Cold Opening – Morning Joe
- Finally, a non-Trumpwin cold open, which is especially welcome as the last one nearly made me crumble into pieces.
- Spot-on Mika Brzezinski impression from Kate, and she’s nailing her mannerism to a T. And it is also so great to see Alex starring in the cold open as well, he’s doing a very good job here with Kate.
- Great chemistry & interplay with Alex & Kate as they’re starting to flirt with each other as Mika & Joe.
- Funny visual of Kate biting Alex’s fake nose.
- Ok, the reaction shots from others on the panel reacting to said interplay & flirtation is a bit overdone for me. I’m still getting laughs though, and this open is FAR better than sitting through a damn Trumpwin.
- This has to be one of the very few cold opens in this half that I gave a good rating to.
Rating: ***
Monologue
- Already, Chris is coming off as a natural on SNL, with likability and stage presence.
- Funny moment with Chris getting the audience to applaud that he was in Guardians Of The Galaxy, only for him to reveal that it was Chris Pratt who was in the movie instead.
- Here comes the first of MANY musical numbers in tonight’s episode alone.
- A decent musical number from Chris, who’s handling this monologue with complete ease and charisma as expected.
Rating: ***
Where In The World Is Kellyanne Conway?
- A very creative spoof of Kellyanne Conway’s mysterious absence around this time, and the use of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego is brilliant & inspired.
- Like last time she played her, Sasheer is perfect as The Chief here.
- Chris & the guys in the cast are perfect & very fun as Rockapella.
- Fantastic & absolutely priceless comically-abrupt ending to the sketch. The usage of a blackout ending for a comedic effect worked perfectly here, like how it worked in the great Take Me Back sketch last episode.
- Overall, short & absolutely sweet. SNL does it once again with a sharp & brilliant take on Kellyanne Conway.
Rating: ****1/2
Song For Peace
- Great voice & accent from Beck.
- By the way, terrific visual quality & direction in this short, making it truly feel like a foreign music video. I could seriously picture this one as a music video from a band competing at Eurovision for example.
- Chris’ vocals are absolutely stealing this short for me, and the moments with him in this short are priceless. And to be fair, he really has a fantastic singing voice, making me not that shocked that we had & will be having many more musical numbers throughout this episode.
- A freakin’ classic turn with Stav D now talking more and more about porn throughout his supposed world peace song.
- Beck: “It’s beginning to look like I have a serious pornography addiction.”
- Beck’s admiration of softcore porn is hilarious, and the turn in this short makes it one of my personal favorites from this entire season.
- Man, I’m VIBING to Chris’ parts in this song, absolutely outstanding.
- Very funny recurring bit with Beck’s Stav D constantly saying “Two shousand-sheventeen”.
- I absolutely love the chorus towards the end, as well as Chris’ priceless facial expressions.
Rating: ****1/2
SWAT Recon
- Man, tonight’s episode is such a blast so far, as this sketch concept is not only funny, but is also very silly and is being pulled off perfectly.
- I’m loving how the sketch is now focusing on the party that Chris & Mikey, the latter continuing his excellent season, are having, instead of focusing on the criminal played by Bobby.
- I’m loving how the childish, silly actions by both Chris & Mikey are being described in a deadpan, straitlaced, professional fashion by Beck and Kenan. The juxtaposition of the actions done & the descriptions of them is adding quite well to the humor.
- Hilarious walk-on from Leslie in a zoot suit.
- I love the escalation with Bobby now joining in the party next door with Chris & Mikey.
- Great ending to such a fun, silly sketch.
Rating: ****1/2
The Boy Is Mine
- Oh no, is this going to be our hot host sketch of the night? As I REALLY don’t like where this sketch is going so far.
- No, no, NO! Now Aidy & Vanessa broke into a song about Chris. I sure hope there is some funny moments here, because I sure know that I’ll get tired of this sketch FAST.
- Really good energy from Aidy & Vanessa in this sketch, but this is not working as much as it should.
- Ok, the line from Vanessa about being a motherless MILF was hilarious.
Rating: **
The House
- Great night for Beck & Kyle, between Song For Peace and now the return of this short after two season, and with both pieces airing before the Weekend Update portion of the show! Beck’s been having a fantastic year in general which makes me very happy. Kyle, on the other hand, is invisible at times, but he kills it with the shining moments that he has.
- Much like last time, this is such a spot-on parody of the typical drama found in reality shows, and as a person that barely watches those shows, I could tell you that Beck & Kyle are NAILING both the tropes & general feel of said reality shows here.
- Love the various hugs here, and Beck’s look in particular with the two juices is priceless.
- A hilarious random cutaway to a guy that we never saw before during the testimonial part in this short, and his delivery about staying away from the drama was funny.
Rating: ****
Musical Performance – “Call the Police”
- Jesse Nathan: Good intro.
- James’ mic could’ve been turned up more.
- I love the mix of guitars and synths present here.
- That drummer is really going wild.
- I’m having a bit of a hard time understanding what James is saying, but from what I can gather, I assume these are rather deep lyrics.
- I like the guitar riff.
- Okay, the melody is annoying me the more this goes on.
- “My father was a drunk.” Damn.
- What’s with that one band member who’s dancing most of the time and not actually playing?
- The synths are starting to get more crazy as the song nears its end, and I kinda like that.
- I like the guitar solo.
- I’m surprised it’s over already.
Rating: ***1/2
Weekend Update
- Good bit about the Hemsworth brothers, which is funny in retrospect considering the monologue earlier tonight.
- Ah, the debut of Vanessa’s Dawn Lazarus character, which would go on to be one of Vanessa’s most beloved characters, despite 1) debuting at the homestretch of her tenure, and 2) only appearing twice, excluding Vanessa’s cameo next season. The only other examples I could think of a performer debuting a memorable character of theirs near the end of their tenures are 1) Molly Shannon’s Jeannie Darcy character, and 2) Aidy Bryant’s Trend Forecaster character.
- Vanessa is absolutely hilarious here, as her gibberish way of talking is killing with me and the audience, as well as her occasional utterances of “Hap!”
- I absolutely love the random continuation of Vanessa’s commentary after it supposedly ended.
- Here comes another Leslie commentary this season. I recall this one getting some hate from the show’s subreddit back when this episode originally aired.
- Yeah, this seems like our billionth tired Horny Leslie commentary. How many times am I supposed to be laughing at her talking about her sex life, and then suddenly shouting at Colin Jost? I like Leslie, and she is coming off here her usual lovable self, but this is a waste of my time honestly. I think I’ll have the same reaction if current cast member Sarah Sherman does many more Colin roasts next season, even though Sarah seems to be much more creative as a performer, and will probably do many different things as her tenure progresses.
Rating: ***1/2
Auto Shop
- A very silly sketch so far, but with charm to it, and yet again tonight, Chris is absolutely stealing this and feeling more and more like a cast member than a host. He’s been blending very well into the SNL format.
- Interesting to hear a RuPaul’s Drag Race mention here, not only because I’m a fan, but also that Ru will be hosting an episode in season 45.
- Very fun dance movements throughout the sketch, and Chris & Bobby make for a very fun & surprising comedic duo in this sketch.
- Fun, infectious sketch overall that never felt it worn its welcome.
Rating: ***1/2
The Handmaid’s Tale
- Seeing an SNL piece parodying the then-recent The Handmaid’s Tale TV show takes me back to the days when I was writing my BA on The Handmaid’s Tale novel, especially regarding the systems of power & how they operate in it. I’ve seen the show, and it did an excellent job at least in capturing both the tone & atmosphere of the novel.
- Ok, I *get* the satirical purpose of this piece, with the men not caring about women’s suffering at the hands of a totalitarian regime, but the execution of this short feels “off” to me so far.
- I will say that this short is well-performed, even though the premise itself is pretty flimsy.
Rating: **
TV Land Future Classics
- Solid Captain Kirk impression from Chris, he’s been impressing me even more with this rewatch than before.
- Unlike Star Wars, THIS is a franchise that I’m very well-versed in and know everything about it.
- Big night for Bobby in general, which is always great to see, and especially since we’re nearing his tenure’s end on the show.
- Akira! So great to see him as Sulu again in this Star Trek sketch, still making the tradition alive for 40+ seasons!
- Akira absolutely STEALS this entire sketch with his line just now, which gets a solid audience reaction.
- Great energy from Bobby, and his very silly portrayal of a Vulcan is providing solid laughs throughout.
- Fun musical number toward the end of the sketch, keeping the musical feel of the night going.
Rating: ***1/2
Musical Performance – “American Dream”
- Jesse Nathan: I love the synth intro at the start. I have a feeling I’m gonna like this more than the first.
- I like the big booming synth going on in the background.
- In fact, come to think of it, this whole instrumental sounds great.
- James sounds a lot better here. I mean, he’s far from a strong vocalist, but at least his voice is listenable and audible.
- Boy, these are rather profound lyrics. James is selling them well.
- The synth in the hook reminds me of a lot of 80s New Wave music, and I love that.
- “Find the place where you can be boring.” Damn.
- I like the rising synth during the buildup to the chorus.
- Oof, James’ “can’t stop the shaking” fell flat.
- Not too sure about the “shoo-lang, shoo-lang” part.
- I’m surprised it’s over already. I kinda wish I had more to say there. But at the very least, I still enjoyed it, and I found it to be a slight step up from the previous performance.
Rating: ****
Couples Game Night
- OH, NO. Not another one of those “You remember that song? No, what’s that song? Stop playing the song! No you remember it! No stop it! Oh, it turns out we know the song all along! Come on everybody let’s sing along!!!” sketches. These never work for me, and are such a waste of precious airtime.
- This time, the laziness of these sketches have now reached a new low, as this sketch is pretty much the same as the last one, Debra’s Time, but replacing the Christmas song with a theme song instead. The template of these is SO by-the-numbers to me.
- Aaaaand we now get our obligatory REACTING shots from the others in the sketch. A tired & overused James Anderson trademark.
- Man, the straight man work in this sketch is off-putting. It is like the performers are not even committing to their parts, aside from the always-reliable Beck Bennett & consummate professional Sasheer Zamata.
- A very dull sketch so far.
- Just like last time, Cecily is insufferable to me here, and much like that awful aforementioned Debra’s Time sketch, her performance here is filled with self-satisfaction & vanity. You could tell that she thinks of her work here as some masterpiece of performance.
- We now get a random moment with Chris Pine getting his hand cut, which will be repeated slightly differently with Beck in the coming installment from the wretched Steve Carell episode.
- Aaaaaaaaaaaaand here comes the tired old twist ending with everybody else knowing about the song all along!!!1!1!1!111!!!11!
Rating: *
Cut For Time: New Bachelorette
- Ah, a Sasheer Zamata showcase.
- This sketch is a bit repetitive in its concept, but Sasheer’s very underrated great straight man reactions throughout it are helping in selling the concept.
- Some really guilty laughs from Chris’ character, not only with him wearing an African hat, but his reasoning behind saying ”the word”. Sasheer is providing solid laughs with her uncomfortable reactions here.
- Good sketch overall, and it should’ve replaced that awful Anderlette song, as it would’ve ended the night on a more positive note.
Rating: ***
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
Song For Peace
Where In The World Is Kellyanne Conway?
SWAT Recon
The House
TV Land Future Classics
Auto Shop
Weekend Update
Monologue
Morning Joe
CFT: New Bachelorette
The Boy Is Mine
The Handmaid’s Tale
Couples Game Night
Final Thoughts:-
- A pretty solid, fun show, despite three misfires, one of which (Couples Game Night) is amongst the absolute worst sketches of this entire season, and the other two were dull & lazy, but not as dreadful to get a rating lower than the one I gave them. This episode still had several great pieces throughout, especially the fantastic one-two-three punch of Where In The World Is Kellyanne Conway?, SWAT Recon, and Song For Peace in the first half. Also, Chris Pine was as fantastic & game of a host as one would expect him to be, and also played a part in the very fun & energetic atmosphere throughout the night. It is absolutely criminal that he never became a big recurring host throughout this SNL era.
Up Next:-
- Melissa McCarthy joins the Five-Timers Club.
Blood’s SNL Reviews 
Back in 2017, it always bugged me that Pine’s first three appearances involved him singing. I don’t mind it as much these days. I recall kinda liking the Boy is Mine sketch back in the day, but I’m not 100% sure how I’ll feel about it now. I’m not entirely sure how I felt about the couples game night sketch back then, but I definitely hate it now. Can’t think of much else to add here.
And as always, the averages:
Robbie – 7.7
Miranda – 6.3
Blunt – 7.1
Hanks – 8.1
Cumberbatch – 6.6
Chappelle – 8.0
Wiig – 6.5
Stone – 6.9
Cena – 6.7
Affleck – 5.2
Jones – 6.0
Ansari – 7.9
Stewart – 7.1
Baldwin – 6.5
Spencer – 6.2
Johansson – 6.2
C.K. – 7.4
Fallon – 6.7
Pine – 6.5
WOW Blood, we really diverge on this one.
Where in the World? **
I’ll credit the set design and the musical commitment, which boost this dumpster fire a full star. As for the concept and execution – fucking oof. What a quick, efficient way to announce “Kellyanne didn’t make a headline this week, so here’s a generic fart in her general direction.” Not even a joke. No attempt to draw any laughs, just grunts of angry recognition. This could have been spun into something more than just “[insert Trump associate here] sucks!!!” Considering how creative SNL eventually got with their Kellyanne Conway material, this one just looks like a fat fucking nothing.
Song for Peace *
Ugh, just goddamned awful. Only a small, small notch above the era-worst Holes, which we’ll get to in a couple of seasons. All the worst of Beck comes out to play here – when you hear me criticize him, it’s often because of crap like this. First of all, what’s the joke? The retro song/video? The deep Serbian accent? The porn addiction? Chris’ earnest singing? How very Good Neighbor to try and throw several unrelated lumps of crap at the wall in the hopes they all stick. Because that’s the thing about this one: they’re all crap, and none of them stick. The porn thing is just random, desperate groping straight out of the worst of Anderlette. Beck clearly realized this was going NOWHERE on its own, so he took a stab that we’d all tee-hee over the word “porn.” There’s also no reason for Beck to be foreign here, nor for Chris to be singing a generic, non-comedic song, and the video (like with Holes) is wildly overdone for such thin-stretched garbage. So awesome for SNL to devote ALL of these resources throughout the week to THIS. Blood, I was truly and sincerely shocked that you liked this one at all, let alone 4.5 worth. We all have our biases, and I know you adore Beck, but yikes – this doesn’t seem like your type at all.
SWAT Recon ***1/2
Nothing groundbreaking on a night that NEEDED something to break ground, but solidly funny throughout. Mikey and Chris steal the show, of course, with their antics, but don’t sleep on the great straight-man work from Kenan & Beck. Here’s a solid example of how strong a utility player Beck could be when he kept things reined in. In this one, he understands that Mikey and Chris are the joke, not him, and he plays it accordingly.
The Boy is Mine ***
Also nothing special, but it’s great to see such committed energy from Aidy and Vanessa. I’ve come to hate the “look how hot the host is” parade of sketches we tend to get with hosts like Chris. Sometimes, as with Chris Hemsworth and Margot Robbie, it gets run obnoxiously into the ground, sketch after sketch, throughout the night. This one is at least unintrusive, and thankfully it’s pretty much the only “Chris Pine is hot” mention of the evening.
The House ****1/2
Hell yeah! Here to save the painfully blah episode is more GOOD Beck and Kyle. I absolutely love these House sketches, which were the perfect canvas for Beck and Kyle to leave a mark. Chris, like Will Ferrell in another version of The House, is fully in on the joke and performs everything gamely. Great, great work here.
Weekend Update ***
On board with Blood here – great work from Vanessa, more screaming crap from Horny Leslie. A blah Update overall that befits the episode.
The Handmaid’s Tale ****
I really enjoy this one, more so than most it seems. It could be better; it’s extremely short, and it really only reaches one note. But I love that note – my wife and I are avid watchers of HT, and we’ve often talked/joked about just how America could transition into this nutjob society. And I’m willing to bet, it would be a lot more gradual than people think, and we would run into these clueless frat-bros “just following orders here” more often than not. From a comedy standpoint, just about all of this works for me. Chris blends beautifully into the show, and even Kyle cracked me up with his brief walk-on. Again, it would be nice to see the concept expand a little bit and give the ladies something of substance to do. But as it stands, I find it damn solid.
Couples Game Night **1/2
I like these more than most of the hardcores do, though believe me, I FULLY understand it. The concept itself is only okay at best, and the constant repetition of every version has indeed grated on me over the years. But now, I just see it as harmless fluff that’s only as good as the episode’s host is. Woody Harrelson REALLY elevated it back in Season 40, and Chris does solidly enough here.
Jesse,
LCD Soundsystem is a favorite of mine, and I’m glad you enjoyed the masterful Call the Police. Yeah that lyric you pointed out is pretty harsh, but it’s part of a really brilliant, ambiguous line:
The early years were boring
The quiet, unhappy punk
See, mother was a cripple and my father was a drunk but gentle man
So we do the best we can
Kellyanne Conway ****
Nice quick sketch.
Swat Recon *****
A nice fun silly sketch and I just know that Mikey and Chris had alot if fun with this and I can’t blame them.
The Boy is Mine **½
Not a whole lot in this but this was ok.
House ****½
Another silly sketch I loved and a great Beck and Kyle sketch.
CFT: New Bachelorette ***½
Great cutaways to different cast member Chris was hilarious in this good ending