Okay, here's my review. This was definitely the strongest show of SNLs' April 2022 block mostly due to the host. The writing and running order still contribute to a show that's a little uneven but Lizzo really bought the energy and confidence she was expected to bring and really put the entire show over for me. It wasn’t all her (she and Dismukes worked surprisingly well together) but you can visibly tell she definitely lifted morale throughout the week (even if most of the visual evidence of this came across through points in the show where the entire cast was near breaking). Plus, this is the first show in a long time where every single cast member (minus Pete who has been M.I.A for two months now) got some screen time. Some of the underused women got their showcases tonight and even Aristotle got some small supporting parts (which isn't much but still must beat how the show has been treating him the past few weeks). Anyway, let’s get to it.
A Message From The Easter Bunny...And His Friends - I knew the very idea of us getting a non-topical non-grab bag cold open that was just pure evergreen Bowen weirdness (that's lighther on the camp) but this still had its moments. Kates' Fauci impression has passed its' shelf life and Cecilys' MTG may be getting there (but I did like the brief "God Bless Russia" joke) Good to see Redd as Eric Adams again. Only he could make a dicey NYC subway shooter joke work. Still, knowing what I now know about Eric Adams as a person from the actual news (particularly his treatment of homeless encampments in New York) I feel like SNLs take on Eric Adams shoukd be way more vicious. I'm still not sure what to make of Mikeys' Elon Musk other than it being basically a reheated version of Alexs' Mark Zuckerberg. Chloes' Britney was wasted here. I'm not too crazy about Kyle's Jared Leto either but I did like his "don't review Morbius" joke. It's nice to see JAJ settle into his role as Trump but the prospect of SNL NEEDING someone settled into that role is something I don't like to think too much about. I did like the Cap'n Crunch/Count Chocula/Little Ceasers' stories and Bowens' Bunny expressing his sheer confusion at them. I'll also admit to liking his "Covid will be over by Easter" joke as well. C+
Monologue - It's nice to see Lizzo start the show off right with the exact amount of confidence we expected of her, delivering a thoughtful personal monologue (apparently Lizzo had the most confidence out of anyone abour the material she had). B-
Guess That! - Jesus, another post monologue game show? This is, like, what, the fifth one in a row? The only thing close to a laugh this gave me was Kenans' name bring "Clint Litoris" but the rest of this seemed pretty aimless until it became obvious that the entire premise was "Lizzo plays an overconfident aggrieved dumb person who argues with Kenans' host over a minor slight". I appreciate Ego getting in on this, but it felt too little too late for me until Ego told her "People's Court" story and Kenans' host suddenly having a negative total on his podium despite not playing the game. C-
TikTok, Too - I figured this was going to be what we would get when The Standby Line Girls hinted we would get the return of a pretape from Billies' episode. I didn't mind since I did like the first one and I have to say this one was an improvement as it felt more focused and concise. It had an actual ending instead of just wrapping up four loose recurring themes. Plus, a lot of the cast just had better material from the first one (in particular Melissa, Chloe, Kate, Punkie, Andrew, Chris, JAJ, Mikey/Heidi, Ego & Sarah). I especially like the ending just being a simple reveal that JAJs' weird crawling guy is actually the father of our TikTok viewer (who, for some reason, unless his mom made a huge glarimg typo in one of the texts she sent him that she never caught also happens to be 27 years old and is somehow still in high school, still studying for the LSATS and has strong GoGurt flavor preferences...possible tribute to the Twitter persona of former SNL writer Dan Licata?). I also liked how Cecily made up for her absence from the first one by covering for Pete's absence from this one. Hey, if Aidy resembles any character from Euphoria...it's GOTTA be Kat, right? Also, were both of Bowens' contributions to these TikTok sketches just specific parodies of real viral TikTokers? I think i recognized who his "crying whille eating noodles" guy from the first one was supposed to be but the audience seems to have beaten me to recognizing his Tom's Diner cover artist tonight (which is a video we definitely need the full length version of, by the way!) B+
Black Eyed Peas 2008 Studio Sessions - Ok, thankfully I was able to let my aversion toward the inevitable creeping slide into full on late 00s nostalgia get in thecway of me enjoying this. Although Cecilys' Fergie is a little dodgy (especially when you compare it to Mileys' from season 36) this was pretty much perfectly cast. The premise was a bit thin (seemed better suited for a lame standup bit from someone like, say...I dunno, Dave Attell or a Family Guy cutaway than a full on sketch) but the performances (especially Chris and Bowen) really put it over for me. It didn't go on too long but it still felt like it could've used some cuts (like the "Let's Get It Started" reference because I know that song HAD to have been recorded way earlier than April 16, 2008). Overall, this wasn't too bad for a dated feelong sketch that needed real tightening up. C+
Six Flags Grandpa - As much as I'm not crazy about the prospect of MORE pointless mid-to-late 00s nostalgia as over explained by Mikey and/or Aidy with small dick joke liberally sprinkled throughout, I have to say I do like the prospect of Sarah getting her own vehicle out of this. I do like how Ego and Aristotle got in on it. I do like how Kyle and Kate basically ceded the spotlight to them, too and the semi-emotional ending here worked for me too. C+
PDD: Horny Zookeeper (ft. Lizzo & Andrew Dismukes) - This might have just replaced "Three Sad Virgins (ft. Pete Davidson and Taylor Swift)" as my favorite PDD SNL short of all time so far. I don't know what it is about the weeks where the show has big name female double duty pop stars return to the show as either hosts or musicial guests (and yes, I'm counting the one that got cut from Billies' episode in this because thst worked for me) that has made them produce all their straight up bangers so far but hey, more power too them. Also, I'm intrigued to hear more abour Dismukes history of literally getting away with murder. B+
Update seemed to have a running theme of "jokes I would've really hated if anyone other than Colin Jost or Michael Che were telling/saving face from them." That Sonic/Tails/Knuckles joke seems like it was beamed forward in time from season 45. Che clearly had the better Elon Musk Twitter joke but Jost made up for his short comings tonight with that dumbbell joke. Other than that, nothing else stood out to me. Thankfully, Melissa rolled in at the end to debut her new non-impression character "guy who is trying standup for the first time and immediately regrets it as all his jokes are just harsh slams against his nephew." I love getting to see the occasional glimpses into this side of Melissa that wants to give us more creative conceptual character work. I love that this also seemed more personal for Melissa as it seemed based in her own personal background and family culture. I also liked that the entire bit seemed to just be the longest setup to another slam on Jost ever done on Weekend Update. I know a lot of people probably would have preferred Aristotle got a character on here but Melissa has still gotta be second from the bottom on this season's list of "cast members who got the most airtime" so, hey I'll take it! B-
Debauched Orgy Prep - I appreciate that they went for a full cast ensemble piece (minus Melissa, Jost, Che, JAJ, Heidi, Chloe and the still absent Pete) at a point in the season of heavy cast imbalance (yes, even Aristotle scored here) but this might have been the weakest sketch of the night for me. Kate, Kyle, Sarah, Lizzo and Dismukes tried to give us something to save it (and so did Aidy with the unintentional comedy of the camera accidentally cutting away from her at a seemingly pivotal reveal-that-was-already-kinda-botched moment for her character) but other than that there wasn't anything for me to latch onto here. Honestly, Cecily and Bowen as the anchors of this sketch gave me bad flashbacks to that Cleopatra sketch from the lackluster Awkwafina episode from season 44. C-
Beverly Gas Joins The Devry Symphony Orchestra - I suppose it was inevitable that we would get a sketch that revolves around Lizzos' famed flute playing ability. I suppose I can see how it might have presented a challenge to not also make Lizzos' famed twerking abilities a part of it too. Still, I wasn't crazy about this either but the ending was admirable. Aidy and Kenan tried their hardest but I still couldn't fully get into this one. Also, this sketch HAS to have set a new record for "most castmembers near breaking in a single sketch", right? Glad to see everyone having fun here, though. C-
Steve's Investment - Good to end the night on pure unrestrained Dismukes madness. The ending was a little bleak for me, but the sketch itself still worked. B-
Now, for my updated rankings of the 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. Oscar Issac/Charli XCX (3.5.2022)
7. Lizzo (4.16.2022)
8. Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna (4.2.2022)
9. Jake Gyllenhaal/Camilla Cabello (4.9.2022)
10. Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía (3.12.2022)
11. Paul Rudd/
12. Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift (11.13.2021)
13. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.17.2021)
14. Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry (1.29.2022)
15. Will Forte/Måneskin (1.22.2022)
16. Ariana DeBose/
17. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
18. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)
Well, that episode certainly carried the cast and crew into May. Speaking of which, next month SNL returns for its final block of shows this season with Benedict Cumberbatch as host. I remember his 2016 episode being pretty bad but that wasn't his fault so I definitely think he deserves a second chance to host during a week without any approaching dark clouds about to loom over America's collective heads and during a point when the cast and crew have had two weeks off instead of one and they've just produced the standard three shows in a row rather than four, so...y'know less burn out. See you then (oh, amd before I forget...make sure you catch me as a guest on the next SNL Network Patron Feedback show on Tuesday 04/19! Yes, that's the right date. I know those moved from Thursday to Wednesday but Jon has said he will be out of town on Wednesday).
No comments:
Post a Comment