Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía (3.12.2022)

Okay, here's my review. This episode turned out to be better than I expected in many ways! It was almost better than the previous week's show with Oscar Issac. I say "almost" because it was a bit more consistent except for a very slight decline in quality post Update. Zoë Kravitz was a host in a similar vein to Oscar Issac (someone I had no idea what to expect from) but she really improved the show just with her sheer presence and commitment alone. Aside from Pete (still absent filming a movie) everyone got some screentime (even if only in a pretape in Punkies' case). In particular, Redd, Dismikes Kenan, Ego, Kate and Aidy had strong nights (with Redd in particular nearly dominating the show). Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

White House TikTok Summit - Well, this has to be the SHAKIEST premise for a cold open all season so I'll just say that JAJ, Dismukes and (shockingly) Kate (as basically an audience surrogate who actually does make a lot more sense as Jen Psaki than Chloe ever did) really carried this. I especially like JAJs' "malarkey/magenta" lone and tge twist of him suddenly being a huge fan of Dismukes characters' prank group "The Boo Boo Boys". Chris, Melissa and Kenan did their damndest to sell the parts (but unfortunately they really came ip short) they were given and Bowen really bought it all home with his ability to expertly deadpan the sheer ridiculousness of his character. What does it say about me that I'm not on tiktok and yet I've consumed JUST enough of it second hand that a few of the tiktok jokes actually felt telegraphed to me? C+

Monologue - Well, Zoë has a lot more of an upbeat energy than I was expecting. That was one helluva quick change for Kate but she was actually good here. Nice to see Ego. Part of me MIGHT have wanted to see her as Halle Berry Catwoman but she still crushed the Eartha Kitt role and I'll take any Ego I can get onscreen. I'm not too crazy about Aidy being newly typecast as mentally imbalanced people but Chris as Katt Williams actually put this over for me. B-

Maid Of Honor Speech - I love how Zoë carried over her good vibes from the monologue into the lead off sketch where she basically just delivers a series of increasingly dark, dire Braskyesque reveals a out Cecilys' character to her new groom Kyle (who actually worked better in the obvious Mikey Day role than Mikey himself ever would have but Mikey, Chris, Cecily and Martin Herlihy still played their parts well). A-

Amazon Go - This was a basic premise that was really saved by the acting of Zoë and the shows' black cast (Kenan and Chris in particular...and good to see Punkie still on the show). Seriously, this looked like it was almost going to be just a legit Amazon Go commercial until at least Kenan showed up. C+

Return Of Josh & Jason - Well, this was a sketch I didn't mind but wasn't crazy about when they did it with Carey Mulligan a year ago. Naturally, I didn't mind seeing it again since this was actually an improvement over this first one. What can I say? I must have seen a little of myself in Kate's performance? C+

Princess And The Frog - This was another basic premise that was acted well but really sold for me once Redd bought up his human backstory. Zoë, Kenan and Dismukes didn't detract too much from this either. In fact, the one thing that really stood out to me was the more innocent quality to Redds' performance and he didn't try to throw in a ton of his "swag" into his characterization. Anyone else get Reese Witherspoon/Will Ferrell Little Mermaid vibes from this? C-

PDD: A Woman Cat For Cat Woman - Hmm, is it just me or do Zoë Kravitz and Rosalía feel like surprisingly low profile guests for an episode where a PDD short actually makes it on air? Maybe they thought the premise of it was too perfect to go to waste on YouTube? Anyway, this probably did the least for me out of all the PDD shorts made for the show despite all the guys acting the hell out of it and the pointless Paul Dano cameo. C-

Old Home Movies - Well, this was the strongest live sketch of the night as well as Kenans' strongest performance. I loved the random J.B. Smoove shoutout and I liked how they threw in a reference to the year 2003 (Kenans first year) in there. Now, THAT was the perfect followup to your 1500th sketch, Kenan! B+

Update was pretty much carried on the backs of the commentaries this week. Not much stood out to me joke wise aside from Che's Iraq/Russian Car/subway urination jokes (wait...a Jussie Smollett joke? Oh, so THAT'S why they chose to air the Sandra Oh/Tame Impala episode in vintage) and Josts' DeSantis/Cracker Barrell/extinct rat jabs. Great to see Terry Fink pull off the hat trick! This commentary may not have been as strong as the first one he did this season but it still provided my biggest laughs of this episode. Good to see Kyles Not!Dan Bilzerian commentary make it to air last week. It may not be too far off from his Baby Yoda but it's certainly an underplayed improvement on the Baby Yoda premise. A-

Word Crunch - Andrew Dismukes as a game show host AND Aristotle Athari on screen? Well, NOW I've seen everything! Seriously though, Andrew, Sarah, Zoës' epic string of vulgarity and the final puzzle were really the only parts of this sketch that made me think this sketch wasn't worth being kicked down the "memory hole". C+

Don't Stop Belevin - It's a credit to Bowen Yangs' addition to the cast and Zoë Kravitzs' booking as host that they can sell this manic word salad this strongly as Ego, Chris and Heidi Mikey Day the hell out of him. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was instantly reminded of Chris Kattans' Update commentary on Chers' "Believe" from season 24. B-

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

1. Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile (10.23.2021)

2. Keiran Culkin/Ed Sheeran (11.6.2021)

3. Simu Liu/Saweetie (11.20.2021)

4. Billie Eillish (12.11.2021)

5. John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem (2.26.2022)

6. Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía (3.12.2022)

7. Oscar Issac/Charli XCX (3.5.2022)

8. Paul Rudd/Charli XCX (12.18.2021)

9. Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift (11.13.2021)

10. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.17.2021)

11. Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry (1.29.2022)

12. Will Forte/Måneskin (1.22.2022)

13. Ariana DeBose/Roddy Rich Bleachers (1.15.2022)

14. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)

15. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021

Well, that show turned out to be one of the more pleasant surprises of the season. My inside sources tell me SNLs next live show is on April 2nd. However, as of this writing, I have no clue who either the host or musical guest will be as neither were announced on air. Hell, I wouldn't have even known what date their next live show was on if it hadn't been for this inside source. Whoever the host is, I hope it's someone who continues the trend established by Zoe Kravitz and Oscar Issac (a first time actor host that you don't know exactly what to expect from but turns out to be game for anything). See you then! Happy Daylight Savings!