Okay, here's my review. This show was pretty uneven, but still enjoyable. There were strong moments and weak moments that were spread throught the show on quite the scattershot fashion. Sandra Oh was a strong host whose performances really saved quite a few sketches so I wouldn't mind seeing her back again on the show. The whole cast seemed to get plenty of airtime tonight. Leslie and Pete only seemed to get one appearance each but this was a particularly strong night for Beck, Kyle and Ego in particular. Anyway, it was a pretty straightforward episode so let's break it down, shall we?
Muller, Barr, Trump & Gullianni - Well, it was pretty much a given that DeNiro (and probably Baldwin) would be in the building tonight but Aidy as AG Barr really threw me for a loop as I thought they established last month that Beck would be playing him. Oh well, I can't really complain about that since her and Kate's performances were the only thing breathing any life into this cold open (as much as I'm on the fence about Kate's Gulliani...who I didn't notice being in the news enough to warrant an appearance here). D+
Monologue - I wasn't sure what this monologue was going for at first but it allowed the show to really pick up some steam and gave the show some fun energy with an assist from Leslie. I didn't know Sandra Oh was actually Canadian so I'm glad to see that the personal fact about her that they picked to base most of this monologue around was a surprising revelation. It actually reminded me a bit of James Coburn's monologue from 1982 where he taught a then 20 year old Eddie Murphy how to confidently and authoritatively order drinks at that night's afterparty. B-
The Mind Of Jordan Peele For Discover - I haven't actually seen "Us" yet, but have read about it a bit (and compared to "Get Out" which I have seen, it seems to be getting some mixed reviews along with Peeles' rebooted "Twilight Zone" which is disappointing as I'd hate to see Jordan Peele turn into the next M. Night Shyamalan) but I do appreciate how the jokes weren't so inside that you needed to have seen "Us" to recognize that this was, in fact, a parody of "Us". Kudos to Kenan & Ego for really disappearing into their parts. B+
Firing Jussie - Well, at first it seemed like SNL was going to step a little further out of their comfort zone than normal to satirize Jussie Smollett but the whole bit didn't seem that original. Chris's performance was the best thing about it. They seemed to just expand on the one Jussie Smollett joke they wrote for that legal Shark Tank sketch they did when John Mulaney hosted almost a whole month ago now. Thankfully, they kept this short and to the point without milking it for all it was worth. C+
The Duel - This felt a little odd too. After all, the main joke was a woman getting shot repeatedly by a few ricocheting bullets. Still, I liked the Pyhtonesque vibe to this and the humor picked up after a bit since everyone was so damn committed to this one. Plus, it also got in, got its' jokes and got right out. B-
Tishy - This was definitely the funniest live segment of the night. Another obvious Day/Seidell penned piece, this pretty much felt like Boo Boo Jeffries and the Black Unicorn sketch from Tiffany Haddishs' show was put on a blender with the hot dog/poster sketch from Emma Stones' last episode. I liked Mikey's increased exasperation as Alex, Beck and Sandra reveal more absurd and outlandish details of his future to him. Sandra seemed to have fun with such a silly character but I have a strong feeling that this was actually written for Awkwafina earlier this season and got cut from dress rehearsal. B+
Kremlin Meeting - This sketch seemed to have a unique flipped viewpoint on the whole Russia situation from these past couple of years even if it took a second to establish what that take actually was. It was nice to see Becks' Putin fully clothed for the first time in two-and-a-half years and Cecily definitely does the best Russian accent out of this cast with Alex coming in a close second. When I saw this sketch being set up during the commercial bumper, I got a little worried at the initial sight of what I thought was Beck dressed as Kim Jong Un jogging around the set. (Hell, now that I think about it...I'm surprised no one really complained about Bobby Moynihan or Amy Poehler playing each of North Koreas' previous two dear leaders.) I was relieved to hear his Putin again and to be instantly reassured that yes, SNL does at least know better than to do that. Bowen Yang fit in to the role perfectly (perhaps he wrote this, as well?) and this sketch made a clever use of Sandra. B-
Update was pretty consistent all around. Josts' material was pretty much as tepid as he's been lately but Che had a lot of strong jokes (he was particularly spot on with his "toxic optimism" rant). I liked seeing Cecilys' more fleshed out Judge Pirro return. I especially liked her explaining who her biggest fans are. Still, it felt a little strange seeing her do this impression after reading that the real Pirro had to postpone her Fox News return this week due to a major family emergency. I was sure they'll get torn apart in the right wing media sphere for this one until I went back and read that she only ended up having to cancel an appearance on Hannitys' show and that her regular Saturday night prime time program was actually back on that night. (why they chose to only put her on Saturday nights I may never understand). Aidys female spacewalk suit was funny. She probably cowrote this with Anna Drezen or Sudi Green or one of the other female writers since it was definitely written in her voice. This also made good use of Beck and Melissa on Update. For some reason, I was half expecting Leslie to do this commentary because she was one of a few female celebrities who recently complained about not being able to find a designer to dress her for a red carpet event. It makes just as much sense that Aidy ended up doing this instead since in the lead up to her "Shrill" debut and an apparent fashion line she herself was starting, she has spoken out about the pathetically low standards of what constitutes fashion for plus-sized women. I was a little surprised there was no Braun Strowman appearance or even mention of Jost & Ches' upcoming Wrestlemania appearance. I guess that's next weekend? B+
Office Kiss - This was enjoyable for the sheer unexpected silliness followed by sudden depth of it. I also liked Sandras' commitment and Beck being the only one who is into this. One thing that disappointed me was the realization that Kate uses pretty much the same voice for every octogenarian role she plays. C+
Cheques - This felt like a fun dramatic throwback to season 42. Nice to see Julio Torres still occasionally writes for the show (or if not him, I'm guessing Eli Coyote Mandell or Bowen Yang) may have written this. B-
Electric Shoes - This felt like a bad, mind numbing type of throwback to the type of stupefyingly pointless sketch the show would do back in either season 39, 35, 36, 30 or possibly even 20. I'm left disappointed and stunned as I sit here and wonder how the hell this made it even past the pitch meeting let alone on the air. The only thing even resembling a joke in this was Kyle mentioning how Kenan "blew out one of his balls". Another thing I noticed here was how suspiciously similar the song/sketch here is to "What Up With That?" I'm sure this was written by the same people which begs the question of whether or not we are getting this instead of an actual final "What's Up With That?" if this is indeed Kenans final season and the finale on May 18 is indeed his last show? Do they already know that Sukekis, Hader and Armisen will be too busy elsewhere for the next few months? D-
SAT 2 - This also felt like the type of sketch SNL has done quite a few times before but in more recent, less justifiably maligned seasons. I'm guessing whoever did write this had just been watching "My So-Called Life" recently. I did like how strongly Sandra played off of everyone as the straight woman. Kate seemed to just be doing her Justin Beiber but more subdued. Kyle had the best part in this which was obvious because even he almost broke (which is an absolute rarity for him). 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. Idris Elba/Khalid
8. Halsey
9. Sandra Oh/Tame Impala
10. Don Cheadle/Gary Clark Jr.
11. Steve Carrell/Ella Mai
12. Jason Momoa/Mumford & Sons
13. Claire Foy/Anderson .Paak
14. Liev Schreiber/Lil Wayne
15. Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
16. Awkwafina/Travis Scott
Well, that was another episode that certainly didn't defy any expectations of mine. Next week, Kit "Jon Snow" Harrington makes his hosting debut. Who knows how he will handle doing comedy for possibly the first time in his career? I also have to say that I think if Bobby Moynihan were ever going to make any brief guest cameos after leaving the show on his own terms (as his castmate Vanessa Bayer had done roughly one year ago) that this would be the week for him to do so. I say this because Bobby always seemed to be a huge GoT nerd because he always seemed to participate when SNL did any of their many parodies of this show over the years and probably cowrote them with the likes of Day/Seidell & Kelly/Schneider. It's probably a long shot at this point given how he and his seemingly like minded friend Taran said they felt working on their respective last seasons of the show but they could still surprise us (and Moynihan seems like he may not hold as much animosity toward the show). See you then!
No comments:
Post a Comment