Walton Goggins/Arcade Fire (05.10.2025)

A Mother's Day Message From SNL

• Huh…with as big a news week as this was you'd think they wouldn't do this as a cold op…HEEEEEYYYYY WAIT A MINUTE IT'S THAT GUY WHO PLAYS TRUMP AGAIN…WHAAAAAAAA?!?!?

• Well, at least he shoos away Kenan, Marcello, Bowen and their moms to shake things up.

• He is legitimately speaking for a large portion of the audience when he questions why the show isn't doing a “Chicago Pope/Daaaa Prayers” thing right now.

• I do like his blunt slams on J.D. Vance and…HEY, CECILYS’ BACK…AND SHE'S PLAYING JENEANE PIRRO AGAIN!!! YAAAAAYYY!!!

• I always liked Cecily in this role and was wondering why they wouldn't save this for next weeks’ Update until Colin came out as Pete Hegseth. Very clever way to revive the ol’ red wine spit take gag here.

• Ah, what the hell. Another format breaking JAJ/Trump cold open that actually worked for me. This is about the second best thing they could've done to a Chicago Pope cold open…well, distant second, but still. B-

Monologue 

• Huh…this wasn't what I was expecting either, but OK.

• A male host opens his monologue with a string of humblebrags about his status as a “sex symbol” right after yet another JAJ as Trump cold open? Are we sure this is a new one and they're not just rerunning the Bad Bunny episode from last season again?

• I liked the “I've had this same hairline since I was seven” joke at least.

• I do like how he transitioned into a sincere mother's day monologue with his actual mother in the audience. 

• Suddenly, I feel like I'm watching Gary Busey's monologue from season four…or Blake Sheltons’ monologue from season 40. C+

Second Amendment 

• A sketch set during the American revolution that DOESN'T have Nate Bargatze in it? Well, NOW I've seen everything!

• Already, I'm laughing at Waltons’ slick monosyllabic utterances about “guns”. 

• I love how his whole outfit appears to be a Leno-like jean jacket.

• JAJ really gets to shine here as do Mikey, Dismukes and Longfellow in support roles. 

• Anyone else think Dismukes’ voice sounded oddly like Bobby Moynihan at one point? 

• My one complaint about this sketch was that it felt like it got out before it made any point it might have had or gone anywhere.

• This felt like it had to be WAY edited down from dress rehearsal for some reason. B-

Tiny Baby Shoe (In The Middle Of The Zoo)

• Hmm…hard to get a bead on this but it's cute enough to work for me.

• Walton worked in an absurd small footed man and I liked the twist of Walton thinking he will date Jane and Jane immediately shutting him down.

• Sam Rockwells’ cameo worked for me as well in the exact same type of role as Walton…but he makes balloon animals.

• Maybe pretapes would be a better venue for Jane's musical talents if she makes it to season 51? B-

Mother's Day Brunch

• Ok, now we get a whole ass sketch playing off Waltons’ “sex symbol” status. Fine.

• I liked Heidi and Sarah in this. I did like how Walton played off Mikey and Andrew.

• I actually liked how Mikey delivered his line “LOVE to peek at some menus” as well as how Walton just thunked down Mikey and Andrew's menus on the table.

• I get the sense that Walton isn't quite used to performing in front of a live audience yet because he was noticeably tripping over his own lines all night and this sketch had the most instances of that.

• This sketch suddenly got WAY raunchier in a way I wasn't crazy about but I did like how it ended right when it felt like it was overstaying its welcome. C-

Handful of Hope

• Hmm…service dogs being trained to sit through a Tennessee Williams like play seems like an original enough twist on modern era SNLs theater sketches.

• Seems like they're drawing on Waltons southern heritage a lot in this episode. I guess some of the writers are big “Righteous Gemstones” fans?

• I liked how they used Longfellow and Jane as the trainers in this sketch.

• I wonder how they pulled off the eye roll effect on the one dog. Speaking of which, I did like the gag of the “not asleep” fake eye glasses being put on Jane's dog.

• I liked the speech buttons gag with Longfellows dog. That reminds me, did Dismukes write this? That part feels like a direct callback to his commentary from Billie Eilishs’ episode from season 47. 

• I also got a kick out of the “didn't go to Juilliard” back and forth between Walton and Bowen. B-

Weekend Update w/Jost & Che

• I liked Josts’ Pope material (as well as Che's “juvenile” crack). I also liked Che's Trump/Eric Adams, Elon/Ye and penis size study jokes, Josts “yacht carrying influencers sinks/aircraft carrier/Dick Splinter, ND/GTA” jokes. This was that rare Update that was worth watching for the jokes just as much as it was for the commentaries.

• I was OK enough with Marcellos’ “movie guy” the first time that I didn't mind it being bought back once more. I did get a kick out of his whole Jurassic World rant and the “Gary Fields/Garfield” rant (as wholly unoriginal as the whole “why does he hate Mondays?” joke was) and “Gatorade Zero” jokes.

• Speaking of which, if nothing else bringing back Marcellos’ “Movie Guy” was worth it for no other reason than hearing Che's callback to Marcello's new catch phrase “am I right, guys?” during that K-Pop singer joke. I laughed just as hard at that one as Colin did.

• I liked Mikeys’ “guy who just walked into a spider web” as just an excuse for him to be extremely physical. What I liked even more was the rapid fire black out nature of it. This felt like a piece Mikey may have auditioned with or just wanted to get on the air before he left.

• I liked Heidi's new one off Update character much more than I thought I would (especially the “porn/sunglasses” joke). B+

Deathly Diner

• Hey, Ego and Ashley aren't completely shut out of the live show! Good for them!

• They, along with Bowen, performed their parts well. I liked that this sketch wasn't quite as repetitive or as one note as I was expecting it to be and I liked that Bowen was used in a more restrained role here.

• I also liked their interaction with Heidi and Kenans elderly characters. C-

Midnight Matinee: Squatty Potty

• Ok, I think this one sets some kind of record for being the shortest Dan Bulla short ever produced (certainly felt that way compared to all his others).

• Thank God this was as short as it was because it was the second piece of the night that went absolutely nowhere.

• I did like the ending with Dismukes suddenly running screaming and jumping out of a window.

• Speaking of the ending, until the entire caveman sequence, none of this felt unique to Dan Bullas’ style. It was like anyone on SNLs’ current staff could've written or produced this up until the talking slug came out. D+

Ranking The 50th Season Best To Worst

1. SNL50: The Anniversary Special (02.16.2025)
2. Jack Black/Elton John & Brandi Carlile (04.05.2025)
3. Nate Bargatze/Coldplay (10.05.2024)
4. Bill Burr/Mk.Gee (11.09.2024)
5. John Mulaney/Chapell Roan (11.02.2024)
6. Quinta Brunson/Benson Boone (05.03.2025)
7. Jon Hamm/Lizzo (04.12.2025)
8. Chris Rock/Gracie Abrams (12.14.2024)
9. Paul Mescal/Shaboozey (12.07.2024)
10. Lady Gaga (03.08.2025)
11. Walton Goggins/Arcade Fire (05.11.2025)
12. Timothee Chalamet (01.25.2025)
13. Mikey Madison/Morgan Wallen (03.29.2025)
14. Dave Chappelle/GloRilla (01.18.2025)
15. Martin Short/Hozier (12.21.2024)
16. Ariana Grande/Stevie Nicks (10.12.2024)
17. Charli XCX (11.16.2024)
18. Shane Gillis/Tate McRae (03.01.2025)
19. Jean Smart/Jelly Roll (09.28.2024)
20. Michael Keaton/Billie Eilish (10.19.2024)

Overall Thoughts 

• This episode was wildly uneven until after Update when it was just kinda…blah. It had a strong enough start despite sputtering a bit, but completely ran out of gas in the last third. Still, there was some fun to be had in the first half if you were willing to look for it.

• Walton Goggins seemed like a game host who was just a bit too full of himself for me to fully get into. I guess all the hype surrounding “The White Lotus” is making him start buying into his own to take himself too seriously, huh?

• I mean, it was foolish of me to expect a Mother's day episode to be anything above “middle of the road” since the second episode in a May run is usually a total wash but this host got a ton of comedy buzz from stuff like “Vice Principals” and “The Righteous Gemstones” which themselves got rave reviews from comedy needs, so…I guess I also should've expected that “White Lotus” hype to kind of ruin this guy for me.

• Chloe got shut out. Devon and Emil almost did. Apparently, I blinked and missed them. Oddly, Kenan felt like he was barely in the show. Other than that, everybody else got a fair amount of airtime.

Closing Thoughts

• Well, next week is SNLs’ 50th Season finale with host Scarlett Johansson and musical guest Bad Bunny.

• Part of me is expecting another real “running out the clock” type episode, another part of me is expecting an episode full of big tributes to those players who may (or may not) be leaving (guess we'll find out soon, huh?)

• Another part of me is expecting a possible fourth Domingo sketch. I mean, we've established Bad Bunny as a canonical part of the “Domingo-verse” and ScarJo seems like she's always gonna be down to sing purposely off key for laughs. If they are planning a big blowout for next week, all signs point to this as a distinct possibility, so…watch out.

• Anyway, my next blog post will be a full review of this season's finale and the week after that I will be posting a full length review of the Hugh Laurie/Beck episode from October 28, 2006 because it will be the subject of the next episode of the We Heart Hader Podcast coming out on Thursday, May 22nd. That's right, we're officially creeping into season 32 now!

• See you then!

Benedict Cumberbatch/Arcade Fire (5.7.2022)

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/Charli XCX (12.18.2021)
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/Roddy Rich Bleachers (1.15.2022)
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!