February 20, 2021 – Regé-Jean Page / Bad Bunny (S46 E13)

Cold Opening – Oops, You Did It Again

• Oh, I recall enjoying this opening.
• Chloe’s Britney impression officially becomes recurring.
• By the way, it just feels so good seeing Chloe leading this open and being front-and-center, it’s about damn time to be honest.
• A very clever conceit to this cold open, and with being a mix of politics and celebrity gossip, yet done in the right way & a strong lead performance by Chloe makes it a cut above the usual boring cold opens.
• (*sigh*) Aidy Cruz is now recurring, and god knows that I’ll be suffering through two more “hilarious” appearances of this nightmare-fueled “impression” with the sharpness of a fucking marshmallow.
• As per usual, I’m NOT caring for what Aidy Cruz says nor that voice that she’s using for this supposed “impression”.
• Funny Andrew Cuomo voice from Pete.
• Chloe is doing a great job being the straight man in this open.
• Pete’s Cuomo outburst is hilarious.
• LOVED the part with the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it #freebritney popping up on-screen.
• Ugh, Cecily is here too.
• WTF with the near breaking from the performers, aside from the expected professionalism from Chloe? Stop trying to ruin her showcase! This inside-joke bullshit from some of the vets are one of the more glaring reasons for the massive decline in quality in this season so far, as compared to the previous one.
• Solid ending to a solid open, despite few problems, Chloe was great as the open’s anchor and had a great showcase for her talents, glad that I know in hindsight, that the next installment is even stronger and sharper.

Rating: ****

Monologue

• Just early on in this monologue, Regé is coming off charismatic and likable.
• Boy, that’s one hot audience. I recall some roasting this episode because of the audience, and all I have to say is: really? so, do you prefer the funeral dirge audience from previous episodes?
• Love the turn with Regé turning into the camera and saying sensual things.
• Fun inclusion of Aidy and Ego.
• Some good laughs from Ego trying to be Regé’s escort.
• Wow, now that’s a great singing voice from Regé.
• Fun entrance from Chloe who just looks like the love interest in Bridgerton.
• Ah, and now he says his famous line, and the audience just went WILD.
• Some nice words from Regé toward the monologue’s end.
• For a “hot guy” monologue this was fun & Regé is already coming off great sport.

Rating: ***1/2

Actors Spotlight

• Wow at the audience going crazy over Regé AGAIN.
• Happy to see Ego anchoring this sketch, continuing her great season.
• Ah, the mention of Daniel Kaluuya as the “Black Panther party leader.” Not only reminds of how much I enjoy him as an actor, but how much I absolutely loved his upcoming hosting stint.
• Chris is very solid in his serious moments right now.
• Kenan is barely even attempting to do an Ice Cube impression, which is weird given that Kenan does a large number of solid celebrity impressions.
• Good laugh from Kenan’s attempt at a British accent.
• Weird ending with Alex’s Hugh Grant, spot-on impression though.

Rating: ***

Loco

• Our obligatory musical video with Bad Bunny. Come to think of it, many musical guests this season performed in these musical videos, this has to be a record or something this season.
• Strong rapping from Ego, always the underrated in terms of insanely talented and versatile she is.
• Solid & relatable premise to this music video, with it revolving around how people coped during the lockdown.
• The audience is super hot & energetic throughout this short, always great to see some energy in an otherwise quiet, hollow season so far.
• Great inclusion of Bad Bunny & the visual of him as a plant is fun.
• Solid music video in general, I’m not as high as some on these general, but they’re very well-done, fun, and quick-paced.

Rating: ***1/2

Drivers License

• A variation of the classic Lollipop sketch from the Don Cheadle episode in season 44.
• While this sketch will not be able to hold a candle to how surprisingly fun & creative the first sketch was, it’s still serviceable.
• The Olivia Rodrigo song is not as catchy or as memorable as Mika’s “Lollipop”, which renders the surprise element in this sketch as less strong as in the original classic sketch.
• Some solid performances & Regé once again is coming off great and convincing in his role.
• Kate’s looks hilarious in that makeup.
• Olivia Rodrigo does sound like Billie Eilish.
• The various “woos” from the crowd are funny.
• Very fun sketch overall, and not bad for a rehash.

Rating: ***1/2

Mr. Chicken Legs Pageant

• Fun opening musical number from Cecily.
• To be fair, Cecily feels really out of place since she came back, and in the current SNL season she feels quite expendable, I’m still enjoying her here, and I do recall liking her upcoming Update commentaries this season.
• Our obligatory pageant sketch of the season.
• Chloe is giving me good laughs as this loopy character & Regé is a solid straight man to her.
• Andrew is absolutely hilarious in his scene & is stealing this sketch with him singing “Uptown Funk”, and not to mention how… uhm… cute he looks in that getup.
• Loved Andrew’s smile-and-wave into the camera, an early example of his sketch-stealing abilities and how much he could enhance a sketch by being himself.
• Hilarious entrance from Pete & his dancing just now is cracking me up.
• The mention of Pete having legs like Jack Skellington is bringing up some childhood memories to me.
• Like the professional that he is, Regé recovers from his minor line flub with ease.
• A very fun sketch overall and holds up well.

Rating: ****

The Job Interview

• Ah, yes here we go! An ALL-TIME favorite of mine.
• Solid American accent from Regé.
• The Charmin poster is hilarious. As well as the blurred penis poster.
• The various messages from Bowen to Beck are funny, particularly Beck’s mom being topless, and I love Beck’s “well, she’s early”. I do also LOVE the subtle darkness to this short, with Beck’s daughter being kidnapped and never brought back again in this short.
• Ouch at the Mrs. Maxwell poster.
• I love how Bowen attempts to say “Hi” to Regé through the various papers that he’s delivering throughout the short.
• Fantastic absurdist escalation through the various sketches from Regé.
• The back-and-forth between Beck (who’s incredible here btw) and Regé are well-delivered, fast-paced, and contain too many solid lines for me to quote.
• The Usain Bolt sketch is both disturbing, again continuing the solid dark subtleties in this piece, and funny with how nonchalantly both Beck & Regé are discussing it.
• The ebay sketch gave me a guilty laugh from how out there it is.
• A freaking priceless ending with Regé suddenly disappearing out of nowhere.
• Add this as ANOTHER “Standout Beck Bennett showcase from his final season”. Does Beck have the strongest final season for a departing cast member? I’d argue that he’s almost at the top when it comes to that. The other examples that I could think of are Jason, Tracy, and Will Ferrell in their final years.
• Overall, an SNL masterpiece.

Rating: *****

Weekend Update

• That Ted Cruz photo is pretty funny, but not as funny as the traditional Mitch McConnell photos.
• I don’t recall this Pete commentary, then again I never cared for him until this season when he actually gave a damn to perform.
• Some of the usual mild laughs from Pete’s commentary, but again it’s not as memorable as others, and it feels like a waste of time frankly. I would’ve preferred an Update commentary by Andrew to something. But, knowing in hindsight, that Andrew Update debut would KILL makes me happier that I’ll be waiting for it to happen and review.
• Big laugh from that “White history month” tweet.
• Yet another one-off character from Heidi, I recall not being as high on this commentary as I’m usually when it comes to her other commentaries.
• Yeah, I do NOT need Michael (love ya man) to point to us that Heidi’s getup looks JUST LIKE Freddy Krueger.
• Some ok laughs from Heidi’s Jessie denying being Freddy, and Michael is always great at playing off Heidi.
• A good laugh from Heidi’s glove reveal.
• An unintentional laugh from the blooper were Heidi accidentally hits her face with the blades of the glove. And like the total professional she is, it doesn’t even distract her a bit and does NOT break for a second (hear that Kate & Aidy?).
• An alright commentary from Heidi, and yet, it doesn’t hold a candle to some of her previous or later one this season.
• A decent Weekend Update overall, with few good jokes and serviceable commentaries.

Rating: ***1/2

Songs of the Sea

• I remember this sketch being a blast when I first saw it as it aired.
• I’m quite surprised by Andrew’s good airtime in the 2nd half of the season so far, and for him to get a lead role in this is surprising to me.
• This is one of the earliest displayed of how great of a straight man Andrew is, as his various confused reactions in this are a riot.
• Regé is coming off great in this as one would expect, exuding charisma and likability in his role.
• Chris is killing me with his mugging in the background.
• I’m loving how dark these reveals are getting, and again Andrew is coming off very well here.
• Kate is funny in her brief bit in this, I tolerate her when she plays British men, as she always comes off funny & not self-indulgent.
• Bad Bunny in his second sketch appearance of the night.
• Bad Bunny is absolutely stealing this sketch with his hilarious line deliveries & energy, I remember being floored by how funny he turned out to be.
• A big laugh from Bad Bunny’s “map”.
• Great line from Bad Bunny about his wife.
• Such a fun sketch overall, and one of the biggest arguments for how much the second half of the season improved when it comes to writing & particularly having such fun sketch concepts like this one.

Rating: ****

Let’s Say Grace

• Always great to see Punkie getting some airtime, as she does what she can with the roles she gets.
• I’m enjoying the slice-of-life to this sketch, very rare to see sketches like this in the current era of SNL.
• Not sure I need Aidy in this sketch, and why in the world isn’t Lauren in this sketch. I know she’s not in the episode, but why hire a trained sketch performer and give her the shaft half the season for these past-their-prime performers??
• Beck is absolutely stealing this sketch with his worm dance, it just makes so sad that we’re nearing the end of his phenomenal and consistently-brilliant tenure.
• An overall warm, fun, and good sketch, a rarity to have a sketch like this in the current era.

Rating: ***1/2

Intimacy Coordinators

• The audience is getting wild as soon as the Bridgerton title card shows up.
• Spot-on impression by Chloe as expected & it’s so good to see her get good airtime in this season.
• (*groan*) There goes the line and audience yet AGAIN goes crazy.
• What’s the matter with Kate’s accent? She sound English in parts & and in Parts sounds Australian.
• I’m more than certain that SNL did this sketch in order to get the audience even more thirsty than ever.
• Funny entrance from Pete & Mikey.
• LOL at the audience going “woo!” as soon as Chloe & Regé get on the bed. I’m getting a kick out of there reactions, much more fun than the funeral dirge audience from most of the season.
• Ok, I’m not enjoying where this sketch is going, it’s well-performed and with some laughs, but it’s obviously here for the audience to THIRST hard on Regé (not that I blame them), so the comedy is at best serviceable.
• The “wrong hole, your grace” delivery from Kate did give me a good laugh though.

Rating: **1/2

The Grocery Rap

• Great to see another Beck/Kyle short this season.
• Wow, Andrew has been EVERYWHERE tonight, great to see that.
• Very fun music video and with a fun conceit in regards to the pandemic with Our guys being told to wear masks while they film their rap video.
• Andrew is giving me my usual laughs with just his facial expressions, yet another early example of his sketch-enhancing abilities.
• Solid inclusion of Regé and his coming off as a natural as the straight man in this short.
• I’m happy that this short is not going toward the tired “chaotic vs Calm” that this era have already beaten to death.
• A great & priceless ending.
• A very solid short to end such a fun, feel-good episode.

Rating: ****

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

The Job Interview

Songs of the Sea

Oops, You Did It Again

Mr. Chicken Legs Pageant

The Grocery Rap

Let’s Say Grace

Monologue

Loco

Driver’s License

Weekend Update

Actors Spotlight

Intimacy Coordinators

Final Thoughts:-

• A great episode, with lots of strong sketches & very fun-feeling, calm, and loose atmosphere throughout the night, with even the worst segment (Intimacy Coordinators) being just slightly below-average, and an impressive amount of the pieces in this episode rated the four-stars rating.
• A big part in the fun vibes in this episode is Regé-Jean Page who was an absolutely fantastic host tonight, being game, charismatic, and incredibly likable and charming.
• Reviewing this episode just now made me realize that it was even stronger than I recall, and I’ve always been a big fan of it. I do recall this episode being the official turning point that made and other online SNL fans comfortable that this season won’t be a disaster year for SNL, and aside from one episode toward the season’s end, I recall enjoying every single remaining episode this season.
• After spending most of the season fuming and getting depressed and frustrated with several episodes and sketches, it feels just so good to be positive about SNL again.

Up Next:-

• Nick Jonas pulls double duty as our host and musical guest of the night.