfazed by him and his actions. C+
Cha-Cha Slide - This sketch was quite hard to get a read on. It seemed more interested in laying out it's own environment and giving us every relevant characters' back story than making it's main premise clear. Fortunately, if you gave it a chance it became clear enough that the literal song and dance wasn't going to be the main joke and that the sketch was going to be about a white man who knows much more about black people than he let's on to his black fiance. Speaking of which, nice to find they've found another substantial, fleshed out lead role for Ego. Considering he did the "Horns" sketch with Luke Null last year, Mulaney must have an affinity for taking first year featured players who may be struggling to get on under his wing and helping to write sketches that showcase them. Speaking of which, this was something I have a feeling Bryan Tucker and/or Michael Che had a hand in writing. B+
Update was pretty solid given most people's very suddenly heightened expectations. Che and Jost certainly led with their best foot forward. All of their jokes landed but they had some strong material on the Cohen hearing and the Trump/Kim summit. Plus, Ches' joke about the murderer released from prison sounds exactly like a joke Norm would've done. It may not have been a good sign that they were okay with just airing an extended montage of Trumps' wild CPAC speech with minimal commentary of their own. I mean, I know that speech itself WAS a joke and there's only so much they even could've written about it considering it happened that same day, but still. I wasn't too crazy about Kate and Aidys' commentary at first but I got more into it once I saw and processed how intricately conceptual it was and it regained it's focus. Did it remind anyone else of the final sketch of Rob Lowe's first episode in 1990 where Jon Lovitz plays the owner of a fur store explaining how all the animals died of humane natural causes? Anyway, I'm sure most people were excited to see a new Stefon sketch once they noticed both Hader AND Mulaney were in the building and then slightly disappointed to NOT see it but I personally think that bit is best saved for just when Hader hosts as tonight was more Mulaneys' big night than his. B-
Bodega Bathroom - Well, I definitely thought "Diner Lobster" definitely worked best as a one-off concept. I didn't expect Mulaney & Jost to even write a spiritual sequel to it. Since they did, I'm at least glad that they came to the conclusion that they needed to up the ante and further build up on the concept this time. I definitely liked this one a lot better than "Diner Lobster" for a few reasons. The premise was more outrageous (or just seemed that way given the subject matter) and rather than just parody one or two specific songs from "Les Mis" this was a parody mashup of various different numbers from "Cats", "Willy Wonka", "Little Shop Of Horrors" and even "Rent" for some reason. This was the most entertaining way that Mulaney and most of the more musically inclined members of this cast have all allowed themselves to indulge their inner high school theater geeks in the show yet. Part if me wonders whether or not this was another sketch that Mulaney wrote around 2010 that bombed at the table read that they let him resurrect but the other part of me realizes he probably didn't have the confidence to even write another one of those sketches until they let him do "Diner Lobster" on the show last time he hosted and it became a buzzworthy smash hit online. B+
Cinema Classics: To Have And Have Not - Well, this is a recurring bit we haven't seen in at least three years, IIRC. Kenan and Mulaney were pretty solid here and Kate was really committed as usual. Plus, this was more focused than these Reese De'What helmed sketches usually are. Still, it felt a little inconsistent because Kate went all over the place the longer it went on. At times it was funny but at other times Kate seemed to be indulging in her less desirable tendencies as a performer. In fact, this seemed like something that was originally written for Wiig when Mulaney still worked on the show that somehow got cut at dress. Then again, I could see this playing well enough in any live setting that they would want to make sure this got on the air. Speaking of which, if Kenan had an outtro to this, it must've gotten cut for time at the last minute because this show was obviously running quite long. C-
Now, for my updated rankings of this season...
1. John Mulaney/Thomas Rhett
2. Seth Meyers/Paul Simon
3. Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus
4. Rachel Brosnahan/Greta Van Fleet
5. James McAvoy/Meek Mill
6. Adam Driver/Kanye West
7. Halsey
8. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
9. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
10. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
11. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
12. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
13. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
14. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was a breath of fresh air. Next week, Idris Elba makes his hosting debut. No doubt if you still have any expectations for this one, they've certainly just been lowered considerably. Idris Elba feels like the third in a series of Male hosts this season who are mostly known for either dramatic or action filled roles whose sense of humor and comedic timing we are unable to gauge going in. Still, the previous two hosts of this ilk (Liev Schreiber & Jason Momoa specifically) had admitted to being fans with a fair amount of affection for the show so let's hope Idris Elba can follow suit in that regard because it will really help the show. See you then!
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