Okay, here's my review. Benedict Cumberbatch certainly made up for how, shall we say...awkward and forgettable his November 2016 episode of SNL turned out to be (as low of a bar as that is to clear). He was an instantly likable and committed performer who elevated a lot of sketches he was the focus of (even if a lot of then were familiar if not flat out repeated premises) and certainly made the most of his second chance at hosting SNL. Everyone in the cast (besides Pete who I legitimately wonder if he's just already left the show without telling anyone) got some screentime tonight (even if they had zero lines or only appeared in pretapes). Anyway, let’s get right to it, shall we?
Musings On Abortion Circa 1235 A.D. - Well, I'm glad they chose to cast Dismukes, Redd and JAJ to play off Benedict Cumberbatch in this cold open that's such an abstract take on a current political topic that it almost distracts you from the fact that it's political. Hell, since Cumberbatch was in it I even found myself wondering if this was even the cold open at dress? Cecily was a fine addition but I could've done without Kate's part personally, but up until she came in this was steadily becoming just absurd enough to get me on board and get some laughs out of me. I especially liked Dismukes and JAJs' definition of "birth control". C+
Monologue - I liked that Cumberbatch gave us another personal monologue with a self effacing touch here after giving us a rather sloppy self promoting musical number on his 2016 episode. Given how his whole first episode in general turned out, I'm starting to think HE may not have been the problem there. B-
Mother's Day Present - Well, I was much more impressed with the fact that they finally broke their "post monologue game show sketch streak" than I was with the fact that they reheated a sketch from Regina Kings' episode last February without a different enough take on that premise. I did like how much more absurdly specific and abstract in bringing down Aidys' character instead of just beating the one joke of her being perceived as a raging alcoholic into the cold, cold ground. B-
Blue Bunny Focus Group - I was hoping for something similar to the Harry Styles Sara Lee sketch but it looks like we got someone similar to the Donald Glover/Rachel Brosnahan Barbie Instagram sketches written by someone who'd just seen Power Of The Dog recently funneled through a Sam Eliott impression Benedict Cumberbatch told the writers he wanted to work into the show on Monday. I appreciate his and Heidi's increasing committment to the point where they got me on board with this as much as Ego, Mikey, Melissa and Kenan did. C+
Just Like You - Hmm, a slightly unexpected twist on the old "family holiday quick cut flashback" short we've seen countless times in the past six years. This one, in particular, seems to be a companion piece to the one Emma Thompson did three years ago just with the roles reversed. Kate and Benedict actually made me laugh in their flashback scenes. Cecily and Chloe acted their present day parts pretty well. The casting of Strong amd Fineman as mother and daughter seemed inevitable, didn’t it? C+
Georgia Chain Gang - The level of acting was what sold the very straight forward premise of "man freely and openly admits to snitching on his fellow prisoners" to me. Benedict anchored this sketch well and it didn't hurt that they also cast Kenan, Chris, Alex and JAJ (in another increasingly less rare non-impression role) either. B+
Update was a pleasant surprise. Once again, Che had the better Roe V Wade opening rant but I admire Jost for really going there with his "mother's day/adam and eve/good luck, cancer" jokes as I did Che for his "afro-latino/Jackie Robinson/220 Carat Diamond" jokes (although I feel like his Alabama cave drawing joke was too much of a non-sequitir) I wasn't sure I would like Kate as ACB but the sheer silliness of it got me. B+
Landsdowne House - Once again, we get another sketch with a thin premise that is saved by its acting. To me, it was a slightly better take on the Mt Everest sketch from Mr. Show. Benedict and Alex really shined here. Mikey and Cecily do what Mikey and Cecily always do. In fact, this sketchs' placement in the show disproved my theory that Cecily showed up late enough in the week to only be able to be used in the cold open and pretapes. C+
ReKline from Kohler - This honestly might have been my favorite piece of the entire night as it was the most unabashedly ridiculous (yet also restrained just the right amount considering it was...y'know, LITERAL toilet humor). The use of an old, all-but-forgotten Fat Joe/Remy Ma track from 2004/out of nowhere was what really made this for me. Honestly, the only criticism I have of this was that I was disappointed that this was Sarah's first appearance of the night byt something tells me she might have had a hand in writing this. A+
Reflection Denied Live At Chuck E. Cheese - Nice to see that a dense '80s synthpop based sketch co-anchored by Benedict Cumberbatch and Bowen Yang has exactly as much promise as I thought it would! I also liked the interaction between Chloe and Cecily. Melissa, Alex, Kenan and Aristotle (oh...so, he IS still in the cast...I see) were great additions as well. This could've been edited down a bit (I'm not even sure what I would cut anyway) but overall not bad. B-
The Understudy - This was an enjoyable use of Chloe even if it was just a clothesline for her to hang her unseen impressions of her (white) female castmates (and Liz Olsen...who seems like one of those celebrities who barely gives a cast member like Chloe anything to work with) off of. I'm sure the Marvel/Multiverse fans were pleased by that one but it didn't do a whole lot for me. Still, this has honestly connected with me more than anything Chloe has did on the show so far. I have to admit though, I don't agree with Heidi's assessment of Chloes' impression of her being her "worst one" as I feel it's a close second to Chloes' impression of Melissa. I liked the idea of Punkie being Chloes' understudy but I think a better joke would be having Aristotle be Chloes' understudy (which would also explain his dire lack of airtime). 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. Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire (5.7.2022)
8. Lizzo (4.16.2022)
9. Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna (4.2.2022)
10. Jake Gyllenhaal/Camilla Cabello (4.9.2022)
11. Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía (3.12.2022)
12. Paul Rudd/
13. Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift (11.13.2021)
14. Rami Malek/Young Thug (10.17.2021)
15. Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry (1.29.2022)
16. Will Forte/Måneskin (1.22.2022)
17. Ariana DeBose/
18. Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves (10.2.2021)
19. Kim Kardashian-West/Halsey (10.9.2021)
Well, that was certainly a decent way to start off tye beginning and the end if this season. Next week, Selena Gomez makes her hosting debut (at a point where it doesn't feel too soon or too overdue) bringing with her some all-but-confirmed camros from her new co-stsrs Steve Martin and Martin Short. That should be a fun show! See you then!
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