Ana De Armas/Karol G (04.15.2023)

Okay, here's my review. This show met my expectations and defied them all at once. I ended up coming around on Ana De Armas and she was the wonderful host I expected her to be. The show fit her like a glove. They knew exactly how to write for her and she was clearly overjoyed to be there. They also made some changes to the shows established format which, while exciting to see at first, didn't quite distract me from some of the pacing issues that resulted. The show felt uneven since they gradually went back to some of their old writing tropes and began recurring previously established thin premises from the previous era that should've left behind. You'll see what I mean by all this in a moment when the review of the actual show starts proper. Still, the sheer levels of energy made up for this, and while I can already see it was a divisive show to some, I certainly had fun watching it. There was a nice cast balance tonight. While nobody seemed to get shut out if the show entirely, JAJ and Dismukes seemed to have each only made one appearance all night. Anyway, let’s just start since there is a lot to break down tonight.

First Warm Day Of The Year Red Carpet Show - Wow...what the hell was the cold open in dress, and how badly did it bomb for them to scramble and bump this up top? Still, I say that with love as it's a shrewd choice and a very welcome change of pace to open the show with this. It's truly gratifying to see a light, breezy, non-topical, not too long cold open that doesn't actively drain the shows' energy up top after years of our pleas for such a thing seemingly falling on deaf ears. The JAJ/Mikey Longs and Devon/Punkie pairings are my favorite so far. Kenan & Sarah kinda overshot whatever they were going for, and it didn't really work for me. I did like how they made Ego/Dismukes and Marcello/Day into their own separate mini-runners in this. I also liked that this was accessible and not too much of an inside joke for another "weird/obnoxious New Yorkers we saw in the park" sketch. B+

Monologue - Nice to see Ana address the language barrier in a charming and not too self effacing way. I know when I drew comparisons to previous hosts in last week's blog, I mentioned the names Sofia Vergara and Gal Gadot, but she immediately seems more in control and at ease than those women. Part of me doubts that the "beg your pardon/acting class/Robert Deniro" stories are true, but the way she carried herself in this monologue left me not thinking too much about that. This felt a little long, but I think they gave Ana exactly what she needed here. She was the perfect host to bring back the "sincere personal monologue" trend. B+

The Dome - Well, Joe (or Bill whichever one of you this applies to), there goes your "Margot Robbie hosts the season finale" theory, but your "this is Mikeys' last season" theory still absolutely holds water for the time being. Maybe Mikey knows who the last two (as of right now tentatively) scheduled hosts of this season are but obviously can't reveal them. Either the last two hosts are men or Ana De Armas is the last host this season who is a glamorous, beautiful Hollywood actress or Mikey is operating under the assumption that the upcoming writers strike is definitely happening. Either way, I can see why he had to do this now instead of the finale. He had to strike while the iron was hot (pun somewhat intended). Anyway, this was a nice way for them to Trojan horse a third Matt Shatt on us. I appreciated how this was different from both of the previous Matt Shatts, but I was still a little disappointed with the setting for this one. When I saw that this was a game show titled "The Dome" for some reason I was half expecting a parody of "The Wall" (which is inexplicably still on the air on NBC right now) so I was hoping to see some physical challenges just for the sake of a drastic change to the Matt Shatt formula. Sadly, this never came to pass and I ended up just setting myself up for failure. Still, the multiplying nipples got me. B-

American Girls - Even though SNL has been doing too many American Girl based sketches lately (which is something I've never been deep into the lore of but thankfully didn't need to be for this) I did like the very grim and detailed "writerly/gallows humor" nature of this sketch, but it seemed to have some serious pacing issues. It seemed like it was absolutely dying with the audience during each moment when Ego (who seemed like she should've been carrying this sketch), or Molly, or Sarah weren't delivering their lines. C-

Young Spicy Sessions - When you really break it down, this was basically the most overused, played out sketch trope in recent SNL history ("inappropriate responses to a seemingly innocuous prompt") but this more than got by on sheer charisma. This was one of Egos' better showcases in a while, but Devon was really the glue that held this together. He seemed completely in his element here, and I liked his line "you leave my Corolla our of this." I also got a kick out of the implications that he may have a learning disability and should be on a watchlist for drugging women. B-

Spanish Transfer Students - Even if this felt like an inverse of the inner city school sketch from the Megan Thee Stallion episode but with Mikey Day doing his usual Mikey Day shtick added in, it was perhaps the perfect vehicle for both Marcello AND Ana (and Karol G). I did like how lived in and sincere they made this feel without it coming off too "pandery." Still, it felt like it could've been tightened just a little. B-

PDD: Hangxiety - This was pretty much the Please Don't Destroy take on the "Holiday quick cuts" trope we've been seeing reoccur since season 42 but the performances along with the lack of saccharine family get together "cutting the tracle" vibes put this over for me. John Higgins and Chloe opening fire got the most laughs out of me along with the interactions between Heidi/Bowen and Ben Marshall/Mikey Longs. They probably should've rethought the ending with Mikey Day, though. C+

Update was, once again, mainly worth tuning in for the commentaries. I didn't even mind the Discord jokes (they didn't apply to me or anyone I interact with on Discord), but I kind of wish that leaked document scandal wasn't the context for the first ever mention of Discord on SNL. The only other jokes that stood out to me were Che's Tim Scott/Rat Czar/missing alert system and Josts' litter campaign jokes. Kenan as Funky Kong turned out to be more fun than I was expecting it to be. I mean, the visual if Kenan in a gorilla suit was a little...unsettling...but by the time he got to "booty cheeks/titty meat" and had possibly genuinely botched that "Monkey Kong" line I was as fully on board with it as both Jost and Che seemed to be. I liked Sarahs' meditation expert a lot. It may have just been an excuse for her to burn Jost again but less elaborately and more in character/less as "Sarah" but I was just relieved to hear Colin set up this commentary with the phrase "with mental health struggles on the rise..." and NOT see Bowen come out (Mikey Longs would've been a'ight, but maybe he needs to slow his roll for a minute). The true highlight of this Update was Molly Kearney as Molly Kearney. They delivered the same type of sincere personal political statement that Cecily (and at one point Aidy) pulled off successfully but did so in a less harrowing and confessional and more flashier and showier but also more positive, encouraging, cohesive and uplifting way (both literally and figuratively). B+

Lisa From Temecula - Well, I guess we willed this one into existence whether we meant to or not. I have to admit, I was a bit more into this one than I was the first one (maybe because Ego affected a much goofier Kenan-like voice and the breaking was a bit more under control despite what appeared to be Egos' best efforts) but this still appears to ve suffering from Debbie Downer syndrome while lacking variance at season 35 levels. C+

Enter Stage Woof: Acting School For Dogs - There's no way in hell you can convince me this WASN'T a leftover script from a Cecily/Aidy sketch from season 45 that got cut at the table read. This felt like the first sketch all night that Ana De Armas was truly an odd fit for, but I will say Chloe handle the inevitable mishaps like a pro and Punkie had the funniest lines on the whole sketch. C-

Nail Salon - After the last few character showcases Bowen has given us, it's nice that we got something that was more reminiscent of his "choking victim poster" sketch with Scarlett Johansson from season 45 (even if it's delivered with the hamminess that season 48 Bowen can't seem to leave behind for very long). I honestly didn't mind his midwife sketch from a few weeks ago, and this felt like a slightly scaled back version of that.I didn't hate that random Family Guy-ish Twilight reference, but it felt a little too forced. C+

Now, my latest ranking of the season so far...

1. Aubrey Plaza/Sam Smith (01.21.2023)
2. Michael B. Jordan/Lil Baby (01.28.2023)
3. Dave Chappelle/Black Star (11.12.2022)
4. Steve Martin & Martin Short/Brandi Carlile (12.10.2022)
5. Quinta Brunson/Lil Yachty (04.01.2023)
6. Ana De Armas/Karol G (04/15/2023)
7. Molly Shannon/Jonas Brother's (04.08.2023)
8. Keke Palmer/SZA (12.03.2022)
9. Jenna Ortega/The 1975 (03.11.2023)
10. Travis Kelce/Kelsea Ballerini (03.04.2023)
11. Austin Butler/Lizzo (12.17.2022)
12. Jack Harlow (10.29.2022)
13. Pedro Pascal/Coldplay (02.04.2023)
14. Woody Harrelson/Jack White (02.25.2023)
15. Brendon Gleeson/Willow (10.08.2022)
16. Miles Teller/Kendrick Lamar (10.01.2022)
17. Amy Schumer/Steve Lacy (11.05.2022)
18. Megan Thee Stallion (10.15.2022)

Well, that may not have been the ideal season finale for me...but there was fun to be had. The next announced episode doesn't sound like my ideal episode to even..
air or exist but I'm still holding out hope that the WGA can successfully negotiate another contract to get the pay they deserve and to give this season the proper finale it deserves (as of this writing the final two hosts and musical guest lineups of May have yet to be announced, so...who knows?) Barring the possibility of another Writer's Guild Of America strike, Pete Davidson will make his hosting debut in two week's time. That's right, Pete Davidson will be the first of the departing class of 2022 (less than a full year after he left to be exact) to return to the show (for a full length hosting gig, not just a surprisee unannounced cameo). For some reason, the words "TOO SOON" keep flashing in my head like an old, unprogrammed VCR constantly blinking "12:00" over and over again. I honestly can't say I can see how he would even fit into the show now despite the minimal changes made since his departure (mostly because he barely let us see how he could still fit into the show in his last season since he had multiple different reasons not to be there for his own personal well being) but I will say the trailer for his new Peacock series "Bupkis" looks...decent, so...if he had to host so soon at least it's to promote something that looks worth promoting. (Wait...a cast member hosts for their very first time just to promote a Peacock series? This might be just like the Will Forte episode from last season all over again! That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either). Oh well. See you then!