Okay, here's my review. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard Adele was going to host this show. I must have been expecting something a little less low key. Pop starts usually make for fun hosts but Adele is a much older, more mature pop star so she wasn’t as over the top as some of the younger ones who had famously made their mark on the show. She held her own so well and was such a charming presence that I didn’t even really mind that she seemed to play slight variations on herself (when she wasn’t literally playing herself) on the show. This episode was about on the same level of quality as last weeks’ but after four consecutive weeks, I’d say some of the cracks are starting to show even if no fatigue has fully set in yet. Still, I guess this is to be expected when Adele was apparently a last minute replacement for a completely different host (more on that at the end). Generally, the show was slightly more uneven than last week. Even the casts’ airtime reflects that as Kyle Mooney was practically invisible while Melissa Villasenor made her first substantial live appearance in almost an entire month. Meanwhile, Punkie and Andrew were relegated to their one appearance each being in the same pretape while Lauren’s live airtime increased and Cecily and Aidy continue to literally be absent. Speaking of, I was actually gonna say something like “man, of all the weeks for Aidy to miss a show” until I realized that Adele doesn’t look a thing like Aidy anymore and looks more like Cecily now who will ALSO be missing this weeks’ show. Everyone elses’ airtime stayed virtually the same. Anyway, let’s break it down, shall we?
NBC Presidential Debate - Well, for starters, I'm glad to see they just had Maya play Kristin Welker rather than Kamala Harris. That was definitely the right move. It probably wouldn't have hurt to focus just a little bit more on her and a little less on Baldwin and Carrey. At least with their material you could tell the writers realized they a little more focused on the substance of this debate and tried to be a little less broad and simplistic this time as there were less silly distractions and disruptions than the first one. In fact, I was expecting them to give us something similar to the 2012 debates here (the Vice Presidential ones in particular) which they pretty much did. Even Baldwin as Trump was more tolerable this time (I did like the Army Vaccine cannon and ventilator jokes as well as how he seemed to focus on some of the real Trumps' whiny vocal tics a little more) but the cameo from Kates' Guiliani seemed to tacked on at the last minute for me. They even gave Carreys' Biden stronger material but what frustrated me is they gave him quite a few lines that Sudekis or Harrelson would've killed with. The whole "Delaware night out" and "Obamacare/Bidencare" rants as well as his calling out Baldwin’s Trump on his inconsistent attacks on him are perhaps the best examples of this. During the latter he almost even broke. Hell, I liked the idea of his "Eastwooding it" bit if they hadn't botched that along with the needless double takes. I also wanted to like the Biden Bingo bit more even though it's a carbon copy of a joke the had Kate as Hillary do four years ago in Tom Hanks' last real episode. I'd say that this confirms my theory that most people's problem with Carrey as Biden us that he's just a far less likeable performer (hell, just a far less likable celebrity in general at this point) than Jason Sudekis and Woody Harrelson (the former of which SNL audiences are FAR more used to seeing in this role). Plus, Sudekis played Biden when the real Biden was possibly under the least amount of public scrutiny in his political career and in an era when people were less PC and culturally sensitive than they are now. Harrelson played Biden after he came under some allegations of borderline sexual harassment and racial insensitivity but he and the writers worked that into his short lived portrayal (as they did with Sudekis when he briefly returned) and Woody worked in some of Bidens' general old man folksiness in a way that seemingly came natural to him as a performer but still indicated he took his portrayal just as seriously as public perception required of the show. The way the show is handling Carrey in the role seems to suggest the writers agree that this isn't the best idea in the world right now but are too afraid to bring it up to Lorne out of fear of losing their jobs mid-pandemic and are overthinking it, trying way too hard to play it as safe as possible with Carrey. Frankly, I'm starting to believe the rumor that Carrey has only heard the real Joe Biden speak only once. This isn't saying much but by default, this might just have been my favorite debate sketch of the 2020 election cycle because it suggests the show is "winding down" on its' heavy political coverage in more ways than one. C+
Monologue - We have only really seen Adele twice in public since her weight loss. I'll admit, seeing her like this took me some getting used to so it's nice to see she has adjusted her personal sense of fashion and style accordingly. I probably should have expected her to do a low-key personal, sincere season 44 type of monologue like this one. I expected her to joke around a little more but considering this is their fourth of a planned six (and now suddenly seven) consecutive shows without any weeks off. I'm sure the writers were glad to just let Adele speak from the heart in a tone that suggests "dry British wit" more than anything else at this point rather than try to write awkward jokes for her. Speaking of which the “travelling light/half of me” joke didn’t quite land with me and the giant swear jar almost didn’t either but thankfully Kenan was able to save that one. It’s also nice to see Adele giving off a general vibe that she's currently in a good place in her life and she'll be a quietly confident host. This got the show off on the right foot so far. B+
2019 Psychic - Even though Kate's character seems to be an exact cross between Dr. Wayne Weknowdis, Olga Povlatsky and her old "kiss" lady, I liked her performance and how premise driven this was. The idea of people living in last year reacting to being told what this year would be like has been thankfully unexplored until now. The worst thing I can say about this sketch is that it felt a little labored and the obligatory Jeffrey Toobin joke was a little drawn out. I did like the J.K. Rowling jab as tacked on as that felt. Also, it’s pretty obvious that the dress rehearsal take of this is what they put on YouTube. B-
The Haunted Manor - I guess we were due for another "Chad" piece in the early part of this season. As formulaic as these always were, they still have their moments and in the more recent ones they throw in something a little different each time to shake up the usual "Chad" formula. Plus, another recurring piece like this allows the writers to conserve some of their energy from the next two weeks. Also, Adeles' character being a ghost seems like the production of this allowed for plenty of green screening and proper social distancing. I did like the "Where's Waldo" joke and the twist ending. C+
The Bachelor – I usually like SNL’s reoccurring Bachelor parodies (that they do in January when ABC actually airs new seasons of the show) and I'm glad they broke the established format of the previous ones where they just parade each female cast member out one by one. Having Adele just play herself is funny enough as a twist on its own. Having her sing here instead of the monologue like most musician hosts (especially non-double duty ones) was a decent change of pace. The only things I can say this had going against it is that it seemed like a premise any local YouTube sketch group could have done five or eight years ago (although learning that former SNL writer Chris Kelly may have come back this week to write this may have contributed to that feel as he came to SNL from Funny Or Die originally) and that in order for this premise to really work you may have to ignore the fact that Adele is now a divorced mom so you don't end up wondering whether she's too focused on herself and being a mom to even think about getting another man into her life right now. That mental energy is probably best left to wondering whether or not she actually just got away with singing "and I'll lay your shit bare" on live television or if you misheard her. I also thought this ended on a touching note with Adele wandering into the audience. B-
Trump Addicts Of America - I liked this at first as the twist seemed to be SNL poking a little fun at itself (even if they unintentionally threw a little red meat out there for their conservative critics). Then, it just seemed like the show, the network and just the American news media cycle in general admitting to an uncomfortable truth about itself and potentially sending the wrong message. Still, the performances and subtle characterizations were what really sold it. C-
Update was saved by its own self aware cheesiness tonight. Jost and Che's debate/Guiliani/Borat material seemed a little too forced for my liking but they made up for it by reacting to several of their own jokes in a "joke exchange" like format. It's nice to see Melissa Villaseñor finally get to make a live on air appearance four weeks into this season. I'm sure letting her work out some standup at the desk made up for that. Still, I have to say her Fleetwood Mac parody/Stevie Nicks impression was the only thing I was that crazy about. The Village People segment was just cheesy and over the top enough to work well for me. I guess this was the thing that the guys were rehearsing with a choreographer for in that Instagram post from Keith Ray Wood? I do appreciate how the YouTube version of that feature put the lyrics at the bottom of the screen. B-
Nursing Home - I was a little nervous about this sketch once it was established that Maya (as an nursing home resident in her obligatory non-political late in the show role of the week) was to be shouted at from a balcony. Thankfully, there turned out to be more substance to this as it went along. I eventually came around on the premise of young people having to explain increasingly complex life situations to a safely socially distanced retiree. I'm sure everyone can relate to that on some level. I also liked how Maya seemed to be playing a more doddering, more ethnically ambiguous and less Southern fried version of her "Bless The Harts" character and quickly revealed she blew all her inheritance. This sketch ended at just the right point and didn't feel too long either. C+
Tourism Board Of Africa - I wasn't crazy about this as it was pretty much the exact same type of piece Kate has been doing endlessly with Aidy for the past few years. The only difference here is that in Aidy's absentia they clearly just dropped Adele and Heidi into the role she would've gotten. Honestly, the only thing this sketch did have going for it was Adele breaking much harder than even Jimmy Fallon ever did on this show (which is actually charming appropriate here as Adele is clearly not the seasoned sketch comedy veteran that Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant are supposed to be). D+
Ass Angel Perfume Jeans - I'm really not sure what this was going for and the audience didn't seem to know what to make of it either. It seemed like something Tina Fey collaborated on with Tim and Eric. I gave it a chance and I really wanted to like it more after realizing it was basically just a scaled back “Happy Fun Ball For Women” but just set about seven years earlier but something still felt a little off for me. I think there’s a definite possibility that this was made from a left over 04-05 script since Maya’s in it and I can easily picture Amy Poehler and Will Forte in Adele and Beck Bennet’s parts respectively. I guess the thing I liked most about it was how it was the first sketch where Adele attempted a different accent than her own. She handled that well and I suppose this being a pretape helped. D+
Now, for my updated rankings of this season…
2. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
3. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
4. Bill Burr/Morgan Wallen Jack White (10.10.20)
Well, that defied my expectations. Next week, John Mulaney makes his fourth appearance as host. I like John Mulaney just fine and he’s always a welcome presence at the show but I feel like social media and the comedy world in general has bene oversaturated with him to the point where we might be suffering from Mulaney fatigue (especially since his last episode was so weak compared to his first two but hopefully he’ll bring out enough old scripts and feature the new cast in big enough showcases to make up the difference) Still, part of me was expecting him to host sometime this season as SNL is having to resort to getting friends of the show who either already live in New York or are willing to quarantine there for two weeks if they can travel to host due to COVID restrictions. Plus, I had heard he was already scheduled to host this week but had to reschedule. It really speaks to the strangeness of our times that SNL got Adele to replace John Mulaney as host (who may have already had to replace Issa Rae back in February as evidence by his last episode feeling the least like it was in his “voice” and more like he was just another interchangeable host just dragged-and-dropped into an average season 45 episode) and ONLY as host because they already had a different musical guest. Oh well, see you then!
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