April 9, 2022 – Jake Gyllenhaal / Camila Cabello (S47 E17)

Cold Opening – New Supreme Court Justice

• Some good digs at President Biden.
• Ego is perfectly cast as justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
• Meh at the RBG cameo, too much YAS KWEEN for me. I loved Justice Ruth, but this seems quite pandering to me.
• Great to see Punkie here, and the applause from the already-hot audience.
• I wanted to say that it feels so great to have a black woman on the Supreme Court.
• Ah, Punkie is coming off very fun here, particularly her advice on how Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson can contact her.
• A good cold open, not too checklist, classy, and with fun conceit and performances.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• It feel so good that I get to review Jake in this blog, as he’s always been one of my favorite actors working today, so many fantastic movies.
• Some good laughs about how long was Jake’s last hosting stint.
• Unsurprisingly, Jake is coming off very likable, kinda nervous. Unless, this is how he is in real-life.
• Ah, a musical monologue, as I predicted it would be.
• Chloe & Ego look fantastic in the background.
• Jake’s performing this very well & is coming off likable as always.
• Pretty fun monologue overall.

Rating: ***1/2

Why’d You Like It?

• This reminds me of the Kevin Hart sketch with a similar premise.
• Great to see that Chloe’s already getting more airtime than she did last week.
• Ah, Chris’ always-reliable delivery, here with his “pass” delivery gave me a solid laugh.
• Jake’s already blending very well with the cast, like how he did in his first hosting stint.
• Funny Megan Thee Stallion mention.
• I’m enjoying the escalation of this sketch, as it’s building on its premise very well.
• Chloe’s delivery and general confidence is great in this.
• Kenan, as expected, is coming off very funny here with his various reactions to the contestants.
• An ok ending.

Rating: ***1/2

Dream Home Cousins

• This reminds me of both House Hunters & the Home Makeover sketches.
• James’ hilarious in here as the shy husband.
• Great visual & makeup on both the cat and Kate, in her prosthetic-heavy and nightmare-fueled makeup.
• Big laugh from the visual of the cat’s room with all the medical equipment to keep it alive.
• Jake & Mikey are great as the duo here.
• Kate’s complaining about when America built things gave me a solid laugh, she’s so great at her line deliveries.
• A big laugh from the Wisequacker statue, and the visual of multiple statues of it.
• So many hilarious, absurdist visuals in this pretape, again giving me House Hunters flashbacks (one of SNL’s strongest shorts ever), and this one is great on its own right.
• Loving the decreased ceiling bit, absurdist and hilarious in just the right way.
• I’m enjoying how annoyed Kate’s character is, and it feels good that I’ve been enjoying Kate much more this season than in her last few years, as this might be her potential final season, so she might leave on a higher note.
• Solid subtle dark turn with Kate’s character ordering James to beat up Heidi.
• Funny ending.
• An overall very strong, creative, and fun short, amongst the season’s finest. Loved the absurdist escalations, the performances (particularly Kate & James), and the whole atmosphere. Just a fantastic pretape that’s right up my alley of humor.

Rating: ****1/2

The Singers Four

• Uh-oh, from the setup of this it looks like our umpteenth Cecily singing sketch.
• Oh no, seeing Kate here is reminding of her awful sketch with Cecily in the previous season’s Keegan-Michael Key episode.
• Proving yet ONCE AGAIN this season that she has nothing else to give, Cecily stars in yet another singing sketch, which I’m assuming is another niche reference of hers.
• Jake’s coming off a natural here, and is performing this exceptionally well as one would expect from him, but the material here is DEATH.
• Wow, the audience here is DEAD. Cannot blame them much though.
• Yeah, I’m very bored with this sketch, and Kate’s annoying me here, which is really a shame as I enjoyed her in the Dream Home Cousins short.
• (*sigh*) Just end this sketch already SNL, I’m starting to fall asleep.

Rating: *1/2

Spring Flowers

• Quite the random premise I must say.
• It’s great seeing Sarah here, perfectly blending well into the show and feeling like a seasoned performer, unlike a certain fellow featured player.
• Yeah, we’re now getting juvenile with the whole Bowen scene, the audience is far more amused than me at this.
• Kyle feels unnecessary here, yet ANOTHER example of how past-his-prime he is and how he should’ve left with Beck last season. By the way, why not have Aristotle, who’s been MIA from the show since December??
• Weak part with the blood, giving me unwanted flashbacks to season 20 (not a good thing), and this is not the last time tonight.
• A middling sketch overall, enjoyed the cast, and Jake was great here. Yet, it featured some questionable humor, weak parts, and an overall meh feel to me. Not bad, but it could’ve been better.

Rating: **1/2

Chucky

• Great cinematography in this.
• Sarah’s fantastic season continues with yet ANOTHER major showcase, this time with a second pretape showcasing her horror comedy style.
• Great makeup & effects on Sarah, and she’s doing a very solid job as Chucky.
• Solid direction in the part where Sarah’s Chucky attacking Chloe.
• Oh, I love the turn with them having a meeting about what just happened.
• Aidy’s absolutely hilarious in her brief moment.
• A huge laugh from Sarah’s Chucky stabbing Jake’s leg with the knife.
• Jake’s fantastic straight man in here.
• A huge laugh from Jake’s anger being directed at Janet for eating a tuna.
• A great ending visual, which I’m assuming will be a staple in Sarah’s pretaped material.
• Ah, yet ANOTHER standout, brilliant, creative, season-highlight segment from Sarah. She’s seriously having what possibly could be the strongest first season for a featured player since Will Forte’s first year in season 28 (yet another Forte/Sarah comparison), and I cannot WAIT for what she’ll be bringing to the show in the upcoming seasons.

Rating: ****1/2

Weekend Update

• Lovely applause in reaction to the news of justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
• Hilarious Mitch McConnell photo-based joke, as usual.
• Solid “post-dinner orgy” joke from Colin, and I love that they’re using a still from Eyes Wide Shut, one of my all-time favorite movies.
• Savage MTG joke which got a strong audience reaction.
• DAMN at the Michael Che joke, and the cutaway to Michael makes it even more perfect.
• Not happy to see these characters officially becoming recurring.
• Yeah, even as a 25 year-old guy, this type of humor does not speak to me.
• At least Michael’s having fun here, cause I’m not caring that much.
• What’s with Aidy’s smirking right now? Inside joke?
• I really hope Aidy leaves after this season, as I’ve been surprisingly enjoying her much more than last year, and while she still gives me some laughs, stuff like this feels way too self-indulgent to me, and not to mention UNFUNNY.
• A good Update overall, despite the underwhelming Aidy/Bowen commentary.

Rating: ***1/2

Lights Camera Achoo!

• Why is Cecily’s yelling at me?
• OH. NO. Seeing this old west setting is reminding me of the disastrous Cowboy Standoff sketch from last season.
• They’re even using the same music from the aforementioned notorious sketch.
• Blah at the vomit part just now, another season 20 flashback.
• The blood spurting all over poor Alex is so sad & coming off as desperate.
• Now, he’s farting.
• At least Chloe’s getting some good airtime & is looking hot as hell in that outfit.
• Oh, you’re telling me we’ll be getting multiple farts in this sketch.
• A terrible sketch overall, desperate, juvenile, and yet again had HUGE season 20 vibes.

Rating: *1/2

Couples Counselor

• Am I in a bizarro world, or are the perpetually-underused Punkie & Melissa are cast in LEAD ROLES??!!
• A good laugh from the Manga bit.
• Punkie’s already getting solid laughs and controlling this sketch well.
• A huge laugh from Punkie telling the caller the address & making it seem that Jake and Melissa are on her side.
• Jake’s coming of hilarious with his reading of the texts.
• A pretty solid ending & a solid Punkie Johnson showcase. I sure hope she gets more chance to shine, her style of comedy is different in a good way and would bring variety to the show.

Rating: ****

Truck You You Truckin’ Truck

• A good laugh from the album’s name.
• Jake’s first song gave me some quick cheap laughs.
• Jake’s been singing throughout most of the episode, but I’m still getting laughs.
• Andrew’s looking like a 13 year-old here.
• Aidy’s unsurprisingly perfect in her role here.
• Melissa looks hilarious here without even saying anything.
• Great El Chapo reveal.
• Love the ending & Ghost Trucker song is weirdly catchy to me.

Rating: ***1/2

Goodnights:-

• LOL at Jake messing up Camila Cabello’s name, she doesn’t seem bothered by that though.

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Dream Home Cousins

Chucky

Couples Counselor

Truck You You Truckin’ Truck

Weekend Update

Why’d You Like It?

Monologue

New Supreme Court Justice

Spring Flowers

The Singers Four

Lights Camera Achoo!

Final Thoughts:-

• An overall good episode, aside from two big misfires, this one had some fun, creative sketch concepts & two exceptionally strong shorts, one of which is yet another brilliant Sarah Sherman showcase. An improvement over the string of average episodes that dominated parts of the second half of this season.
• And as expected, Jake Gyllenhaal was a fantastic host, coming off likable, funny, committed and was mostly well-utilized tonight and cast in roles that he performed expertly, even in the misfires, he was an easy highlight.

Up Next:-

• Lizzo pulls double duty, but first my season 40 coverage continues with the Jim Carrey episode.