Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff (2.13.2021)

 

Okay, here's my review. It's nice to see the show gradually get more polished and focused with its energy each week. Tonight's episode was consistently solid with Regina King proving to be as dependable a host as expected. Much like Dan Levy, she comes across as one of those hosts who bring out the best in the cast and writers but she obviously has a broader range of acting ability given her training and background. The highs weren't as high this week, but thankfully the lows were at about the sane level.. Each cast member got some screentime this week. Nobody was completely shut out. Anyway, let's unpack this episode, shall we?

Tucker Carlson Tonight - Well, it was a nice two weeks while it lasted but I'll always miss that brief period of the Biden administration where there wasn't a political event in the news that was a big enough deal that you just KNEW it was gonna be SNLs' cold open that week. I wasn't too crazy about Alex's Tucker Carlson the first time he did it last year but it's gotten better and they wrote much better material for him. Part of the reason it works is that Alex seemed to make this a combination of Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro and other similarly pathetic conservative pundits out there. I especially liked his "non-sequitirs". I'm still really not crazy about Kate's pandering Lindsey Graham. That impression has definitely gotten worse and I definitely would've preferred to see Kate anchor another no frills "What Still Works?" type cold open as herself than see this. Aidy as Ted Cruz seems like one of those things that was better on paper than in execution but he deserves it anyway. They seemed to have established Beck Bennett as their new Ted Cruz in Awkwafinas' 2018 episode. I would've rather have seen that but I guess they needed him to play Mitch McConnell. Honestly, aside from Alex, Mikey and Pete as Trumps' defense lawyers were the only other parts of this that worked for me. I should probably cut them some slack considering that most (if not all) of this may have had to be completely rewritten about seven hours before airtime. Honestly, I just haven't had all the time in the world to keep up with all the details of this second Trump impeachment trial this week. From what little I gathered, it amounted to whatever GOP senators even had the dignity to show up to this hanging their heads in (apparently newly discovered) shame at a found footage festival of footage from the Jan 6 Capitol attack they helped happen so I was surprised to see they would even find an angle on this to mine comedy from. C+

Monologue - I think Regina might be surprised at how many white people (particularly white males) know her from "The Boondocks" but she immediately came off like a polished pro and delivered that monologue with just as much professionalism as you'd expect from a trained actress of her caliber. Kenan was great here too even if his hype man routine felt a little too tacked on. B+

What's Your Type? - I've seen so many of these types of "trash  reality/dating show" parodies populate SNL in the Trump era that it actually took this level of self awareness to put this one over for me. It felt like a little bit of the formula for Kate's Sheila Sovage was mixed in there as well for good measure. Everyone played their roles expertly here. After Kyle's performance in last weeks "Raising Our Voices" sketch, it was nice to get this as a companion piece expanding on that premise a bit. B+

Pelotaunt - This almost felt like it just explained too much of its own premise upfront to really work but there was enough variance in the execution of it to it to keep it from falling flat. It was fast paced enough to not need any edits either. Kate and Heidi were definitely the best of the instructors here. Nice use of Lauren at the end. C+

Commode & Commode - This DID feel like too much of its premise was revealed (and possibly belabored) early on but again, the performances really put it over and they left plenty of space to explore their own implications here. Some of it could be edited though. C+

Wine Signs - This could get a little grating and repetitive (that must’ve been the whole point) but I liked this for the increasing bluntness of it. It felt like a cross between the drag brunch sketch from Mulaneys' first episode and Vanessa Bayers' sketch from "I Think You Should Leave w/Tim Robinson" (although it reminded me of that, it didn't remind me of it so much that I could see any fans or writers of that show accusing SNL of more plagiarism although I'm sure Tim Robinson himself might still want to maintain his connection to Lorne enough to discourage that). B-

The Negotiator - This felt like the first truly original premise of this episode. The song was pretty damn catchy. I liked seeing Melissa as Marge Simpson. Weirdly, I always thought she would be able to do a pretty solid Lisa with Kate as Bart. Anyway, she along with Beck, Pete and Aidy were a perfect counterpoint to the dramatic, gritty acting that Regina and Bowen (and to a little bit lesser extent Mikey and Andrew) bought to this along with the low key dramatic vibe that they went for with the cinematography. B-

Update was pretty solid and consistent. I appreciate the writers for making Jost and Che break down topics such as the impeachment trial and the Gina Carano controversy from a fresher perspective than we're used to getting. Even though Che's Morgan Wallen joke last week didn't work for me, I did like how Jost leaned into his this week. I especially chuckled at the Josts' Ted Cruz hair jokes and Che's Andrew Cuomo/Moe Syzlak comparison (although I was led to believe that Rich Hall was the actual real life model for Moe Syzlak?) The premise of Kate's feature was something I wanted to like more. Her performance wasn't doing anything for me at first (maybe I'm just not crazy about that proper elderly British woman voice she keeps using) but she eventually kinda won me over. Lauren's commentary was great. She's really sold hers and it's nice to see her finally get her own showcase in her first season (and hopefully NOT her last but given the extreme circumstances I can't see why they wouldn't keep her around). Beck's commentary was very funny. Nice to see Beck finally perform something that seems like it was written for Kyle specifically. I wonder if they cowrote this? B+

Fliona! - This was nothing more than a series of rapid fire list of unavailable items to me and it was so campy that I thought there was no way that it couldn't have at least been cowritten by Bowen Yang and I was right. The only thing that really stood out to me was Bowen staring more blatantly at the cue cards than anyone else (but given the rapid fire pace of this sketch I don't blame him) and Aidy doing a voice that I'd sooner expect to hear from one of Melissa's characters than one of hers. Otherwise, this was the weakest sketch of the night for me. D+

Fembox - This was set up like it was gonna be much funnier than it was but Kate and Aidy didn't add a whole lot to this for me (although I did like how Aidys' character just seemed to be "what if Alex Borsteins' character from 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' was doing a Kyle Mooney impression?") and Regina was just there for the gravitas.The reactions from Mikey, Chris, Andrew, Melissa and Heidi as the spectators were what made this for me. C+

Now, for my updated rankings for this season…

1. Timothee Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (12.12.2020)
2. Issa Rae/Justin Beiber (10.17.20)
3. John Mulaney/The Strokes (10.31.20)
4. Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa (12.19.2020)
5. Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters (11.7.2020)
6. Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff (2.13.2021)
7. Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers (2.6.2021)
8. John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly (1.30.2021)
9. Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion (10.3.20)
10. Adele/H.E.R. (10.24.20)
11. Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen (12.5.20)
12. Bill Burr/Jack White (10.10.20) 

Well, that show was a pleasant experience. Next week, Regé-Jean Page makes his hosting debut with Bad Bunny as musical guest. This actually marks the first time I've heard an SNL lineup and knew who the musical guest was while having absolutely no clue on the host. I only know he's on Bridgeton because I just suggested that show to my mom without having seen it at all. I just thought she might like to see it since she's into flowery, Jane Austen Victorian period pieces. From what she's told me, she seems pretty into it so she should have a good time with this episode and I'll certainly go into it with an open mind as, again, I have absolutely no clue what to expect but if this guy respects and thinks enough of the show to agree to host right now, more power to him. Let's hope he commits. See you then!