October 9, 2021 – Kim Kardashian West / Halsey (S47 E2) 

Cold Opening – Facebook Hearings

Facebook whistleblower (HEG) fields Internet-clueless senators’ questions

• The pointless applause at the beginning it still pointless.
• Good laugh from the opening line ”You’re watching C-SPAN on the Saturday night. Wow.” these jokes always work with me for some reason.
• Aristotle, Andrew, Sarah, and Punkie are in the background as basically furniture, the way the show uses some of the newbies is frustrating at times, especially as we know this episode will basically be a cameo orgy halfway through it.
• James takes over Kate’s nightmare fueled take on Lindsey Graham, and does a much better take on him. Quite the funny voice he’s using here.
• (*Groan*) Aidy returns with her self-indulgent Ted Cruz, get this shit out of my screen!
• Hilarious look on Chris’ Cory Booker, even if we’ve seen it previously, Chris just makes it funny each time.
• Boy, this cold open feels aimless so far, with throwaway lines and couple of meme checklist moments.
• Ok, got a huge laugh from Alex’s always-funny Marc Zuckerberg.
• Pete’s appearance gets a big reaction for some reason, showing us how annoying the audience will be tonight.
• nice to see a solo LFNY after getting bombarded with almost entire seasons with group LFNY for the last few years.
• overall, this was meh.

Rating: **

Monologue

host makes jokes at the expense of her famous family members

• Quite the look from Kim tonight.
• Kim is coming off decent and likable enough here, and thankfully the show didn’t go for an ego-stroking monologue like the Jennifer Lopez one from season 45. or a ”hot host” monologue like the Page episode from last season, even though his monologue was ok.
• Ok laughs from Kim taking digs at Kanye & her family.
• Decent fake out with Kim declaring that she would run for office.
• overall, this was fine, not as strong as some people claimed it to be, I would guess that their expectations for Kim were that low that they thought she couldn’t get through a monologue without the cast’s help.

Rating: ***

Aladdin

Genie (BOY) allays Aladdin’s (PED) fear of intimacy with Jasmine (host)

• An ok laugh early on with the show acknowledging that Aladdin is played by a white guy.
• Ok, so this whole skit is based on a fucking dick joke?! is SNL FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS??!!!!
• Not even Kenan could save this, and his whole scene with Cecily was pointless.
• (*sigh*) Bowen makes his first and ONLY appearance this whole episode playing a second fiddle to freaking Pete Davidson.
• (*groan*) The audience’s reaction to Pete and Kim kissing, their screeching will be even worse in that Dream Guy skit.
• End this now SNL!! this is freaking TORTURE to sit through!
• Garbage ending.

Rating: * (and that’s being generous)

Grown Ass Women In The Club

grown ass women (host), (EGN), (CES), (PUJ) are too old to be in the club

• OH NO, this is one of those Chaotic scenes vs calm ones that the show already did to DEATH.
• Aristotle makes his Second of MANY (in my view) thankless roles tonight.
• To say something positive, at least Kim is performing well with the cast, and good to see Punkie doing something at least.
• Overall, meh. The show did this much better previously, it should’ve stopped after the very solid Corporate Nightmare piece from Kristen Stewart’s episode in season 45.

Rating: **

The Dream Guy

(host) picks bachelors CSR, John Cena, Amy Schumer [real]

• NO NO NO!!!! I recall absolutely hating this piece, and it deservedly got ripped apart by Jesse, John and others online.
• (*groan*) I knew they would a ”hot host” skit tonight with Kim hosting, at least make it about something I know.
• (*sigh*) Here comes Alex in thankless role #98755 of his tenure. Frankly pathetic to see how much of a failure of his tenure has become. To have such a talented performer wasted like that is tragic.
• Oh NO! the cameo orgy is just getting started tonight.
• Look, I love both John Cena & Chace Crawford, but they deserve a better skit to cameo in than this one.
• Who the fuck is Blake Griffin??! seriously never heard of this guy, and the audience shrieks are getting on my nerves tonight.
• I certainly didn’t need an Any Schumer cameo.
• (*sigh*) she really had to mention her Vagina as expected.
• Kyle plays a role that he did about three thousand times before, he should’ve left with Beck.
• Overall, simply awful, from premise to execution. The audience’s shrieking and basically howling didn’t help this also.
  

Rating: * (the night is starting out great!)

The Switch

AIB & host life-swap; Khloe Kardashian & Kris Jenner cameos

• Good to see another pretape tonight, after getting only one last episode.
• A decent concept to this pretape, with it turning into a Freaky Friday parody.
• Man, James sure looks weird without all that makeup on him.
• (*groan*) Here comes Kris & Khloe (I feel ashamed that I know about them) to add in MORE cameos than needed.
• To be fair, Kim is performing this well, and coming off like a good sport in agreeing to do this piece.
• solid twist ending.

Rating: ***1/2

Lotto Drawing

pneumatic tube malfunctions cause strange lottery results during newscast

• I remember HATING this piece when it first aired, but since then I softened my view on it, I’ll chalk that up to me LOSING IT after the horrible Aladdin and The Dream Guy skits.
• Shonda seems like a fitting name for Kim’s character, and her delivery fits this piece’s general atmosphere.
• Interesting to see Aidy & Kenan being paired here, and they make a decent duo.
• (*sigh*) Aristotle again with ANOTHER silent role tonight, they seriously could’ve had an extra instead of him, this is getting absurd.
• Interesting absurdist buildup, and I LOVE the part with the finger & blood spurting out. I remember thinking that the piece will go full-on gory by its end.
• Cecily is doing fine here, but again this is a role that she already did a thousand times, Chloe or Sarah would’ve been my choices instead of her.
• Love the ending with Ego as Diana Ross (looking incredible btw) winning the lottery all of the sudden.
• overall, a very solid & unique absurdist piece, I could’ve trimmed the reaction parts and probably ramped up the absurdity & gore by the end. Yet, this is still solid, and God knows that we needed something strong tonight.

Rating: ****

Musical Performance – “I Am Not A Woman, I’m A God”

Weekend Update

LSD-induced hallucinations compromise Terry Fink’s reviews of new movies

irresponsible life coach Kelly Party (HEG) says “I Don’t Care, I Love It”

• Good energy at the start of this.
• So far, good jokes as usual from Colin & Michael, especially that Fox News joke from Michael just now.
• Solid bit regarding Zuckerberg and the time machine from Colin, love it when we see snippets of his standup style behind the desk.
• TERRY FINK!!!!!
• I really thought we would never see this character of Alex ever again, since the Tim & Eric fans threw a hissy fit online claiming that this piece was “ripped off” from their absurdist On Cinema pieces back in the day.
• Great small detail with Terry’s tie being inside his pants, it just adds to this character’s absurdity (did I say this word enough here?)
• Big laugh from knowing that Terry takes LSD, and great to see this audience giving him the reaction he deserves.
• Terry Fink: ”Daniel Craig wows as the titular Brit, until the third act when he bizarrely transforms into a 50 foot tall Catholic nun whipping me with my father’s belt.”
• Fun interaction with Colin, the hummingbird line gave me a strong laugh, even if it doesn’t reach how damn strong his previous comment to Colin in season 44, “Oh, Colin, you still believe in time?” was one of my favorite dark lines from the show in recent years.
• Overall, a fantastic commentary from Alex’s Terry, still shocked how this character never recurred soon enough, I thought it would’ve been the new Jebidiah Atkinson.
• this commentary garnered so MUCH buzz online, especially on Twitter, with the likes of Patton Oswalt complimenting Alex’s great performance here. It really shows us how much potential Alex can bring when given the chance. I guess with Kim hosting the show had a larger crowd than usual, well that’s good for Alex at least.
• Here comes Heidi with another one-off (fingers crossed) character of hers.
• Are they seriously playing that song? This feels so 10 years ago.
• (*groan*) Is this really the whole purpose of this commentary, just dancing to this song, with few if any funny comments in between? Heidi is performing well here, as she usually does, but pieces like this, and her awful Vacation pieces give me unwanted Kristen Wiig flashbacks, which is NOT a good thing.
• overall, a decent Update, helped by Alex’s great showcase, and some solid comments from Colin & Michael.

Rating: ***1/2

The People’s Kourt

family affairs are heard; Kendall Jenner cameo

• (*sigh*) What a way to ruin the great mood that both Terry’s commentary and that surprisingly strong Lotto piece had me in.
• Is this opening montage ever going to end? It’s going on endlessly, and I’ve yet to get a hint of a smirk so far into this dull, laughless, overlong segment.
• Not caring at ALL that Kim is playing her sister Kourtney, who’s surprisingly not cameoing this episode, would assume personal reasons to be the cause.
• Good to see Halsey in this, reminding me of how much I loved her episode from season 44.
• Funny look from Heidi here, but it’s not saving this from being a dogshit piece so far.
• Wtf with Kris’ awkward smile and pause? was she waiting for the audience to stop applauding?
• I just rolled my eyes when the audience went ”ooh!” after that Jenner line.
• As always, a great Kanye West impression from Chris.
• Sad that this is Chloe’s first and ONLY appearance tonight, after having a great season last year, she gets the shaft.
• Pete is doing a MGK ”impression”, it’s fitting due to their friendship in real life.
• Ugh! That tongue action is freaking disgusting to me, and sadly will probably burn into my soul for a generation.
• Kenan as OJ is always fun, reminding me of his fantastic skit with Gal Gadot from season 43.
• overall, ooof.

Rating: *

Please Don’t Destroy – Hard Seltzers

SNL writers Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, Ben Marshall [real] try seltzer

• Well, this is very interesting to see, our first writers piece that I could think of since the Mike O’Brien ones from seasons 40 & 41.
• I happen to know about these guys from Twitter, and always found them to be very likable & creative, and that opinion still stands.
• So far, I’m loving where this is going, the quick cutaways, and the comments are great.
• Solid freaking out from John here, and Martin is doing a solid work in portraying this premise as a normal thing.
• Big laugh from the piece of metal as an element of the drink.
• Good laughs from the various brands that one could drink.
• Great ending & tagline.
• This was PERFECT, I even love this piece now more than I did before, such a creative & unique concept pulled off flawlessly here.

Rating: *****

Musical Performance – “Darling”

Skims For Thick Dogs

extension of host’s Skims line of shapewear is intended for thick dogs

• Wait is this a real product? If so why are they making a full-on sketch about it??
• This actually reminds of that Jonah Hill piece from season 44, and that one was just like this, pure white noise.
• (*sigh*) After killing in the premiere, Sarah is relegated to a 10 seconds bit by the episode’s end. Hey, at least she got a good laugh from the crowd, and looked cute here.
• I feel so bad for Aristotle just now, the closest comedic role so far him this season, and he flubs his line hard. I remember some people on the subreddit unfairly predicting that he will not last after this year, while we do not know who will leave at the end of the season so far, little did they know that he will star in one of the season’s most popular pieces by next episode.
• Not even Kenan’s bitch line could save this; it feels so desperate.

Rating: *1/2

Goodnights:-

• My God! It’s like a thousand people came by, and poor Melissa, nobody wishing her a happy birthday on stage, it used to be a tradition to have a sign to point out someone’s birthday.

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Please Don’t Destroy – Hard Seltzers

Lotto Drawing

Weekend Update

The Switch

Monologue

Grown Ass Women In The Club

Cold Opening – Facebook Hearings

Skims For Thick Dogs

The Dream Guy

The People’s Kourt

Aladdin

Final Thoughts:-

• Interesting that the band playing back the show to commercial, meaning that there was a sketch cut at the last moment, and from what I’ve read on Reddit, it was probably a Sarah Sherman-starring skit about a company specialized in passwords. That or it could’ve been that wretched Bowen & Aidy skit that was later posted on Youtube. Both of which would’ve been better choices than half of what we saw tonight
• An overall horrible episode, even if it isn’t as bad as some thought it would be, I seriously thought this would reach Elon Musk level of bad, it turned out to be just a typical bad episode.
• Kim was an overall average host for me, wooden in some skits (Aladdin, The Dream Guy) and likable in the pretapes, and her monologue.
• Overall, a huge step down from the solid & consistent premiere. I do remember loving the three upcoming episodes, hopefully that will remain true after a rewatch.

My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:

Next Week:-

• Rami Malek comes by to host, funny that he’s promoting the same movie that Daniel Craig came to promote a year ago, this pandemic is really something when it comes to how it ruined many movie releases and shows.

My full set of screencaps from this episode is here.