Three A-Holes Walk Into A Bar In Washington, D.C.
- OK, a random bar scene...with just Kenan and Chloe. This has some promise.
- Wait...don't fucking tell me....
- Josts' Hegseth meets Damons' Kavanaugh. Wow. Unbelievable.
- I guess absolutely no one in the casts' mom's were available?
- I didn't think Brett Kavanaugh was a relevant or notorious enough figure in 2026 as he was in 2018 for this or that Damon's impression of him was that popular or well remembered...but supreme court judgeships are lifetime appointments unless they retire...so what the hell.
- Hey, there's Aziz' Patel again. At least that's an impression that I was expecting them to setup and reveal (although Matts' "male loneliness" line was kind of an awkward introduction)...and at least Aziz is the only one capable of putting in overtime to sell the sleazy, slimy bro-tastic frattiness of this sketch.
- At first and second glance, this is mostly just playing as lifeless word salad that just washes over me.
- I did like Matt's line about Trump having written the word "PSYCHE!" on the original constitution and the Chumbawumba Tubthumping ending was a nice energy boost to end this on...but that's about it. Still better than another JAJ Trump sketch. C+
Monologue
- Huh, I genuinely wondered what Matt was plugging. I did like the "Odyssey opens nine weekends from now" line and the callback to it later.
- Who the hell was that random dude asking where Marcellos' mom was? Were we supposed to recognize him?
- Oh, apparently we WERE supposed to recognize him because that was rookie SNL writer Jack Bensinger...who I believe is also Sarah Shermans' boyfriend.
- Oh, well at least Marcellos' mom did show up for a callback after the most unambitious and telegraphed monologue Matt Damon has done on this show so far. C-
Godzilla: King Of The Monsters 2
- Oh, come on. I don't think "Spittakes On Mikey: The Sketch" needs this elaborate of a set up.
- Is this just a reworking of the "delights" sketch Mikey did during Finn Wolfhards' show?
- Was this something Mikey & Streeter wrote for Jack Black last month that didn't make it knowing he was in a sketch that was pretty much exactly like this but with wine back in 2003?
- Well, I at least do like how varied, sudden and precise the spittakes were...and how quick the ending was. C+
Mom: The Movie
- Well, as much as this reminds me of the "Mommys' Little Scotty" trailer from Comedy Bang Bang...at least this is going for something.
- I liked how well this used Ashley, Veronika & Jeremy. He had what might have been my favorite line in this about liking how his mom told him the race of everyone involved in her story.
- Even as much as Matts' part felt an unnecessary extension of the last third of his monologue, it worked better here (probably because they wrote it, like, four or five days before they wrote the monologue anyway). I did like his line about noticing Ashley's giant necklace from the stage of the theater when he was giving an audience Q&A for one of his movies.
- My biggest criticism of this sketch is that it went on a little too long. Maybe at least some of the Jane/Squirm/Chloe segment could've been cut or tightened? I don't know if I buy Jane as your average middle aged mom anyway. As great as Veronika was in this maybe one of her parts could've been cut? Either the part with the puffy pink purse or the part where she tearfully tells Ashley her friend she doesn't like dies? B-
Tough Guy Barbecue
- Huh, at least Damon, Marcello and Kenan playing Goombah Jersey Italians is...something different and unexpected.
- OK, this is pretty much the same gag as the "McManus & Sons Bar" sketch from 1993 with Chris Farley & Miranda Richardson, isn't it?
- Who the hells' phone keeps vibrating offscreen?
- Yeah, this was really lumbering along and going nowhere but I like Marcellos' story about being caged like a dog and fed gummy bears and the "quarter check" boy showing up to yell at Kenan. D+
Tidy Care Kitty Litter
- OK, FINALLY something with a semi out there premise.
- This did remind me of the ketchup factory sketch with Taran Killam and Martin Freeman from December 2014, but I liked how this escalated.
- Ashley & Matt played off each other perfectly. JAJ and Dismukes jumped in at the perfect times to make this work, giving it just the right "That's Not Yogurt/Almost Pizza" vibes it needed to work.
- I ended up liking this sketch so much I didn't even mind that this was the third sketch tonight with a sudden non-ending. B+
Weekend Update w/Jost & Che
- Josts' Best Jokes: Hantavirus, Bus Driver (that's gotta be the most Norm MacDonald ass joke Colin had ever landed)
- Che's Best Jokes: Gas Prices, RFK Caught Bird At Airport
- Boy, these two had a lot of rough jokes tonight. Che especially.
- I'm guessing that those Marco/Rubio callbacks weren't totally planned or scripted?
- Hell yes! Nice to see Jeremy's Tucker Carlson after it got cut from dress recently.
- This narrowly achieved the recurring SNL character/impression feat of being better than the original (in spite of its length but this may be the exception rather than the rule).
- Hmm...is this Mikey/Marcello kamikaze dolphin commentary just a reworked version of their emoji commentary from a while ago?
- Nope, it's just them screaming bad sexual puns at us and each other.
- I did get a kick out of Mikey making Marcello break and the meta ending referencing Colins' Ferry worked for me.
- Hey, a new Jane Wickline song! I'm not crazy about the "chronically late" setup but let's see where this goes.
- OK, this is just classic blunt atonal Jane absurdity. This is nice. The backup dancers were a nice touch. C+
Substitute Teacher
- So...this whole sketch was just Matt Damon playing off everyones' non- reactions to his dancing...and being willfully ignorant of no one else rightfully wanting to dance with him?
- It is rare that we see a sketch structured essentially like a one man show on SNL. It feels familiar, but other than the gay porn star sketch with Sam Rockwell, I can't quite place where I've seen the basic elements of this sketch before.
- Chloe damn near ruined this by being the only one breaking. I did like Damons' "Amber Alert" and "shake your booty with the substitutey" line.
- This really worked best when absolutely no one was reacting to Matt...so they should've just ended it when he left the room. We didn't need to hear the students hacky "well...that just happened" level lines or the reveal that Dismukes' character is Damons' son. C+
Scene From A Crumbling Marriage Of Two Auctioneers
- OK, from the title card...I'm interested in seeing how this plays out.
- I'm assuming this is loosely (and I mean VERY loosely) adapted from some if Sarah's standup? She is pulling off the Southern Dame look (and voice) quite well.
- Aside from a minor line flub from Damon, this is being executed flawlessly (even if it seems like Sarah & JAJ were picking up some slack from Damon).
- Adding Marcello, Dismukes, Tommy and Jeremy as prepubescent children and JAJ as a horny neighbor were nice touches.
- This is playing out more wholesome and sweet than I expected. Maybe Sarah's leaving next week (I mean, it us her fifth season and she seems like she's got plenty of irons in the fire) and this is something she's been wanting to get on the air? Maybe she wanted to go out on a high note by showing us the softer side of Squirm? B+
Ranking The 51st Season From Best To Worst
Overall Thoughts
- Nikki Glaser/Sombr (11.08.2025)
- Glenn Powell/Olivia Dean (11.15.2025)
- Alexander Skarsgard/Cardi B (01.31.2026)
- Melissa McCarthy/Dijon (12.06.2025)
- Olivia Rodrigo (05.02.2026)
- Matt Damon/Noah Kahan (05.09.2026)
- Ariana Grande/Cher (12.20.2025)
- Jack Black/Jack White (04.04.2026)
- Ryan Gosling/Gorillaz (03.07.2026)
- Amy Poehler/Role Model (10.11.2025)
- Miles Teller/Brandi Carlile (11.01.2025)
- Finn Wolfhard/A$AP Rocky (01.17.2026)
- Colman Domingo/Anitta (04.11.2026)
- Harry Styles (03.14.2026)
- Connor Storrie/Mumford & Sons (02.28.2026)
- Josh O'Connor/Lily Allen (12.13.2025)
- Sabrina Carpenter (10.18.2025)
- Teyana Taylor/Geese (01.24.2026)
- Bad Bunny/Doja Cat (10.04.2025)
Overall Thoughts
- Well, like most mothers' day/second episode of a three week May run/last episode before the season finale shows, there was a sense of palpable burn out with this one. Still, the show managed to quietly redeem itself with some unique moments near the end.
- Matt Damon may not have had his most memorable or most energetic performances as host tonight, but...he is getting older and his very first outing as host was nearly 25 years ago at this point. I wouldn't go as far as saying he was the weak link of this episode, but he was almost sleepwalking through much of it.
- This was far from the weakest of the season, but may have been the weakest of Damon's three episodes so far.
- As far as cast usage goes, nobody got entirely shut out. Tommy and Kam came pretty close, but got to do some decent support work in a couple of things.
- Ashley Padilla wasn't in any live sketches but she made a strong enough impression in the pretapes she was in to have a presence in this episode. Kenan and Mikey continue to both be used in ways that suggest next week might be their last episodes. Everyone else we saw plenty of.
Closing Thoughts
- Next week is SNLs' season 51 finale with host Will Ferrell (who also would make enough sense as a host for Sarah's final show if you think about it) and musical guest Paul McCartney.
- Even after having to tell myself to tamp down any potential excitement I could have for another Ferrell hosted episode (I mean, the guy's a five timer who's hosted two standout episodes and three duds) I'm still quietly looking forward to this the most out of all three May shows (probably because it's the season finale and I get to take a break from blogging for a few months after this). Let's hope this evens out Wills' hosting record a bit and lets the season go out on at least a high, positive note if not a bittersweet blowout sendoff for whoever could be leaving soon.
- The big thing with Ferrells' episodes when he hosts is to not expect him to bring back any old characters from his era. He's pretty far removed from that time and has probably retired said characters and moved on.
- Still, I'd say in this political climate that another Dubya cold open wouldn't be too big a stretch of the imagination. Plus, Cheri Oteri is gonna be in Scary Movie 6 coming out next month, so...she could legitimately make a cameo. I don't think they could do another Spartan Cheerleaders sketch today (just for the reason that it's been 25-30 years since the last one they did together) but maaaaybee another "Morning Latte" could work?
- If Ana's available they could also do another Culps BUT they last did that a year ago at the SNL50 Homecoming Concert, so that might be considered overkill and there aren't any other recent pop songs they'd need to get caught up with in the past year.
- Oh well. Hey, while you're here, please feel free to listen to the newest episode of We Heart Hader that just came out this past Friday. Deej & I cover part one of the two part "Blue Jean Committee" episode of Documentary Now. Our review of part two of that will be coming out next month. In the meantime, we're set to record our episode covering the Elliot Page/Wilco episode of SNL from season 33. That should be out in two weeks along with my accompanying blog post about it.
- Also, my review of the latest episode of SNL UK hosted by Hannah Waddingham is coming real soon before either of those. Now, as of this writing, I have not yet even SEEN any part of that episode let along taken any notes on it....so yeah, they won't be published simultaneously this week. Anyway, see you again real soon!
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