Will Ferrell/King Princess

Okay, here's my review. I honestly didn't find this episode as horribly bad as most people in the internet did. The overall energy in studio 8H is way up from the previous two episodes and those plus Ferrell's episode from last season taught me to keep my expectations fairly low. The worst things I can say about it were that it was too heavy on cameos (which given the news of the week was to be expected, I suppose) and the episode overall was wildly uneven but still, the highs were much higher than they had been in previous weeks. Everyone got some airtime among all the cameos except for Pete (who was mysteriously absent) and Ego (which is sad for her but at least the she was in one of the two dress cuts that got posted online). Anyway, let's just get right to it since there is a lot to unpack here.

Trump & Sondland By The Chopper - Well, this wasn't what I was expecting. I guess THIS week's impeachment hearing wasn't as much of a slog as the previous weeks was? I was really too busy to catch much of it anyway. I'm surprised they didn't give us what they had on this week's Democratic debate right up front in the cold open. I guess THAT was boring compared to new impeachment developments? Mostly, I was just a little disappointed that they decided the week Ferrell hosted had to be one of the weeks Baldwin had to make a cameo just to play Trump (although I did like his "you have to tell me if you're a cop" line). What disappointed me even more was that they appeared to be giving us a carbon copy of the underwhelming Trump cold open that they did in last season's also just as underwhelming Don Cheadle episode but with a helicopter added in. Thankfully, they decided to cut this one short and get on with the rest of the show once they introduced Ferrell as Ambassador Sondland (not the political impression I was expecting from him, by the way). It's also cool to see they didn't break the streak of Ferrell appearing in the cold open of every episode he has hosted this far because he really breathed some much needed life into this despite how he seemed to blow his very first line. His performance kinda reminded me of his appearance as Dubya in that third Weekend Update Thursday special from '08 where he tried to get everyone to think of him when they voted for McCain. C+

Monologue - My expectations were pretty low here. Ferrell's usually just as great a host as you'd expect him to be but historically, monologues have proven to be his weak spot. To his credit though, his previous monologue from January 2018 was perhaps his strongest so far (it'll grow on ya) and I didn't find as much fault with his 2009 monologue as some SNL fans on message boards did at the time. Still, even though this can be said for literally any host at least you never know what to expect from him here (and that is pretty exciting for SNL fans to think about when Ferrell or almost any other beloved alumni hosts). One thing I actually did expect is that Ferrell wouldn't be acknowledging his new five timer status as much as previous five time hosts have in the past. I couldn't picture Ferrell being taken back to the lounge and presented with his own smoking jacket because it seems a little square and corny for him.  That's not necessarily true for other hosts but Ferrell's comedic sensibilities have always been a bit more "out there" than someone who would just want to make that cheap callback and call it a night. Hell, that opening host bumper of him was as much as I was expecting them to actually reference it. I wasn't totally crazy about what we got presented with instead but I at least wouldn't have preferred that to this. I wanted to like this monologue more just for the sheer level of commitment to such a silly dumb premise and the unexpectedness of a Ryan Reynolds cameo (compared to the short laundry list of people I totally WAS expecting to see cameo). I mean, I'm not sure what Reynolds even has to promote right now either. Still, while this was a little longer than I would have liked it to have been I did get a bit more into it once Ferrell started imitating Tracy Morgan and then the real deal himself showed up. Plus, I did like his "in da house" and Backstreet Boys references followed by his straight up admission that "the monologue is terrible". C+

Heinz Relax - This was a premise I could get behind. Even though literally no one has ketchup with their Thanksgiving dinner and this this ad could've been done at literally any other time of year besides Thanksgiving, this was executed perfectly and was kept to the perfect length for what it was. B-

MSNBC Democratic Debate - Oh, I guess they DID find this just barely interesting enough to tackle this week. That's good because it's still pretty obvious that the writers have a lot more fun writing about the Democratic primary than they did about the current administration. Still, this sketch kinda felt like it was meandering all over the place. I mean, they literally spent more time just introducing each cast member and who they are impersonating than your average Celebrity Family Feud does. I can totally see why though as I actually did watch the real Dem debate and their seemed to be only one substantial moment of substance they felt the need to address so again, they were just reduced to giving us the same basic "take" on each candidate that they did in the season premiere. Kate's Warren, Redds' Booker and Bowen's leader of the #YangGang were just kinda there (although the latter two had funny lines). Seeing Larry's Bernie again was nice but he has had better material in the past. It's a bit disappointing to realize his funniest line in a sketch was a Billy Joel "Movin' Out" reference. Seeing Woody's Biden again was also nice. They haven't changed much of their take on him, but it didn't feel like they needed to since the audience is still getting used to it. I liked the Harold and Kumar reference and the "I can win the election in 2016" line. I could've done without Fred's Bloomberg, though. I know he's a candidate and I know Fred's impression of him is fairly accurate but it's still an impression I never cared for. Colin still does a competent Mayor Pete. They obviously know he's not that short in real life but they should know that that's not a good way to jokes about his relative youth compared to the other candidates. It was actually smart of them to essentially have Cecily and Melissa switch roles. Melissa is more believable in the Rachel Maddow. The voice she uses is pretty much just her own, but the characterization of Maddow obviously came more naturally to Melissa than it ever did to Cecily. Speaking of which, I'm glad to see the show has a fairly accurate dark take on Tulsi Gabbard as "the villain". Sure, they may have gone a little easy on her but the writer's heads seemed to be in the right place on this one. They seem at least vaguely aware of how big of a right of center war hawk Tulsi is (and how wildly out of place she seems running as a Democrat given her record) and Cecily sells that much better than Melissa could've. Seeing Maya's Kamala again was nice, but they seemed to take a step backward with their take on her. It came off lame that she went from being a "smooth talking lady lawyer" to a try hard "how do you do fellow kids" one woman meme factory but I did like the "cool aunt" fake out. Honestly, Will as Tom Steyer was my most genuine laugh in this whole piece. I would've cast Beck or Kyle in the role but I guess since Delaney is still running but not pulling high enough to be in the debates this is how they have to use Ferrell. The impression wasn't dead on, but I love how well he captured the whole "deer in headlights/in way over his head" vibe that he gives off. B-

Thanksgiving, 1600s - Even though this sketch eventually acknowledged it's own inherently problematic nature (even performers as ethically ambiguous as Fred, Maya and Melissa would likely get "cancelled" for playing native American roles let alone someone as white as Ferrell) and it repeated a couple of the same heavy handed jokes a few too many times, it was nice to see the moldy old "bigoted older Male relative goes off on race related issues at Thanksgiving" trope inverted and applied to a situation where it would actually be appropriate and warranted. I also like how the ending was treated with the utmost serious as well. C-

Teen Party - I could tell exactly where this was going as soon as Mikey said "school" but I still enjoyed it for what it was. It belabored its' point a bit but I got more into it once it just became a deep dive into the psyche of Ferrell's character and Heidi showed up. For the most part, it was executed flawlessly. B-

Horny For Pizza - I heard this was cut from last week's dress rehearsal with Harry Styles. I actually listened to the SNL Standby Line podcast and it played out exactly the way they summarized it, but they made it seemed like much more of a "look at me" Kate showcase than it actually was. I do like how they worked Ferrell into this. It seemed like his part just seemed tacked on, but I just went back and listened to the last episode of the Standby Line podcast again and apparently they rewrote this sketch just a little so that Will had the emotional breakdown that Kate was supposed to have. That was a smart move. That really made this sketch for me. B+

Update was pretty uneven but was still mostly enjoyable. Jost and Che frontloaded their segment with some solid material on Nunes,  Sondland and Bloomberg (at least it was good to see them have SOME investment in the impeachment hearings this week) but some of the jokes in the back half (particularly the Julia Roberts/Harriet Tubman/Mayor Pete/Meth & Cocaine/nazi auction jokes) felt so much like they were putting a hat on a hat that they shouldn't have even been addressed on Update as the stories themselves were outlandish jokes with their own punchlines. Plus, David Spade almost did the exact same vagina museum joke on his Comedy Central show that Che closed with. I'm not sure we needed to see Guy Who Just Bought A Boat again as I don't know where else Alex can take this character (unlike his Eric Trump) but I did like his "fighting over Cs" joke and I was surprised to see just how dirty NBC can allow this show to get even at midnight eastern time. I did appreciate the assist from Ryan Reynolds and his "winter's fap" jokes, though. Even though I was expecting Ferrell, Reynolds was actually a better fit for this sketch. C+

Wizard Of Oz Alternate Ending - Even though Wizard of Oz parodies seem incredibly hack in 2019, this angle didn't seem like it was done to death. It also seemed to belabor the point much like the monologue did, but at least it didn't go on as long. Plus, it was a nice way to work in Bowen and Chloe (especially since the latter got inexplicably shut out of last week's show entirely) and it was nice to see Kenans' Reese De'What again (even though he hits literally all the same beats as this character every time he appears). C-

People For The Ethical Treatment Of Puppets - Unlike in the monologue, this was an example of how doubling down on the same one joke can actually make a sketch work. This actually did get funnier the more gravely serious it got. Ferrell going for the Vaseline really sold it (even though it almost undid the whole sketch). B+

Now, for my updated rankings of all of Ferrell's hosting stints...

1. Will Ferrell/Green Day (5.16.2009)
2. Will Ferrell/Queens Of The Stone Age (5.14.2005)
3. Will Ferrell/King Princess (11.23.2019)
4. Will Ferrell/Chris Stapleton (1.27.2018)
5. Will Ferrell/Usher (5.12.2012)

Now, for my updated rankings of the entire season so far...

1. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
2. Chance The Rapper
3. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift
4. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
5. Will Ferrell/King Princess
6. Harry Styles
7. Kristen Stewart/Coldplay

Well, this was an episode that obviously hit the rest of you much harder than it did me. In two weeks J.Lo hosts for her third time, but this will be the first time she is not pulling double duty. I'm.not excited for this one, but I do know not to expect the worst. She didn't blow anyone away in the same way that other mega pop stars turned hosts like Timberlake did but she has proved her self to be a dependable host before (which is odd considering that while, yes, she was on In Living Color she was only on as a dancer and NEVER as a sketch performer). See you after Thanksgiving!

Harry Styles (11.16.19)

Okay, here's my review. The energy and quality level of this week's show were demonstrably above the previous episode with Kristen Stewart but not by a whole lot. The highs were a little higher and the general consistency level of the show was better but I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was still missing. As a host, well...Harry didn't exactly make anybody forget why he and his former bandmates were only used in one or two sketches per episode with as few speaking lines as possible. Cast airtime seemed pretty lopsided, but in a way that was almost encouraging. Chris, Ego, Mikey, Heidi and Melissa seemed the most "front and center" throughout the show while everybody else made scattered appearances throughout (except Chloe who sadly seemed shut out of the show entirely). Since we have a lot more to unpack here than I was expecting, let's just get right into it, shall we?

Days Of Our Impeachment - Well, I guess those rumors of Hader being seen walking into 30 Rock this afternoon were just that; mere rumors and nothing more.  That's actually pretty disappointing since I actually preferred his take on Jim Jordan to Mikey's who previously played the Adam Schiff role that Alex has now been placed in. Man, they're really throwing continuity out the window tonight, aren't they? At least we still got Jon Hamm. From what little of the hearings I had the free moments to keep up with, he was a decent choice to play that second guy who testified on Wednesday. Pete, Kate, Heidi, Beck and Kyle did just fine, too but I could've done without Kenans'part as it made too little sense to include the guy he was playing in this story. Also, I was wondering why Cecily was playing Ambasador Yovanovich (sp?) instead of Melissa until I saw they needed Melissa to play AOC. Hell, I wasn't even sure they'd find it appropriate enough to have anyone portray the ambassador as I saw a few comparisons between her and Dr. Ford from the Kavanaugh hearing. Still, I think this was a more fitting and prescient cold open than most people will be willing to admit. These impeachment hearings weren't exactly on the same level of national spectacle as the Kavanaugh and Cohen hearings that they show famously parodied last season. From what I saw, they were pretty dry and straight forward. No one even bothered to put their brazen, petulant ineptitude on full display, not even Jim Jordan. Even he didn't warrant a Hader cameo apparently (but maybe Mulaney not having any reason to be at 30 Rock this week either was another bigger part of it). In fact, I wasn't even sure SNL would even be able to cover it in a cold open this week but I'm sure they felt obligated to in this era where every single cold open just HAS to focus solely on politics until at least next January. So, in a way, it makes perfect sense that they would have to get themselves through this by writing up a poor man's cross between the "Palm Beach" sketch from Val Kilmers' season 26 episode and that news soap opera sketch from Tom Arnold's 1996 episode. Hell, they themselves admitted that this was "necessary" to get people's attention. Hell, I have a feeling that it was more than just the audience being full if Harry Styles stans who couldn't have given two shits about whatever parts of the show he wasn't gonna be in that led to the low-key DOA vibe of this cold open. This is actually the most open, honest and "in the moment" I've seen SNL in quite some time and for that, they've earned my respect. C+

Monologue - Okay, here the audience really perked up here compared to what preceded it. Still, Harry seemed to be just a tiny bit more into doing the show up front than Kristen Stewart was two weeks ago but at the same time he seemed a little too laid back and aloof for his own good. Still, his best lines were delivered from behind the piano. I especially liked his "Simon Cowell grew 1D in test tubes" joke and all the "secrets" he revealed about SNL. C+

White Get Out - This seems almost like it was intended as a companion piece to the local mid-day news sketch from the PWB episode. I got the same impression that Ego at least cowrote this with Tucker and Che like she did the news sketch. It got better the more the dramatic music stings were played up. Also, I get the impression that this may have been cut from at least Kirsten Stewart's dress rehearsal since Harry's role was so generically white and non descript it could've been filled by any white host (or musical guest) this season has had under the age of 30. Plus, we got the third Jordan Peele reference the show has made this year here. They either must really be trying to lure him into a future hosting stint or they must be vocally kicking themselves on missing the boat on him as a even cast member playing Obama let alone a host. B-

Joan - This was pleasantly catchy and very cute. I'm sure it wasn't intended to be a whole lot more than that. The whole Harry Animorph number felt a little telegraphed but hey, they must have seen this as giving the people what some of them were going to want this week. Mostly, I'm surprised Aidy was in this instead of Cecily. This seemed like it was writtem specifically for Cecily given that it was essentially a song about how much a woman is in love with her dog and Aidy is a happily married woman while Cecily (according to what I've been told via Twitter FM by one of the girls from the SNL Standby Line podcast) is totally single and not romantically involved with anyone. I thought maybe this actually was written for Aidy because I can't see why Cecily would turn this down until I heard Anna Drezen co-wrote this. She obviously decided to cast Aidy as her analogue as they seem like similar women. C+

Lamaze Class - This was such a very niche piece that I suspect the only two people on staff that could've written it are Anna Drezen (as we saw with Duolingo for Children she tends to wrote a lot from her own very specific personal experiences that only small handfuls of viewers can relate to) or Mikey Day (as he may be the only person actively writing and/or performing on SNL who I know for sure is a parent in real life). Still, I can appreciate what this was going for even if I wasn't directly a part of this sketchs' target audience and didn't find this laugh out loud funny. Harry seemed well within his comfort zone here (as did everyone else, but especially Harry it seems) as he played a European man. This was obviously another role that didn't require him to do another accent he might have been unfamiliar with in any way. B-

Jet Blue - This seemed like it was going to be more derivative and ine note than it was going to be. It ended up being something I could appreciate for having a series of escalations as telegraphed as they seemed. I guess this was our obligatory live dog appearance of the night? I guess one live and one taped dog appearance is the equivalent of one full on loose animal free for all? I'm surprised Kate had what was obviously supposed to be Cecily's part. Ego held her own next to everyone pretty well here. C-

That's The Game - This was something I could appreciate just for the sheer foolhardiness of it. The increasingly ludicrous incompetence of Chris's character was very funny. Kenan and Mikey played off him well. My only real criticism of this piece was just how useless and miscast Harry felt in a role that Pete could've easily replaced him in and no one would be any the wiser. B+

Update was pretty inconsistent tonight. Jost started out with some decent commentary on the impeachment hearings but they started running out of steam once Che flat out admitted he didn't watch them. Still, he managed to make up for that with the Jost/Stephen Miller comparison. By the way, someone may want to check on Dennis Perrin tomorrow just make sure he doesn't die from a massive rage stroke if he sees this week's Update since comparing Jost & Che to Hitler and Nixon were totally his original moves. I guess this is either just a coincidence or confirmation that Che and/or Jost sometimes reads Perrins' tweets. I didn't think they would ever have a valid reason to bring back Kate's Jeff Sessions again, but I guess his Alabana senate run keeps him in the news for another week. It was mostly Kate hitting the same standard old beats but her variations on the "deep fried dumb Southerner" out downs and "apple cores" line made me chuckle. For some reason, I also liked the way she chose to wear that MAGA hat sideways. Kyle's dairy diary representative was genuinely the funniest part of the entire show. Seriously, he bought me my first genuine laughs of the night. Nice tribute to Rick Ludwin at the very end, too. C+

Sara Lee Instagram - This was a close second for funniest live segment of the night. The sheer shameless raw inappropriateness of the material paired with Harry, Cecily and Bowen's characters' very real shame in having to reveal it in a professional setting made me giggle. This definitely seemed like the exact type of "hontent" most if not all of Harrys' stans were crying out for. It seemed just like Bowen and Julio got together and set out to write this almost specifically for all of them (since they're both pretty prominently featured in this). Speaking of Cecily, I wonder why all of her sketches were buried in the back half of the show? When she, Kate and Aidy introduced Harry's first song I first realized what a light night this was for her. She wasn't even in anything with a dig in it which indicated to me that something may have been seriously wrong this week. On an unrelated note, am I the only one who noticed that this is the only sketch in the entire show where they bothered to have Harry affect an American accent? He didn't struggle with it or anything. B-

"Baby" Faye - Well, the thing I liked most about this were Beck, Harry and Mikey's various padded "introductions" to Cecily's character, Cecily's whole performance in general, Harry's "Joel Hodgson imitating a 1940s newspaper boy in the old 'Hired: The Musical' sketch from MST3K" voice, and the fact that we were just thrown into this premise with as little explanation as possible. The heavily conceptual/premise based nature, rapid fire pace and old timey 42nd street nature of this sketch gave me a  it of a Mr. Show-lite vibe, like someone on the current staff was trying to emulate Bob Odenkriks or Paul F. Tompkins' old writing style. I could've done without Aidys' part but I guess something had to tie this all together. C+

Funeral DJs - This is tied with Kyle's Update feature for funniest live segment of the night. It felt like the type of sketch premise we've seen before both on and off SNL for the past several years. The simple contrast of loud EDM at a funeral paired with Beck, Aidy and Alex's expertly outraged reactions worked well for me. Melissa's part felt telegraphed and I'm sure we could've done without Pete here but everything else I liked. The fact that they parodied LMFAO so obviously says to me that this must've been someone's white whale passion project that had been getting cut from several year's worth of dress rehearsals. B+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season so far...

1. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
2. Chance The Rapper
3. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift
5. Harry Styles
6. Kristen Stewart/Coldplay

Well, that was a show that managed to at once meet and fall well below my already lowered expectations. Next week, Will Ferrell officially joins the five timers' club. While I'm definitely looking forward to this the most out of all the November shows since it was announced, I find it a little harder to get as excited for this as I was for his previous two hosting stints in 2012 and 2018. This is mostly because those two are so far apart compared to this one so considering Ferrell last hosted less than two full years ago, it feels a little soon too soon to be bringing him back. Plus, those last two episodes were so disappointing for a number of reasons compared to his first two in '05 and '09 that I've already been reconditioned to tamper my expectations for this one given how this season's been going in general so far. Still, it's Will Ferrell. He pretty much has an endless supply of goodwill with the show and should at least keep people's spirits up right before they all leave for Thanksgiving so at least the overall energy level in 8H will be much higher. See you then!

Kristen Stewart/Coldplay (11.2.2019)

Okay, here's my review. This episode was quite a rollercoaster. Most, if not all, of the live sketches really meandered and belabored the point. Sure, some of the payoffs were worth it but that still doesn't excuse this episodes' dramatic shifts in energy and quality. The highs here weren't as high as Kristen's previous episode from early 2017 but the lows were that much more noticeably low. I think the reason most SNL fans would view Kristen Stewart's first episode as being better than this second one is that most people were pleasantly surprised by it. I mean, prior to her hosting SNL Kristen Stewart was only known for her performances in the Twilight saga (and possibly Snow White and the Huntsman) as well as being generally awkward and stilted as a person even when she wasn't acting. Then, we suddenly got to see her give very committed performances on SNL in a variety of different roles and she surprisingly held her own along with the rest of the cast and somehow manage to deliver one of the stronger, more memorable and well received episodes of season 42 (arguably one of the strongest seasons of SNL in recent memory at that). Granted, she had obviously grown and matured a lot as an adult in her post-Twilight era but still that episode caused most SNL fans to set their expectations pretty high for tonight's episode. Those expectations were shattered, but it's mostly the shows' fault. Kristen was still as devoted a host as ever. The show just lost all of its' really good writers from season 42. Aside from maybePete, the cast felt pretty balanced as far as airtime goes. Speaking of which, I have a feeling booking Kristen right now may have been done mostly as a favor to Kate, Aidy and Cecily who are the most likely to be leaving this season. Anyway, let's just break this episode down, shall we?

Warren Iowa Rally - This was surprisingly pleasant considering I went into it expecting a Downey-esque one person speech directly into the camera until Cecily's first line for some reason until I realized those types of cold opens left WITH Jim Downey years ago. It wasn't easy to get into at first but thankfully it picked up a fair amount of steam as it went along. If anything, it was nice to see the show move away from Trumpworld at least for one week and onto something (and someone, really) that they're actually passionate for and want to write about. I especially liked the jabs at Biden, Bezos, Ballers, Boogie Nights and Kamala. I also liked Melissa's delivery of her first line and I especially liked how they really threw Chloe a bone at the end and gave her a substantial speaking role for a change. Speaking (no pun intended) of which, does anyone else notice how much her and Melissa's normal speaking voices sound nearly identical (with Chloe's sounding much more natural, of course?) B+

Monologue - I appreciate how much Kristen tried to subvert every SNL host monologue trope she could think of here, but this felt pretty much DOA to me until Beck and Kyle's walk on near the end. I appreciate following up a segment where the audience asked their questions to Kate's Elizabeth Warren with a segment where Kristen Stewart asks questions of her audience. Now, THERE'S a switch! Seriously though, does anyone else recognize who those first two audience members were? If they were indeed writers, they must have been ones who were hired in the last two seasons and haven't gotten much on as I barely recognized them at all. C-

America At War - I was hoping they were getting this week's Kate & Aidy showcase out of the way early. Not counting Update, this actually turned out to be the case. At least here, their characterizations (and Kristen's mere presence combined with her strong chemistry with the female cast in general) would make what comparatively minimal breaking far less noticable. This also kinda dragged a bit, but I did like Kate, Aidy and Kristen stating how they would torture and kill Hitler if they were fighting in WWII. The second most frustrating thing about this sketch was how they managed to cast Chloe as Rosie the Riveter and managed to make that a second banana role. They did the same thing to Heidi, but I couldn't quite tell if her character was based in a real WWII propaganda figure. C+

Duolingo For Talking To Children - This was something that I wanted to be able to like until I realized you may have to be in almost the same headspace as whoever wrote it. I could tell this was aiming for "relatable" but the only people who really could relate to it were people whose friends and/or co-workers recently had kids that they are bringing around with them everywhere. I honestly would've preferred the throwaway ending tag of "Duolingo For Talking Your Dad" had been the actual sketch instead. Still, this had its moments. Kyle's brief part was funny and Kristen handled this material well (even though playing awkward women shouldn't come as a challenge to her at all). C+

Farrow & Ball - This actually ended up a lot more fun than it had any right to be. I was expecting the big reveal to be some kind of commercial shoot where the director made unreasonable demands or Aidy kept getting one line wrong but we instead got a series of escalating dramatic reveals. I'd like to think Bowen wrote this as it had shades (no pun intended) of "Cheques" but then again, he's a cast member so he'd probably be in this if he did so I'm going to guess that this was written  by the same women who wrote last seasons Theresa May pieces. Speaking if last season, I've heard this was cut from Emma Stone's last episode which makes me wonder if Emma was supposed to play Kristen's part or Aidys' part. B+

C-SPAN Dog Press Conference - At first, I was expecting Kate to introduce Jon Lovitz to introduce Tommy Flanagan as the new Trump press secretary because I (and someone in an SNL facebook group I'm in) were just thinking about how this was something the show could conceivably do now (but probably won't because even the people that remember that character wouldn't really care to see him again in 2019). Then, I remembered I'd seen someone holding a German shepherd on a leash during the commercial bumper and realized what this was going to be. How appropriate that they had Cecily as the dogs' handler (I'm starting to think some of this seasons' dog/animal centric sketches may have been done as favors to her if this is really her last season). This sketch was solidly written enough but I'm guessing that they (rightfully) banked on the potential for animal bloopers being a good way to disguise the fact that this was basically a collection of well executed punny dog jokes (except for the Trump medal jab and that water gag that gave me serious Triumph flashbacks) that make it seem like this sketch was just a Jost/Sublette collaboration. I can't even tell if all of those growls were prerecorded but I do get the sense that the dog wasn't the most professionally trained stage dog in the world since it seemed like he was supposed to bark on cue but couldn't. C+

Corporate Nightmare - This was a solid conceptual piece. Basically, Sum 41/Paramore/Good Charlotte supergroup suddenly matures while in a corporate work environment and suddenly realizes the inherent value of "selling out". Suddenly, they see that someone in there loves actually does value them and that they are no longer outcasts and must change their outlooks accordingly. This may have been my favorite filmed piece of the night. Pete may not have fit in flawlessly in this piece, but it's a nice change of pace to see him in a pop punk band for once instead of rapping again for the umpteenth time. It actually reminded me of Fred Armisens' pro-Thatcher Britush punk singer from his final season but this actually went somewhere without belaboring the point. B+

Orphans - I usually don't comment on the musical performances but I do have to say something about this one. I don't typically care for Coldplay that much but I do appreciate how Chris Martin at least made good use of the studio space and moved around quite bit. Still, seeing this kind of thing still makes me a bit frustrated that SNL never got "Weird Al" Yankovic to perform at any point during season 40 right after Mandatory Fun came out and let him perform "Tacky" (which he had already performed on Conan that preceding summer but still).

Update was consistently strong aside from a few risks they took that didn't pay off. Che had quite a string if strong jokes (especially his laundry list of rejected "too gross" punchlines to that 67-year old birth joke) and thankfully this week he wasn't the one who had the awkward, off-color joke. That would be Jost this week. Hearing him call Trump's Florida move a "genius troll move" left a bad taste in my mouth and genuinely made me wonder if Ben Shapiro was a guest Update writer this week. His Kate Hill "come together" joke wasn't quite as bad but came off slightly more awkward. It was interesting to see that both Melissa AND Heidi both got to debut brand new original characters in the same Update segment. Was anyone else half-expecting Vanessa to make a cameo as her child actress character during Ches' intro? Anyway, I wanted to like this more but the buildup and payoff just weren't there. Thankfully, they ended it at just the right spot. Kate and Aidys' meat cousins definitely suffered from diminishing returns. Thankfully, there was less breaking this time. I liked there shame bios of each dead animal but I still don't think we needed to see them again. C+

Jury Room - The buildup really dragged to me, but the reveal was worth it. I also liked how they ended it right after said reveal had been established but before it had the chance to wear out it's welcome. This one was obviously more about the destination than the journey. It almost felt like something any other sketch show or troupe BESIDES SNL would do. C+

Nightclub - While I appreciate that they gave Ego another front-and-center type showcase in the same vein as "Thirsty Cops" and I also appreciate her and Kenans' commitment, I still don't quite know what to make of this sketch. It felt like possibly the most one not segment of the entire show. There also seemed to be too many disparate elements that weren't greater than the sum of their parts. Kenan and Ego's characters seemed too oblivious to the situation Kristen was putting them in to realize this wasn't the right place for them and yet they're in a sexual relationship with Bowen's character? I'm guessing he wrote this one since he's in it and it this seems well within his wheelhouse. D+

Stargazers - This felt the most telegraphed out of all the other sketches that aired tonight. There was a point where I even foolishly thought it wasn't going to be as one note as it was. Kristen played her role well even if any other female host could've played that part. She gave what seemed to be her most committed performance of the night here. Sadly, it was in the weakest live sketch of the entire show. Honestly, the thing that impressed me the most was seeing just how much studio space they got to use just for this sketch. If there was any local planetarium that helped them with this one, I sincerely doubt they would be eager to take credit here. D+

Now, for my updates rankings of this season...

1. David Harbour/Camilla Cabello
2. Chance The Rapper
3. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish
4. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift
5. Kristen Stewart/Coldplay

Well, that was an underwhelming episode that didn't quite meet my expectations. In two weeks time, former One Direction pretty boy Harry Styles makes his hosting debut. He's also pulling double duty as both host AND musical guest. On the one hand, he was in the film "Dunkirk" a while ago which was well received. Plus, each of the previous four (!) times he was a musical guest and was gradually snuck into sketches more and more prominently he managed to hold his own pretty well. He can definitely handle hosting duties, but this season may be starting to his a serious slump and that worries me. Oh well. Let's just hope for the best. At least by the time that episode has finished airing, we should be getting to find out who the lineup for the 11/23 episode will be. See you then!