December 19, 2020 – Kristen Wiig / Dua Lipa (S46 E9)

Cold Opening – Pence Gets the Vaccine

• Sadly, this is the final appearance of Beck’s Mike Pence impression, as this is Beck’s final season on the cast.
• Lauren stuck in silent, dull, non-comedic thankless role #3636.
• Maya returns for the umpteenth cameo this season.
• Not caring for the ”YAS KWEEN” material nor Maya’s deified and sassy portrayal of Kamala Harris, again one of the last politicians that deserve that kind of hero worship.
• We now get the debut of Alex Moffat’s short-lived Joe Biden impression. The insanely short amount of time that Alex played the president makes it surreal in hindsight for me to review just now.
• Alex is a very solid impressionist, but his Biden is surprisingly uninteresting & sounds more like George W. Bush than Biden, or at least in this debut appearance.
• I recall several online SNL fans being happy (me included) when Alex took over the Biden impression after Carrey’s laughless take on the future president, and we thought that Alex would be heading toward a Bill Hader-esque legendary trajectory of being underused aside from few glimpses of promise in his first few seasons to catapulting into ultimate stardom on the show and being heavily utilized to his full potential. Turns out that we were DEAD WRONG. As the second time Alex will be appearing as Biden will be in a rather dreadful Maya-as-Kamala sketch when Maya hosts a few episodes from now, and then the impression will be yanked away from him and be handed to new hire James Austin Johnson who would do the definitive take on the president & will get a deservedly well-received positive reaction from both fans and critics. As for Alex’s tenure, he’ll be even more underused than ever this season, much like season 45, stuck between impressions and thankless roles, aside from one or two Update commentaries later this season. Absolutely inexcusable to waste his great talents in such a way.
• Yeah, I love Alex, and I barely, if ever criticize him, but something seems off about his Biden to me and the writing isn’t helping either.
• I hate to say this, but I’m glad that James took the Biden impression by next season, as he’s a FAR stronger impressionist than anyone in the cast, and he was given funnier material as Biden. Even when I would’ve loved Alex’s Biden to grow and improve, the choice Lorne made was right at the end.
• Dammit Kate’s Giuliani returning for the billionth time this season. Mercifully, this is the last time, for now, that I’l have to deal with this dreck of an impression. Unmercifully, this is FAR from the last laughless, self-indulgent, prosthetics-heavy political impression from Kate this season.
• As always, I’m freaking stone-faced during the usual meme/checklist moments during this era’s cold opens (aside from few exceptions of course), and being bored to death (which IIRC, most of this episode and the upcoming one will be frustratingly dull and dead).

Rating: *1/2

Monologue

• Unlike some other fans & SNL reviewers, I have much higher tolerance for musical monologues, when they’re done right and are funny. This is why I gave a solid rating to the Ariana DeBose monologue in SNL’s current 47th season. Not to mention that I enjoyed Kristen’s two previous monologues, particularly her very fun Thanksgiving monologue from her season 42 hosting stint.
• Blah at Kate & Maya being a big part of this monologue, while I like both of them a lot as people, I would’ve rather had a fun Christmas-themed musical monologue, in a vein similar to the aforementioned previous fun Thanksgiving-themed musical monologue from Kristen in her season 42 hosting stint.
• Nothing much but this monologue bored me to death, not too bad though.

Rating: **

Secret Word

• Of course with Kristen Wiig’s return, we got a quick nostalgia tour with her bringing up some of her ”hilarious” characters from her days as a cast member.
• I recall seeing Lauren’s parts in this, sitting in dead silence next to Kristen’s hammy over-the-top antics as Mindy in fellow SNL fan Ruby’s Twitter account. Their video perfectly summarizes Lauren’s wasted tenure.
• Not caring for the usual bit with Mindy saying the secret word.
• I think it seems quite fitting that Kate is playing opposite kristen as another annoying, hammy, attention-starved, wacky, one-note character, as both are the designated “stars” of their respective eras.
• I’m being, again, bored to death with Kristen-as-Mindy usual rambling, which I know is the point of her character’s many ramblings, but COME ON SNL write her some funny dialogue.
• NOT caring for Kate’s delivery & performance here.
• Overall, aside from Kenan’s great straight man work, this sketch was a huge miss for me.

Rating: *1/2

Christmas Morning

• Here’s a short that’s very popular amongst general SNL fans that I always felt was highly overrated (certainly nowhere near as overrated as that Murder Durder tripe).
• Kyle’s in his blonde wig for sketch #3636633.
• Solid & fun rapping moments & as always, great direction and aesthetic to this short.
• I’m not caring for where this short is going, ok we get it that nobody’s is giving Kristen’s character nicer gifts, do SOMETHING with the premise, push the envelope!
• I would’ve loved if this short took an absurdist turn or even a sudden shift into a sudden dark tone, both of which this era generally excels at & has solid focus on absurdist & dark humor, but NOPE, we’re beating the one-note joke to death.
• I would say that Kristen, being her reliable self, is performing this very well with her underrated deadpan and straight man abilities.
• And this short is over, with me not caring that much for it. Sorry to those who think of this as some sort of a masterpiece. An overall average piece.

Rating: ***

U.S.O. Performance

• I recall this sketch being insufferable when I first saw it.
• Fantastic & impressive old-timey voice and delivery from Kristen, Alex is also unsurprisingly pulling that type of voice incredibly well.
• I have no problem with campy humor on SNL if it’s pulled off well, but this is not working for me AT ALL.
• Yup, and I certainly don’t need any REACTING/EXPLAINING every single thing transpiring in front of us from the cast.
• So, the comedic through line in this is that these two characters in the 1940s act & sound like modern people? Is THAT the joke? And if so, why isn’t funny? So many questions, so little laughs.
• I’m about halfway through this sketch, and I’m still patiently waiting for actual jokes.
• An appropriate obligatory use of Dua Lipa & her classic beauty fits perfectly in this period sketch.
• An overall terrible sketch, a waste of time.

Rating: *1/2

A Teacher

• Ego is having a great season so far, and this a piece of hers that I always enjoyed.
• I’m surprised by Andrew’s decent airtime so far into the season, and I do recall having a major upswing in utilization in the second half.
• Solid acting from Andrew & Ego, as always, is performing this very well.
• Just got a solid laugh from Lauren’s reaction to Andrew & Ego’s conversation. It’s too sad that this will probably the first and only time that she’ll give me a laugh in her short-lived tenure. The way the show utilized her (as well as Punkie), is extremely frustrating.
• An alright ending with Kristen.
• Overall, this was pretty good & slightly better than I remember it being.

Rating: ***1/2

Home Alone 2

• The first two Home Alone movies are childhood favorites of mine, so I’m onboard already with this parody.
• Great set design as always from SNL.
• I’m enjoying Melissa’s characterization here, and Kristen is also, as usual, very convincing and committed in her role.
• Solid Joe Pesci voice from Kyle.
• I’m not enjoying this dark turn, even when I wanted it to happen earlier in the episode, it doesn’t fit with the general parody, and seems forced and unnecessary.
• For Melissa’s standards, this was decent but average overall & doesn’t HOLD A CANDLE to some of her other sketch work, the likes of Dying Ms. Gomez & Dirty Talk.

Rating: ***

Weekend Update

• I love the audience’s delight over this Update being the last during Trump’s presidency, good fucking riddance!
• Good joke from Colin about Trump/Jurassic Park.
• I’m always a sucker for Update’s montage of Trump’s idiotic, sorry I meant ”greatest moments” of his presidency.
• A big laugh, as usual, from the obligatory ”seen here” joke from Colin & Michael.
• Ouch at the audience reaction to the Jill biden joke, I got my usual laugh as always when watching Update.
• Ah, always happy to see a Chris Redd Update commentary.
• Surprisingly, this feels like the first meaty role that Chris’ gotten all season, considering the very strong and consistent tenure he’s been having so far (and it only gets better in his currently-airing fantastic fifth season), I’m shocked that we barely saw much of him. I know he’s filming Kenan, but to not use him much when he’s available is unfathomable to me. Thankfully, he’ll be having his usual solid airtime in the second half of the season.
• A funny and spot-on Smokey Robinson impression from Chris.
• Good laughs from Chris-as-smokey various mispronunciations.
• While this commentary is not as strong as Chris’ usual commentaries or stand-up bits on Update, he’s carrying it effortlessly well with his usual charisma and natural likability.
• Willie!
• As always, I’m a sucker for the dark humor in these Willie commentaries.
• Damn at that fur coat line just now.
• Michael is great as usual in his interactions with Kenan’s Willie.
• Solid Willie commentary, even when it’s not as strong the previous ones.
• Good to see Heidi back on Update so soon.
• Wow, this has to be the first time that THREE Update correspondents appeared on Michael’s side of the desk.
• Great look & solid characterization from Heidi.
• While this commentary seems to be going towards the one-joke route, Heidi is selling it well with her reliable delivery and commitment.
• Some laughs from the various products that Heidi’s plugging throughout her commentary.
• An overall good Heidi commentary, even when it’s not as strong as her first two this season.
• Yaaay! We’re getting our traditional joke swap!
• The Hocus Pocus joke will always give me a big laugh no matter how many times I hear it.
• That Michael/Epstein’s ”Rest in power, King” joke was particularly dark & hilarious.
• Colin’s  “Sammy Davis Jr./Scarlett Johansson” joke is the part most remembered form this joke swap & one of my absolute favorite Update jokes from this season, a particularly hilarious & brutal one and Colin’s reaction to it makes it just better.
• A strong Update as usual, with fun commentaries, strong jokes, and a particularly memorable joke in the form of the “Sammy Davis Jr./Scarlett Johansson” moment, one of my favorites of the whole season.

Rating: ****

The Grinch

• Again, The Grinch is yet another childhood favorite of mine that’s being parodied in tonight’s episode.
• Great makeup job on the performers & accurate set design.
• Chloe’s voice is both funny & strangely endearing to me.
• Great & funny Grinch voice from Pete.
• I’m NOT enjoying the crude, immature turn that this sketch took. It just reeks of sad desperation for laughs.
• This sketch is kinda off-putting to me, something feels off about it. Maybe because Kristen is FAR different of a performer than the current era’s cast, so seeing two very different styles of performance in the same sketch is making me realize how different this current era than the previous (in a good way in my view).
• Overall, this felt underwritten in general and reeked of desperation for laughs with its main reveal, and doesn’t HOLD A CANDLE to the great The Cat in the Hat parody that SNL did with Bill Hader early in this era.

Rating: **

Surprise

• Kristen bring back another character from her repertoire from back in the day.
• I’m surprised that Kristen decided to bring her the two characters she performed in her last ”normal” hosting stint. I would’ve expected maybe a Judy Grimes commentary or a Target Lady sketch, not to mention maybe Penelope.
• NOT caring for the supposed main ”comedic” conceit of this sketch.
• I’ve never been a fan of Sue, and I’m still floored that some consider the first sketch to be a classic, it’s just an over-the-top, hammy, Madtv-esque sketch with no redeeming qualities & poor straight man material.
• This character & several others from Kristen throughout her tenure represents my biggest problem with her as a performer: she doesn’t want to be a ”part” of a sketch, she wants to be its centre of attention, for all of us to look at her and the rest of cast being glorified extras surrounding her. I do like Kristen a lot outside of most of her character work (although, I’m FAR softer on Aunt Linda, Judy Grimes, and Target Lady than some), but she should’ve brought Target Lady in the pandemic or a Judy Grimes commentary on Update instead of this character of hers. Regardless of how harmless and subtly charming it may seem, it’s a waste of time.
• I should be happy that Lauren & Punkie are getting some airtime, but they’re used here in non-comedic and unfunny straight man roles to weak, one-note Kristen Wiig character.
• Kristen at least somewhat, to me at least, strangely adorable as this character.
• Yeah, this is going the EXACT SAME route as all the other ones, at least Kristen is committed to the performance.

Rating: *1/2

Cut For Time: Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles: Episode 2

• Ah, a sequel to the hidden gem from season 45.
• LOVE the theme song as sang by Mikey.
• I always love that the cast is voicing these characters, and they’re doing a solid job.
• Like always, the subtle melancholy in these two (and sadly only two) shorts are executed flawlessly, a testament to how damn strong & creative writer Steven Castillo generally is.
• Overall, this was pretty solid, as Steven Castillo’s pieces generally are. The melancholic & depressing undertones were executed well, and the cast, yet again, elevated the already-solid material even further.
• A damn shame that the current era of SNL, as much as I love it (aside from portions of 44 & 46) never committed to the idea of having a department for short animated material, like they do for the short films, working in the same time with writer & director duos. This, in my view, would’ve given this era an even more distinct feeling.

Rating: ****

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

CFT: Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtles: Episode 2

Weekend Update

A Teacher

Home Alone

Christmas Morning

The Grinch

Monologue

Secret Word

Surprise

U.S.O. Performance

Pence Gets the Vaccine

Final Thoughts:-

• A pretty weak episode, As the Kristen Wiig-hosted episodes generally are (aside from her S42 stint, which had several solid pieces, barely involving her obviously). My problems with this episode lay in that the first half was mostly unwatchable, aside from three segments, that half of the show was DIRE & frustratingly dull. The sketch concepts tonight were unexciting and generally either underwitten (The Grinch) or never had any legs to stand on (U.S.O. Performance).
• Look, I’m more than sure that Kristen Wiig is a great person & everything, and she’s very likable outside of her characters, but she’s often given the weakest original material in her hosting stints, outside of some returning characters. It seems like the writers do not know how to write original sketches for her, which is utterly baffling to me as Kristen is an extremely versatile performer & fantastic straight man, one of SNL’s best in fact, to not know how to write for her strikes me as weird.

Up Next:-

• John Krasinski hosts with musical guest Machine Gun Kelly. Get ready, ladies and gentleman, for one of my absolute most negative reviews that you’ll ever see me write in my whole career as an SNL reviewer.