Harry Styles (03.14.2026)

Gas Prices

• Huh...a generic family road trip cold open set at a gas station? This could be interesting.

• God, I can't even remember the last time a cold open began with random unwarranted applause for no reason? Can you?

• I got a kick out of Ashleys' "we're gonna have to leave one of you behind" line.

• Well, at least this is a nice departure from the typical Trump/Hegseth cold opens we've been getting lately...AW FUCK, we're back to THESE again. Boy, the writers must've been gassed out on political stuff this week.

• Well, I got a kick out of JAJs' Troy McClure reference and his jabs at Harry and 1Ds' musical catalog, but wow...I'm surprised they cheered at that and booed more at the Timothee Chalamet/ballet jab.

• I wasn't even into the meta background cast gags in this one.

• ...and just when even I was starting to get sick of Josts' Hegseth they find an admittedly fun way to Trojan horse him in to this one. I don't know what it says about this cold open that one of my favorite lines was "as I live and struggle to breathe" though. Nothing good, right?

• This wasn't some of Josts' best work (even he seemed a bit gassed out on doing these as he wasn't exactly disappearing into character here) but I did chuckle at the "DUI checkpoint/close your eyes and gun it" joke. C-

Monologue

• ...and there's Harrys' trademark sleepy ass energy that plagued his last episode.

• I mean, I liked that sudden "you don't know everything about me, dad!" line.

• Hey, he admitted to talking slowly and being just straight up boring. At least he's self aware to some degree.

• Boy, that "Italian GPT/Mario" joke couldn't be saved no matter who delivered it the way Harry did.

• Hmm...not quite sure what he was going for with that Prince Andrew joke but his delivery didn't help that one either.

• I liked Chloe and (especially) Sarah's walk ons but Bens' bought this to a screeching halt for me.

• At least the crowd was hyped. That must've been Lorne and the shows' main concern for this week.

• God, I sure hope the rest of this episode is much less of a slog. D-

New Jersey V. Donovan

• Marcello Hernandez IS Sebastian Maniscalco IN "Sebastian Maniscalco, Defense Attorney". That's it.

• Well, I suppose this isn't the worst possible choice for first post monologue sketch. I actually didn't mind the one from Glenn Powells' episode in November. I wouldn't say this one is the better of the two necessarily but it might be the thing I like most in THIS episode so far.

• I liked Chloes' courtroom sketch of him and I liked how Marcello is throwing himself much more into this physically (not crazy about him breaking though)

• Harry Styles attempt at a Maniscalco impression was just...odd and not a great ending to this. B-

MAHAspital

• This seemed like too much of an abstract concept rather than a fully fledged sketch. I felt like I was watching a sketch literally decide as it went along that it wanted more to be a RFK/MAHA commentary than a parody of "The Pitt" (maybe that's why it went on so long).

• I don't know if it was the right choice to have Ben featured so prominently in this (he...probably wrote a great deal of this, didn't he?) but I did chuckle at his line about shooting his parents after finding out they got the Covid vaccine, pulling the plug on that old woman after finding out she was a vegan and the Tylenol gag.

• I also liked the line "From The Facebook Group 'Beach Moms Against Vaccine Tyranny" and Kams' reaction to getting that weird infrared heat mask put on him so suddenly.

• Ashley seems to be making some very specific character choices in this. Is she supposed to be doing an impression of a specific "Pitt" cast member? They put more makeup and prosthetics on her than I'm used to seeing on Ashley in any role so this must be a specific impression.

• JAJ as RFK Jr is something that I could see seeming like a good idea on paper and it mostly worked in execution...but it also proved to be something that only works with the exact right angle. 

• Hell, as adept at impressions as he is even JAJ seemed like he was still figuring out the voice. He was almost there. He just needed to make it a lost raspier.

• I'll just say Iiked JAJ as RFK just fine...I don't really need to see it again (especially not with those goofy ass rubber muscles). C+

Sparkle Of The Sea

• This reminds me so much of the type of two hander live commercial sketches that we would get with Kate and Aidy around 2019 that I'm convinced that this was an old script that was submitted for Harrys' first double duty episode from that year and didn't get picked because that episode already had the lamaze class sketch with Heidi and that Lorne thought that two "indiscriminate European accent" sketches in the same show would cancel each other out.

• I did like Jeremy and Janes Devo-ish duo as well as JAJs' singer. Who was Mikeys' assistant though? Was she someone we were supposed to recognize? That definitely wasn't Ashley, Sarah or Veronika.

• I was pleasantly surprised at how they managed to have Kenan sneak Jean K Jean in here at least 15 years after his last Update appearance (even if I was pretty ambivalent about this character and I was pretty sure he already did the exact same routine on Update already)

• Usually, I like Veronika and Tommy being paired together...but I could've done without this though.

• I did like Harrys' line about how "a cruise is just like being in a hotel except you could drown." C+

Best Buy

• Has...Kenan done this exact character before? In a sketch with Devon perhaps?

• Anyone getting inverted Leon Phelps vibes from this sketch?

• I can see Kenan is trying his damndest to put this over and I don't totally hate it...but I can't get too into it...and it seems like it is going on far too long for its own liking.

• At least they only counted on Harry to carry the "ending" rather than the whole sketch.

• I mean, I liked Kenans' line about his wife dying in a two foot deep fountain, but...the rest of this sketch was pure white noise. I mean, it was pleasant, goofy, unobjectionable white noise, but still. C-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: RFK shoulder surgery, Michael B Jordan, 

• Che's Best Jokes: Assembly of experts, Make Iran Great Again, Trump Elementary, MTG

• I dunno...something about the rest of this episode and they Jost and Che are adlibbing and audience riffing in a way that works that isn't "it's the 90s" level obnoxious makes their portions of this Update hit harder than they should. Still, this was one of those Updates that was ALL about the commentaries.

• Already, I like Jeremys' take nonsensical take on Tucker Carlson (it seems like he worked some Ben Shapiro in there to the point where I wonder if he did so intentionally)

• Not crazy about heavily costumed commentaries in any form (and if Marcellos' involved, all bets are off) but I liked the weird abstract specificity of Mikey as "the arial tramway emoji" so...this MIGHT work for me.

• Ok, somehow Mikey listing more obscure, unused emojis in full on "Wild N' Out" mode is giving me my biggest laugh of the night. This is so weird I get Marcello breaking here because it seems genuine on a very Mulaney/Stefon level. I even liked the ending more than I thought I would. B-

White Castle

• Well, I have liked Jane and Veronikas' previous two collaborations (and a few of the things they've done separately from each other this season as well) so I guess I just had to give this a chance.

• Even though this was yet another sketch in service of this episodes' whole theme of "let's just gush over how hot our host is this week", I liked how increasingly strange Jane and Veronika made this even for how formulaic this was and how "safe" the ending felt.

• I liked how Ashley anchored this too but honestly, I could've done without Kenans' motorcycle guy though. B+

She's A Dancer

• Even though THIS was the obligatory vehicle for our double duty host to sing outside of their designated musical guest spots, I did like the sudden tonal shift from "generic late 2000s club banger" to "Celtic Woman/Riverdance". 

• I even liked the harp scene with Jane and JAJ. I wasn't crazy about how this kind of just fell apart with the ending. C+

Harry For Him

• Even though this was another (literal) Harry vanity piece with more hints of "queerbaiting" that involved Ben Marshall, I liked how this was built and crafted in a way that each line from the next cast member was genuinely funnier than the last and made this more absurd.

• I also liked how this gave some much needed live airtime to Dismukes, Kam and Sarah. It felt a little long though. Kenan had the most lines in this, so maybe some of his and Harrys' lines could've been cut to tighten this up? B+

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
3. Alexander Skarsgard/Cardi B (01.31.2026)
4. Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
5. Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
6. Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03.07.2026)
7. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
8. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
9. Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
10. Harry Styles (03.14.2026)
11. Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)
12. Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
13. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
14. Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
15. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, this was just as much like Harrys' 2019 episode as I was dreading it would be since he displayed the exact same energy that appeals to no one outside his own established fan base. I wouldn't say this was better or worse, though. I'd say it was pretty much the same. There were moments I liked, moments I didn't care for, Harry was there and he was responsible for most of the latter moments.

• Sure, Harry had a lot of very vocal fans in the audience to support him (like most attractive male hosts do)....but they didn't exactly help put the episode over for those of us that aren't that big into Harry to begin with. They just made this episode feel much more like an exercise in vanity and highlighted how much of a limited appeal he still has.

• Still, the moments I did like hit harder for me as they were basically life rafts adrift in a sea of crushing dullness and the show felt a bit more stable and less uneven.

• Cast usage was all over the place, though. We didn't see much of Sarah, Kam, Tommy or Dismukes, but Chloe, Kenan, JAJ, Jeremy, Mikey, Ben, Jane and Veronika each scored in individual roles. No one cast member really "dominated" the night (except MAYBE you could make a case for Ben?)

Closing Thoughts

• Well, I'm glad this season of SNL is finally past it's three episode late winter run of "over hyped pretty boy" episodes that tried to get by on sheer fangirl energy and cuteness alone.

• Next week, NBCs' original SNL takes a two week vacation here in the states but on the other side of the pond where our most recent host hails from, Englands' Sky TV debuts their own adaptation "Saturday Night Live UK". Since this will be available for next day streaming on Peacock here in the states, I'm thinking I'll definitely write SOMETHING about it on this blog. 

• I don't know if it will be a full sketch by sketch breakdown like I usually do or a series of stray observations and comparisons but the temptation to analyze how this show compares to its' counterpart and put it in writing will be too strong to resist for sure.

• After that, you can expect a review of the Brian Williams/Feist episode from season 33 on this blog as a companion piece to an upcoming episode of the We Heart Hader podcast.

• Speaking of which, Deej and I just released a new episode just the other day reviewing the Kunuk Uncovered episode of Documentary Now! It may be our shortest episode to date, but I still encourage you to give it a listen. 

• After that, SNLUS comes back in early April with host Jack White and musical guest Jack Black. While I'm all for this combo just for the "what's in a name?" factor alone and I'm open to the idea of Jack Black becoming an official five timer...something about this feels a little "too soon" for me.

• Still, I remember genuinely liking Jacks' episode from last season quite a bit based on how starkly it stood out from the pack at that time. Of course, most of that was due to Jacks' sheer energy making it stand out by season 50 standards but it's clear he boosted morale and inspired some creative shift. 

• He elevated his episode just enough to make it feel and his infectious energy may be just what season 51 needs right now to prove its' still wanting to do something different and less complacent in its own status quo.

• Anyway, hope you guys all enjoy this output from me when you get a chance to see it!

Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03.07.2026)

Hegseth Iran Press Conference

• Possibly the safest possible choice for a cold open, but hey...I'll take it.

• The "Hegstand/Papa Roach/Trump Resort/we can do Jamaican again/Quagmires' hilarious" lines were my favorite so far.

• I like Jost randomly calling Tommy a "Hanson brother" and his "White Hamilton" response to Sarah.

• I figured they would throw in a reference to Kristie Noems firing. I did like the "reassigned under the bus" line. Nice to see Ashley in this role before she hangs the wig and lip prosthetic in the rafters. 

• Even nicer for them to end this here and give JAJs' Trump a break. C+

Monologue

• Oh, Jesus Christ. Is this just gonna be a more insufferable version of Will Ferrells' monologue from November 2019 but with Ryan Reynolds swapped out for Harry Styles? Fuck, this show is shameless.

• Oh, I see Ryan is singing again....or about to sing...while rambling on and on about his penchant for making space movies. This MIGHT go somewhere interesting.

• Ah, fuck. We REALLY can't keep the camera off Harry, can we?

• ...and Sarah has only showed up to do her "Punchs' mom" character in Harrys' lap just as his "Sign Of The Times" song is cued up for Ryan to reluctantly talk sing to.

• Nice use of heavily prostheticized backup dancers, at least.

• Yeah, I'd take a bullet right now too, Ryan.

• Obligatory "I'm Just Ken" reference.

• ...and of course the rest of the cast (which I just now remembered Chloe Fineman is a part of is only on stage to better gawk at at Harry. Called it.

• Yeah, I don't know what else I could say about this monologue except that it didn't even manage to clear the low bar I had for this episode. Oh well. Let's see if the rest of this episode delivers anything different. D-

Wedding Tradition

• This looks like a wedding set. Oh, fuck. This better not be what I think it is.

• Oh, good. Mikey and Sarah are the bride and groom. (*phew*) We're safe for now.

• Ashley got in a good line.

• Uh oh. Dismukes and Chloe are at another table as a couple.

• Oh, good. Ryan's playing some flashy ass weirdo who's obsessed with the idea of "clinking his glass to get the bride and groom to kiss" to the point of doing this at inappropriate times during their speech.

• Well, I'm glad they didn't decide to just say "fuck it" and give us another Domingo right now...but I'm not crazy about where this is going instead. Ryans' low energy delivery isn't helping.

• Hey, I just realized how far Ryan made it through this episode without break...AH FUCK!

• Well, I at least liked Sarahs' "wouldn't kill you" line as well as what Jeremy and Jane bought to this sketch.

• Didn't Kate McKinnon play an old woman who constantly demanded random people kiss for her own amusement? This reminds me a lot of that. I'm sure this is not the exact Kate McKinnon sketch people were expecting Ryan Gosling to bring back. I'm sure a lot of people are disappointed right now, but not me.

• ...and just when you think this sketch is dragging on for far too long, it has the good sense to end.

• Eh,  I didn't hate it. C-

Otezla vs. Skyrizi

• Hmm, so..this is just "what if Otezla and Skyrizi" were just more intense versions of Happy Fun Ball?"

• While there were way too many individual lines in this to list that I liked, I did like the deranged break neck speed paced absurdity of this sketch. B+

Cyclops

• This looks like it might be unique and interesting.

• Nope, it's not. In fact, the only interesting thing about this sketch is it's the first time I've seen Ashley and Veronika break ever.

• Other than that, this feels like the type of sketch that would've been written for Fred Armisen 15-20 years ago. Hell, it feels like a modern Mikey sketch since he also seems to have an affinity for playing hopeless dumbasses.

• Now, THIS truly did go on way too long...but i got a kick out of the ending. D+

Monty McTreats and The Pastry Bakery

• Ugh, this isn't gonna be another Sarah Squirm gore fest pretape, is it? I don't see her YET.

• Nope, just a Willy Wonka knock off but focused on the post mating suicide rituals of the male dough creatures Goslings' character kidnapped to work in his factory.

• Another pretape where I liked the dark and strange detail heavy nature of it more than anything. 

• This seemed like an improvement on whatever formula Dan Bulla was going for with his pretapes. I liked how it cut straight to the point without taking a detour around the expected darkness by way of a forced, saccharine happy ending.

• It doesn't surprise me that he had nothing to do with this and that this was apparently based on an old Mikey Groundlings sketch from over a decade ago. B+

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: Kristi Noem, Womens' History Month

• Che's Best Jokes: Mind Reader, Dead Deer

• This Update has a lot of energy which is nice to see nowadays but...I feel like what the crowd who was here to see Ryan gave them is better than the jokes themselves (which Jost seemed to acknowledge)

• Hmm...a Kenan/JAJ faith themed musical combo. An interesting pairing. They should compliment each other well.

• I mean, this seems to be just playfully meandering nonsense that can't seem to pick a lane but the pomp these guys added to it made it at least entertaining.

• ...and it ends there. Not terrible. At least they knew they should end Update on a (relatively) high note this week. C+

Passing Notes

• Two high school teacher sketches in two weeks back to back? Ok, at least this one already looks like it might be better than the one we got last week.

• Oh, NOW I see why they felt the need to provide a disclaimer that these "notes" were changed at dress.

• This may be another cheap improv exercise put on air but at least this was a fun one that the cast had the time of their life with

• Glad to see Ashley get her "this is the absolute hardest I have ever broken on air" moment out of the way early in her tenure. I wonder what the discussion with standards & practices must have been like in order to get that "gynecologists' office" note cleared for air?

• It's nice to see that they decided to fully lean into the distinct possibility that there was going to be a historic amount of on air breaking this week and carve out a safe space to indulge themselves.

• I loved the idea of this sketch just being "let's have everyone pull a big Mulaney/Stefon/low stakes Che & Jost joke swap on each other" (and somehow our host kept it together the best out of anyone involved in this sketch).

• I may have liked Mikeys' reaction to his note that he pulled from Kam the best. B+

Goo Goo Man

• Huh...this could go somewhere interesting. Did Sarah cowrite this? She did well in this even if Ashley, Jeremy, Mikey and Kenan had some of the better supporting moments.

• Ryan performed this well although I would've liked to see the arrogance and self righteousness of his role played up a bit better.

• I did like that they tried a live sketch that just gave us a stream of meaningless goofy ass nonsense even if the pacing was a little languid. B-

Martin Herlihys' "Lies"

• I usually like Martins' solo short films and even though I can see how some would call this "one note" this was no exception.

• The pre-Jost stuff I liked the most were the "proud muggle tattoo" and the "stuntman" sight gags (which even livened up the semi-cliched ending confrontation between Jost and Herlihy)

• Colin Jost is a much maligned (with love) figure at SNL no doubt but the Herlihy Boy managed to put a new absurdist twist on that old trope (even if he did kind of drag it out without taking it anywhere).

• Man, who would've ever thought we'd get TWO Seth Meyers cameos on SNL in one season while he was still hosting Late Night? In this economy?

• The only thing I didn't care for in this was the repeated "lol Kevin Spacey amirite?" joke with the signed photo in Josts' dressing room. B-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
3. Alexander Skarsgard/Cardi B (01.31.2026)
4. Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
5. Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
6. Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03.07.2026)
7. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
8. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
9. Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
10. Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)
11. Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
12. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
13. Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
14. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Ranking Ryan Goslings' Episodes From Best To Worst

1. Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03/07/2026)
2. Ryan Gosling/Leon Bridges (12.05.2015)
3. Ryan Gosling/Chris Stapleton (04.13.2024)
4. Ryan Gosling/Jay-Z (09.30.2017)

Overall Thoughts

• Well, this show certainly got off to as dire of a start as I was expecting but it somehow dug itself out of that hole much more easily than I was expecting it to.

• I do like how this episode got most of its shameless pandering and "too pointlessly stupid for its own good" moments out of the way early in three concentrated, easy to swallow doses and moved on to more strange experimental stuff later on.

• Hell, Ryan kept his breaking to an absolute minimum outside of the designated spots for it and even Lorne himself showed some incredible restraint by cutting a Beavis and Butthead sequel from dress rehearsal fer chrissake!

• Yes, this show cleared the incredibly low bar I had for it by simply having more going for it than one of the two Gorillaz performances (which were both great by the way) being "Clint Eastwood"

• While this episode may not have been quite good enough to break my personal top five for season 51, it was better than last week simply by virtue of being more stable and the best of Goslings' episode by default for how starkly different it was from his others (and yes, I personally gave bonus points for Gorillaz on this one).

• Cast usage remains stable. Mikey, Veronika and Ashley had expectedly big nights. Sarah had an unexpectedly big night. Meanwhile, Dismukes, (surprisingly) JAJ, Ben, Kam, Kenan and Jeremy (surprisingly) remained scaled back. Chloe seems to be easing back into the show after remembering she still works here and Tommy (for better or for worse) continues to make inroads.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, that turned out to mostly be a pleasant surprise.

• Next week, Harry Styles pulls double duty for a second time in nearly seven years. I somehow wasn't too crazy about his first episode and while I don't quite see him pulling off the same upset and defying previously set expectations the way Gosling just did, the show is substantially different enough now from what it was back in 2019 so I will go into this with an open mind.

• After that one, I will probably write a review of Season 33s Brian Williams/Feist episode and post it here on this blog as that will be the subject of the next episode of We Heart Hader that Deej and I record as we're doing that whole season. This will be a special episode because both the Saturday Night Network and That Week In SNL were two of my inspirations to get into podcasting in general and thus part of the reason why I cohost We Heart Hader to begin with so it will be nice to have an SNL episode that Jon, Andy, Timmy, Deej and I will have all mutually covered on our respective podcasts.

• Of course, before that the next episode of We Heart Hader you will actually be able to listen to the "Kunuk Uncovered" episode of Documentary Now which will likely be out just mere hours before the Harry Styles episode of SNL even airs on NBC if all goes well (because that will certainly be an interesting one for Deej to edit!)

• See you all again very soon!

Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)

Trump/Hegseth Iran Briefing

• Ugh, here we go, I guess.

• Well, this is easier for me to picture than a SOTU cold open at this point.

• At least I kinda liked the "allowed to do one war/year 5000/Forrest Gump jokes/SNL writers room jok...HEY WAIT A MINUTE!!!"

• OK,Jost as Hegseth MIGHT hold my attention (even if he doesn't seem to have his heart in it this time, I did like the "knuckle tats" and "Game Cube" jokes)

• At least that was mercifully short (it had to be under these circumstances). C-

Monologue

• Well, Connor isn't giving off a lot of energy but I do like how he IS giving us a sincere genuine look at his own acting background with a vibe that screams "wow, it's like Bowen Yang never even left".

• I guess the stiff cameo from the Mens' Olympic Hockey Team players (which I honestly forgot was happening until I suddenly saw it on screen) wasn't as awkward as I was expecting and its' nice that they could get the womens' hockey team to balance this out. The constant applause breaks didn't help the timing or pacing of this, though. C+

Farewell Mr. Fronzi

• Ok...seriously, what the actual CHRIST am I watching here?

• ...and I thought the obligatory Trump/JAJ cold open was meaningless, nonsensical word salad.

• I have to admit though, as much as I don't like whatever the fuck Marcello is doing here...it's still preferable to more of Connors stiff flat, meaningless line readings.

• ...and now, Marcello is walking in on Connor doing an impression of his character. A neat, if not unexpected twist, but MAN...this sketch feels like a long walk off a short pier.

• Now, everyone is joining in. Ok, yeah...sure. I'm afraid this might be that same irreversible tipping point for me with Marcello that the first "Surprised Sue" was for me with Kristen Wiig or Fred Armisens' first appearance as Barack Obama was for me with him,

• I did like Kams' sudden line about not knowing what subject this class is. 

• Is it just me or does this sketch seem like Marcello himself wrote it when HE was in high school? 

• This sketch seems like it would've been a one-and-done character piece meant for Jay Pharroh 10 years ago (or even Devon Walker three years ago) D+

Gentlemens' Code

• Well, this pretape seems to fit Connors acting style a bit more (it certainly fits Mikeys' acting style...a little too well).

• Ok, this just seemed like it was "Rookie Cop" but with hand-slapping instead of badly timed sleeve-puking but thankfully Kenan added the minor twist of being able to beat these motherfuckers so hard he launches them into the air.

• Dismukes kicking his child into the air Charlie Brown and Lucy style was a fun touch, too and this actually wrapped itself up nicely into a neat little package. C+

Ice Skating Rink

• If nothing else, this was an OK showcase for Veronikas' acting chops. Tommy was...OK here. Hell, he plays off these Mikey day roles a little bit better and with more subtlety than Mikey seems capable of these days.

• At first, this came off like an experiment on the shows part on a production level to see if they could pull off the "Background Chaos" style of pretape in a live sketch format, but once Tommy started commenting on what these grown men were up to behind him, it started reminding me a lot more of the "SWAT Recon" sketch  from Chris Pines' episode in 2017 and I began to wonder which writers from season 42 are still on staff and I was like "ooohhh, right".

• Wow, this crowd is going FUCKING NUTS for this Hudson dude who's Connors costar on his show. Seriously, he's getting the most screaming applause breaks out of anyone or anything on the show. He is single handedly making this sketch much longer than it should be and may be solely responsible for those excellent Jane/Veronika "Car Door" and "Tourettes"" sketches being cut.

• Anyway, this was all right in spite of its' length and pacing. I appreciate them adding little extraneous little details to this but of the two sketches that did this tonight...the other one did it better for me. C+

Tutoring The Cool Kid

• Well, Connors' acting style fits this sketch well (mostly because he can play off the awkward moments)

• Ben, Ashley and JAJs intentionally odd keyboard playing were the highlight of this sketch for me.

• Ashley and JAJ as Bens' parents played off the "long cold" bit really well but...I kind of wish they had come up with something different for that particular beat

• The ending was...heartwarming. C+ 

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• Josts' Best Jokes: Prince Andrew, Nasal Spray

• Che's Best Jokes: Somali Pirates, Smart Mattress

• Hey, Colin...speaking of "nasal spray", are you also just getting over a cold? You sound a little congested, bro.

• Hey, Veronika finally gets a new Update character!

• Should...someone ask Vanessa Bayer if Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy or child actress Laura Parsons were MEANT to have an older sister or cousin who was recently made a bridesmaid?

• Well, I didn't like how they suddenly forced topicality on that commentary...but I do really appreciate Veronika giving us something unique with a fun energy.

• I did like Colins' Stephen Hawking "Hear Me Out" commentary.

• Ok, Lorne forced Sarah to put on a slutty ass monkey costume, didn't he?

• I don't like the framing of this being "Punchs' mom as a trashy Jerry Springer/Maury Povich guest" but it's not exactly the worst costumed Sarah Update piece I've seen.

• Marcello as Punch himself was...a surprisingly enjoyable and wholesome way to end this. C+

Griff Of The Magi

• So, Marcello just walks around on stilts uncomfortably with crunchy sound effects and all while the rest of the cast debates his height...and that's the sketch?

• I mean, I didn't HATE this...but I didn't like it enough to say it redeemed Marcello in my eyes after that first post monologue sketch.

• Connor played into this premise pretty well (or at least in the exact way I would've imagined Bowen playing into this if they did this, like, a year ago when he was still in the cast).

• This was the other sketch of the night that added various little extraneous little details I was referring to. Upon rewatch, most of these details actually served this sketch well due to the sheer thinness of its premise as pointlessly random as they seemed at the time.

• Specifically, the details I liked were Sarahs' line about the suicide of Marcellos' girlfriend and Marcello suddenly sticking his tongue out and asking "would I be able to to this?"

• I didn't much care for any of Mikeys' lines but I liked seeing hi briefly break for the first time ever. C+

Raising Office Morale

• Well, Sarah's first line and Dismukes "Severance-style" speech followed by him falling back in his chair were the only things that got me so far (aside from the oddness of this being Kenans' only live sketch appearance in the entire episode)

• Other than that, this feels like the same sketch template as the "BurrSweeto" thing from Quinta Brunsons second episode or the HR thing from Shane Gillis' first...but Connor Storrie is pitching his coworkers on the concept of a dance

• God, this has the most trouble staying focused on its one lane out of any SNL sketch I've seen in recent memory...and it's going on WAY too long.

• Well, I can't say the Mumford & Sons cameo was UNnecessary or UNcalled for. Still didn't care much for it though. C-

Bachelorette Party

• Oh, OK. So, THIS is that "stripper who just got hit by a car" sketch" that Connor talked about in an interview he did about his early performing background in sketch/clowning.

• Even though, this premise doesn't feel that unique to SNL or sketch comedy in general (it feels like a sketch template we've seen before on both SNL and MADtv) I can tell it definitely feels unique and special to Connor and I was hoping something from that part of his life made it on air so in a way...I AM glad to have gotten to see this.

• The way this cast and Connor executed this made it feel just as avant garde as Connor described it in that interview.

• Jane, Ashley, Sarah and Veronika each got great lines in and played off Connor extremely well (especially when he asked Sarah to wrap his belt around his bloody thigh like a tourniquet). B-

Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst

1. Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
2. Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
3. Alexander Skarsgard/Cardi B (01.31.2026)
4. Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
5. Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
6. Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
7. Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
8. Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
9. Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)
10. Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
11. Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025) 
12. Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
13. Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)

Overall Thoughts

• To call this episode uneven would be the understatement of the year. This episode was a wild goddamn roller coaster. I had it pegged for possibly one of the worst of the season pretty early on but it had a few redeeming qualities to it as it went on (I mean, not enough to keep it out of my personal bottom five of the season so far, but still)

• Connor Storrie wasn't exactly a bad host. He was certainly a "game" host, no doubt about that but at times being a passively "game" host seemed to be his only trick. By this I mean that aside from the very last sketch (which he clearly had a big part in conceptualizing and getting on air) he exhibited a very low key, laid back Harry Styles/Bowen Yang type energy all night except for when the sketch called for him to imitate a specific characters one quirk or goofy shtick and suddenly he snapped himself out of it.

• He reminds me of the type of male SNL host who professes to be a big fan of the show and clearly gives it HIS all but somehow none of his energy translates into making the show that much entertaining to anyone outside of his specific fan base because he's clearly using his good looks and charm to put over some very "mid"material. I want to say that Jason Momoa is this exact type of host but that's not quite a fair comparison because he and Connor Storrie are clearly very different types of actors.

• Still, I have to say this episode gave me a bit more than the basic level of what I was expecting from an episode where they were clearly planning to get by on the sheer manic energy of the shrieking young rabid fanbase the host was going to bring with them.

• Cast usage was just as uneven. It was expected that we'd get a lot of Ben, Marcello, Ashley and Sarah tonight but Veronika may have had the best night of her entire tenure thus far and she truly deserves it. Chloe was absent and Jeremy was almost shut out (well, if you blinked you may have missed him). Kenan was surprisingly light tonight which makes me wonder how much he is actually considering leaving this season. Mikey, Jane, Tommy, Andrew and Kam were just as peripheral as they always are.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, that was certainly a show I STILL may have to chew on even after all I just wrote about it!

• Next week, Ryan Gosling returns to host. I gotta say, his last episode may have seemed just as fun and high energy as parts of this one did but it ultimately annoyed the hell out of me because Ryan literally spent the whole show after he finished his monologue breaking. It was like he was trying to break on old Guinness World Record or something.

• Knowing how Ryan usually is when he hosts, I don't expect anything different from him but let's hope they actually new ways to make this episode starkly different from his last three.

• Also, feel free to listen to the latest episode of We Heart Hader where Deej and I review the Jon Bon Jovi/Foo FIghters episode as part of our SNL Season 33 coverage and read the blog post I published just hours before this one to go along with it. I think I can safely say that episode was better than this one.

• Deej and I are about to record another episode of We Heart Hader reviewing the "Kunuk Uncovered" epsiode of Documentary Now! as part of our coverage of the first two seasons of that show.

• Speaking of podcasts that Deej Barens and I have both been on, check us each out on our own separate episodes of "Cover Wars". I talk about The Turtles' "Happy Together" in mine and Deej talks about Billy Joels' "New York State Of Mind" in hers.

• See you guys real soon!