April 10, 2021 – Carey Mulligan / Kid Cudi (S46 E17)

Cold Opening – Eye on Minnesota

• Great to see a topical, yet low-key cold open.
• Seeing Ego & Kenan here reminds me of the great news sketch in last season’s Phoebe-Waller Bridge episode.
• Some solid commentary on race & racism in this open, and it is quite similar to the aforementioned sketch.
• Alex & Kate are doing a very solid job on their own when disagreeing with Ego & Kenan.
• Good laugh after Ego & Chris cut off Alex as soon as he mentions Thomas Jefferson.
• A big laugh from Chris’ opening line.
• Great defensive performance from Alex as soon as reparations are brought up.
• Chris’ demeanor in his weather update is giving my expected laughs.
• Boy, that was a poorly-timed LFNY.
• A pretty good, well-performed, well-written, and structured cold open.

Rating: ***1/2

Monologue

• I feel ashamed to admit this, but I’ve always confused Carey Mulligan with Michelle Williams, and thought that they were the same person till Carey was announced as host & I got confused AF.
• Carey seems so endearing & excited here, you could sense some stage fright, but it’s very subtle.
• Wow never knew that Carey was married to Marcus Mumford, and damn did he lose a lot of weight. He looks great.
• This monologue is turning more cute than funny, but it’s still decent.
• An overall ok monologue to start the episode with.

Rating: ***

What’s Wrong With This Picture

• The first installment of this was a solid dark sketch, but it never needed to be recurring, as it’s beating the same joke to death.
• Not liking Carey’s delivery here, and her nervousness is showing.
• Kenan’s still a great game show host & straight man in this, but Imm not caring for the repetition of the same joke.
• Ok, got a huge laugh from the clock line, and Kenan’s delivery & outburst were great.
• (*yawn*) Here comes the tired ending when someone finally gets it right.

Rating: **

Tremfalta

• An interesting concept, and SNL did previously nail how to do sophomoric humor in commercials before.
• Carey’s silent acting is very solid here, a good usage of her dramatic skills.
• The graphics depicting the effects of the product are giving me solid guilty laughs.
• A big cheap laugh from the visual of the poop in the bathroom & Kenan’s ranting never fails to make me laugh.
• The escalation & commitment are making this commercial work well, as bathroom humor is very hard to pull off well without the proper escalation needed.
• Lauren’s solid in playing her fear in this commercial, and this sadly turns out to be her first & ONLY appearance all night. The writing is now definitely on the wall regarding her future on the show.
• Pretty good & funny commercial, with solid escalation & a strong Carey Mulligan showcase.

Rating: ***1/2

Study Buddy

• OH NO.
• While Kate playing a boy gave me good laughs in the past, at this point in her tenure, it feels more self-indulgent than anything else.
• Boy, Carey is wooden in this sketch, I’m assuming that’s the characterization she’s going for with this character.
• NOT caring for Kate’s voice nor delivery here, which is surprising for me to admit the latter, as she always gives me easy laughs with how effortless her delivery generally is.
• OH GOD, we now have Aidy, to make this yet another installment in The Kate & Aidy Lack-of-Variaty Hour (Yes I used this term previously).
• AWFUL ending. (*yawn*) Next, please.

Rating: *1/2

Weird Little Flute

• The obligatory music video with Kid Cudi.
• Some fun visuals throughout this short & the color grading once again adds to and enhances the experience.
• NOT caring the main conceit of this short, because like the majority of Pete’s music videos, there’s no joke beyond catchy lyrics and the direction.
• Happy to see Timotheé Chalamet here, considering how much I generally like him & especially how much I enjoyed his hosting performance earlier in the season.
• Nothing much to say here, the usual average “Pete Raps!” Short.

Rating: ***

Weekend Update

• Matt Gaetz is an absurd looking human.
• Man, Colin’s having a blast tearing into Matt Gaetz, and I’m enjoying every second of it.
• Ah, the obligatory “seen here” joke about Mitch McConnell, it never fails to make me laugh.
• A great Obama impression from Chris. I seriously believe that Chris doesn’t get enough credit of how strong of an impressionist he generally is.
• Beck’s facial reactions as Bruce are giving my usual laughs, he’s so good at milking laughs without much effort.
• Good laughs from Obama’s example of riffing, and it’s so different to see Beck & Chris paired together, making me wish that we saw them more often as a duo.
• Here comes my favorite thing that Punkie did so far into her tenure.
• I remember being floored that it took Punkie this long to get on Update, and it makes me wish that she appeared more in this & the current season.
• Already, Punkie is coming off loose, charming, funny, and likable and is getting good response from the crowd.
• Solid line deliveries & characterization from Punkie.
• A big laugh from Punkie when she was about to take over the desk.
• Solid commentary overall; and a great showcase for a struggling newbie. I’m more than certain that the positive reception toward this commentary is the reason that Punkie got a second season on the show.
• Here comes a very famous & iconic Bowen Yang commentary.
• Already, we’re getting big laughs from Bowen’s makeup and facial reactions.
• Yet another huge laugh from Bowen when we realize that he’s here to promote his album. This type of absurdist humor, that Bowen showcases pre-SNL is the reason I became a big fan of him, and I wished he would display more often on SNL.
• Great angry outburst from Bowen toward the Titanic, and he’s killing it with the audience.
• Very funny ending with Bowen singing one of his album songs to close Update.
• A fantastic Weekend Update in general, I enjoyed all three commentaries, loved the jokes & rants, and it flowed very well and didn’t feel as long as it probably is, which is always a good thing.

Rating: ****1/2

In Memoriam – a photo of Anne Beatts marks her passing

Starcharter Andromeda

• I’m not caring for this concept.
• Really a Gen Z-starring Star Trek characters? Who wrote this? A 40 year-old who just discovered Urban Dictionary?
• Alex stuck in dull, non-comedic role #636363.
• Carey at least looks gorgeous in this wig & my crush on her is growing.
• Not caring for Mikey’s yelling throughout this sketch.
• Kate’s solid & very underrated straight man performance in here is almost saving this sketch for me.
• Chloe’s performing the hell out of her part.
• Terrible ending.

Rating: *1/2

Lesbian Period Drama

• One of SNL’s strongest satirical commercials in recent seasons.
• Very solid British accent from Alex.
• Fantastic direction & cinematography by the way, it makes this commercial look like it’s from a typical Oscar bait period movie.
• Heidi is perfect in her role & is continuing her great season.
• Loved the “two straight actresses who dared not to wear makeup” line.
• Great & perfect inclusion of Kate in this, for obvious reasons.
• The drawing scene is so accurate that it actually hurts me from laughing.
• “a sex scene so graphic that you think, ‘Oh right, a man directed this.’” Such a biting line, perfect.
• Kate’s delivery during the raunchy sex scene is hilarious.
• Such a biting & hilarious takedown of these types of movies, one of SNL’s sharpest filmed pieces in years.

Rating: *****

The War in Words

• Great to see this back.
• Carey’s delivery is absolutely perfect for this material.
• The “knock-knock” obligatory joke in these sketches always work for me, it feels like a sketch from the original era with how dialogue-driven it is.
• Big laugh from the reveal that Carey sent Mikey cocaine.
• Yet again tonight, the solid escalations are working perfectly in this and are elevating the already-solid material.
• Great little sketch overall & a prime example of how to a write dialogue-driven piece.

Rating: ****

L’eggs

• Here comes Aidy’s second & FINAL sketch that I liked from her this season. I don’t recall her sketch with Anya Taylor-Joy, but I recall that episode being flawless, so I might enjoy it when I eventually review it, but we shall see.
• Geez is this Andrew’s first appearance all night? Considering the solid second half he’e been having & the number of low-key lead roles he’s gotten (I say low-key as they’re not in your face solo showcases, unlike current newbie Sarah Sherman’s five major showcases so far, were she’s the center of the sketch), this feels somewhat surreal to watch.
• I’m already onboard with this absurdist, weird concept.
• Good laughs from the freestyle rap.
• I’m enjoying the subtle uncomfortable nature in this sketch, it feels like throwback to Aidy’s first eight season, back in her glory years were she was consistently brilliant and endlessly creative performer.
• Good laughs from Aidy & Carey’s way in displaying their legs.
• A solid, absurdist, subtle sketch. Glad that I enjoyed it once more this time.

Rating: ****

In Memoriam – a photo of DMX marks his passing

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Lesbian Period Drama

Weekend Update

L’eggs

The War in Words

Eye on Minnesota

Tremfalta

Weird Little Flute

Monologue

What’s Wrong With This Picture

Study Buddy

Starcharter Andromeda

Final Thoughts:-

• A pretty good, calm episode, with a particularly very strong final three segments that gave this episode a great closing & a boost in the average rating. I did enjoy the increasing focus on creative & fun sketch concepts in tonight’s episode, and aside from few flops, I had a lot of fun reviewing and watching this episode.
• Carey was an alright host tonight, despite surprisingly displaying obvious nervousness, which is weird due to her being a classically-trained British actress. British hosts usually are naturals when hosting SNL. She did fine in the sketches she was in & I loved her in the pretapes especially.

Up Next:-

• It’s the notorious Elon Musk episode. Buckle up, dear readers, I’m gonna have a blast reviewing this one.