Kristen Wiig/Raye (04.06.2024)

Okay, here's my review. Like many of you, I've had some problems with the way SNL used Kristen Wiig in sketches in the latter part of her tenure. Fortunately, this episode didn't use her as a host in the same way. This episode worked mostly by focusing on Kristens' strengths as an actress and what made her work as a cast member when she first started out in the show. Thankfully, the two recurring characters of hers they dug out of mothballs for tonight were both semi obscure deep cuts that actually worked the few times they were done in the late 2000s/early 2010s rather than her big, hammy, over the top, scenery chewers that have already made previous comebacks because they somehow made a strong impression on more casual viewers. This may not have been the absolute best show of the season for me because it was a little uneven compared to Bargatze/Foo Fighters and the highs weren't quite as high as the ones in Driver/Rodrigo but it is still a top three episode for me nonetheless. The casts airtime felt pretty balanced (moreso than last week except for only Longfellow seemingly getting shut out but at least Molly and Punkie were allowed to make a bit of a comeback). Hell, you know it's a really solid episode when even Andrew Dick of all people says he can get on board with the parts that he saw (and Andy, if you happen to be reading this...you didn't miss much from the cold open but I would highly recommend you check out this monologue if you can. I'll fully lay out why two paragraphs from now. Also, if you make it to my review of the final sketch of the night...I'd be curious to know what you think of my assessment of it). Anyway, let's break it down, shall we?

TBS March Madness Postgame - This was a surprisingly muted cold open for an episode with...this host (kind of a bummer that a sketch wity both Devon Walker and Kenans' Barkley got this muted a reaction from me), but I guess it shows they know what audience Wiig would draw and...that the knew how to play to that audience, I guess? Good to see them finally off set that women's basketball sketch with Paul Reiser...30 years later. I didn't even mind Heidi in this but once she started talking aboyt how hard she works her girls I started wishing Melissa McCarthy could be in this (even if it would be a carbon copy of a sketch she did 11 years ago). At least it was nice of them to give us a break from tired, moribund political material when we really needed it. C-

Monologue - Wow, I liked this a lot more than I thought I would (even the "saying 'hi' to the band" part at the very beginning). It seems like it was going for the same thing Tina Feys' monologue from 2018 was going for but in a less needlessly self-indulgent, demeaning middle finger to the audience way. Instead of talking down to the audience like we were all idiots for not madly embracing big flashy stunt cameos in big flashy political roles to serve the shows' commitment to big and flashy yet ultimately tootlhess political commentary, they actually appeared to be on the audiences side for once as they addressed a legitimate concern we've raised recentlt. Does the ever growing, ever expanding and thus far FAR less exclusive nature of the modern day five-timers club renders is meaningless or does it still truly means anything anymore? I have to say though, it truly does mean something to me that they finally gave Paula Pell the proper fitting acknowledgement for her contributions to the show and her place in its history. Thankfully, if the show had to be loaded with cameos as it would've been a few years ago (will Paul Rudd EVER truly have made up for lost time due to his five timers club show being canceled due to an Omicron Covid outbreak?), they were mostly pleasant people I didn’t mind seeing again and they were mostly condensed to the monologue. Even Matt Damon turned in a genuinely funny performance although when he was explaining where he got his five timers jacket from I kept thinking "dude, just say Affleck let you borrow his...he legitimately hosted five times and that joke actually works better". Fred felt a little tacked on but he was fine. Glad to see Jon Hamm is aa worried he'll never get to host again as we all are. He truly deserves even a fourth time. Still, I wish I could get inside Marty Shorts' head just to find out his rationale of WHY he thinks his episodes where he cohosted with Steve and/or Chevy don't count at all toward his total. Ryan Gosling was OK too. I'm just glad to see him make up for how disastrous the last episode hosted by a season 32 alumni wher next weeks' host makes an actual cameo with Lorne during the monologue turned out to be. I did also appreciate how if you look closely, you'll see how this joke carried over into the goodnights with each castmember (even Longfellow...and Raye...and apparently Kaia Gerber who we'll see later starting with the first pretape of the night if you can manage not to blink) each having their own five timers jacket. Yes, as much as we were all expecting Wiig to make a big deal out of joining the five timers club, truly something this subtly off the wall would've been preferable to another big blowout sketch with the whole set. B+

Ticket To Ride - Ok, as soon as I could visually tell Wiig was NOT playing Surprised Sue and she uttered the phrase "I'm afraid of being Jumanji'd" I knew I was getting into this. It felt a little repetitive (as some escalating heavily detail oriented Dismukes sketches cam) but I loved the perfectly comitted intensity and conotrolled chaos of it (especially from Wiig & Dismukes). A frigging Forte cameo was the active ingredient of the perfect ending to this. B+

Pilates - This oddly felt like a premise for a "trendy" pretape that should've been done at the beginning of Wiigs' era as a cast member (you know, when it would've only felt two years out of date at most instead of twenty. I only say this because it immediately made me think of Amy Poehlers' "Sesame Street/Cookie Monster/Pilates Monster" joke from an April 2005 Weekend Update which was mere months before Wiig first joined the show). Still, I liked the details that went into the writing of this and the fact that it gave Molly, Troast and Punkie SOMETHING to do (it's about time someone threw each of them a bone). Even though it felt a little flat and static for a fake horror trailer that Sarah Sherman has a substantial supporting role in (thankfully I stopped myself from getting my hopes up because that descriptor NEVER turns into what I hope it does) I enjoyed this enough. C-

Secretaries - Ok, I actually liked this much more than I did when it appeared in Pete's episode this season. It REALLY helpee that Wiig & Hamm were there for Heidi to play off of as they're obviously both much better suited at playing these types of '50s/'60s office archetypes and selling them without getting too ridiculous and over the top. This also ended at just the right place before it got too annoyingly cartoonish. Glad one of my Twitter mutuals on Reddit was able to post a dress report that confirms my personal theory that the big table break was planned but didn’t go as smoothly on air as it was supposed to in dress. C-

Jerrys' Retirement - I really do appreciate that at this point in the night, the only true recurring Wiig character we've gotten was not just a deep cut that I actually remember enjoying the first two times they did it, but an ensemble piece where the cast played off each other well. I was relieved when this moved away from Bowen (even though he, Punkie, Chloe F and somehow Paul Rudd) and I actually laughed at Wiigs' "Gail" (channeling Kate McKinnon perhaps?), Armisens' "rock & roll shorts guy" and Fortes' Hamilton. Even Damon had funnier lines than he had in the monologue expertly expertly crafted for him here. It's too bad Bobby Moynihan couldn't make it this week because Marcello awkwardly grabbing the mic and then farting into it doesn’t hold a candle to Bobby's guy who says "WHAAAAAATTT?!?" and drops it. B+

Update was a pretty mixed bag. As far as jokes, the only ones that really worked for me from each anchor were Josts' podium/cocaine like and Che's Kanye joke and cicadas/mouse genitals line (the assist from Jost really helped). The rest of them really just washed right over me. No need to offset that cold open there, Che. I ended up liking Marcellos personified NYC earthquake much more than I thought I would because he sold it in only the way he could have. It felt like this was written specifically for Marcello and not like he was just slotted into a potential Bowen/Longfellow role. I didn't care too much for Kenan as the literal face of the eclipse but it was nice of him to provide some balance and pick up some slack so Marcello doesn't have to sustain that energy the WHOLE time. I was legitimately glad to see Wiigs Aunt Linda again. She was definitely at the top of my list of "recurring Kristen Wiig characters I had no actual problem with" (and that was mostly because she was only used in her first two years before the show tipped the scales away from "playing to her actual strengths" and "overindulging her as the next big beneficiary of the shows' 'star system'"). I even laughed at the line "don't get smart, Tina & Amy." I just wished she could get her desk slapping habit under control. B-

Go Karts - This was all right, but I couldn't really get to into it because I didn't feel like there was enough there. It didn't really go anywhere at all (pun not intended). Still, I appreciate how it made a decent use of each cast members dramatic acting chops to the exact degree this sketch called for it (well, except for Mikey but Wiig, JAJ, Troast & Dismukes were great in it). C-

La Maison Du Bang - Ok, while I hate to overuse this phrasing/joke structure in my reviews but this really TRULY felt like they threw Les Jeunes De Paris in a blender with those two Soul Train/New Jack Thanksgiving Time-Life record sketches in a blender with some diluted Deep House Dish and sprinkles of "don't make me sing/dance" other recent PBS Retrospective sketches. I didn't hate it but I felt there was nothing to really grab on to here. It just kept moving along from the next dadaist song & dance gag. It legit felt like they tried to replicate the pacing and audience confusion of a Turn-on episode and condensed it into one sketch. That may seem like a wild, swinging for the fences comparison but I say that with my full chest because Wiig, Mikey, Bowen & Chloe F (and at this point, let’s face it...JAJ & Dismukes) had the innate ability to arrest my attention but the material they were given didn’t keep me comfortable for very long. Ego and Chloe T could've kept me comfortable but they were on the screen only in very short bursts. Speaking of Ms Troast, I'm glad they finally gave us even a bit more than two seconds of her singing. I just wish they could do the same again without making her singing or her voice itself the central gag. Still, everyone in my favorite Discord server* seemed pretty high on this one so I'm sure it might grow on me if I ever decide to rewatch it. C-

*I know I post links to these reviews in two different SNL relayed Discord servers so in case you happen to be reading this from the other one, I won't reveal which one is which.

Now, for my updated ranking of season 49...

1. Nate Bargatze/Foo Fighters (10.28.2023)
2. Adam Driver/Olivia Rodrigo (12.09.2023)
3. Kristen Wiig/Raye (04.06.2024)
4. Ayo Edeberi/Jennifer Lopez (02.03.2024)
5. Kate McKinnon/Billie Eilish (12.16.2023)
6. Timothee Chalamet/Boygenius (11.11.2023)
7. Emma Stone/Noah Kahan (12.02.2023)
8. Bad Bunny (10.21.2023)
9. Pete Davidson/Ice Spice (10.14.2023)
10. Ramy Youssef/Travis Scott (03.30.2024)
11. Josh Brolin/Ariana Grande (03.09.2024)
12. Sydney Sweeney/Kacey Musgraves (03.02.2024)
13. Shane Gillis/21 Savage (02.24.2024)
14. Dakota Johnson/Justin Timberlake (01.27.2024)
15. Jacob Elordi/Renée Rapp (01.20.2024)
16. Jason Momoa/Tate McRae (11.18.2023)

Well, that was the most pleasant, confident and self-assured I've seen SNL manage to be this season. Next week, Ryan Gosling hosts for his third time. Now, he has previously hosted one very strong damn near classic episode and one disappointing dull and lifeless episode so...batting average isn't great there but I know his comedic chops well enough to go into this one with an open mind. Hopefully they can carry on the good vibes from this week into the next week and Ryan Gosling had proven that wouldn't be a problem with him as host. See you then!