February 9, 2019 – Halsey (S44 E12)

Cold Opening – Meet The Press

Chuck Todd (KYM) & panel consider Jeff Bezos’ penis

• Odd seeing Kyle, of all cast members, playing an anchor to a cold opening. He’s doing a solid job here and is proving to be an underrated straight man. I do remember him shining more in the upcoming Meet The Press cold open later in the season.
• A juvenile premise around Bezos’ infamous phone hacking scandal at the time. However, this cold opening is pretty decent so far covering such a topic. Kenan is especially shining here and nailing his lines as usual.
• I didn’t need the horror visuals of Kate and Aidy in drag for the sake of some laughs, but their bits were not as annoying as I feared; this cold opening overall had a good pace and enough funny lines, though I recall the second one being stronger.

Rating: ***

Monologue

while growing up, New Jerseyite host was a fan of SNL’s women

• Nothing much to say here, but this was a short-and-sweet monologue, much like the previous episode with Halsey talking about her background and being from New Jersey.
• I really love the trend of short monologues starting with this season, as it spares us from annoying song-and-dance ones or tepid “interruption” ones, even when some change once in a while is welcomed.

Rating: ***

Them Trumps

black First Family isn’t immune from law enforcement’s reach

• Great visual of Kenan’s black version of Trump in the dark parking lot with that trademark haircut.
• The back-and-forth in the car is solid, but I do not understand why Halsey is just sitting there basically doing nothing next to Kenan, who’s doing all the heavy lifting in this short.
• Brilliant punchline with the First Family being stopped by the cops and potentially getting harmed much like how black people suffer from discriminatory police treatment. A great satirical, biting end to this short. However, an even more biting piece will be airing right after this short.

Rating: ****

Virginia State Capitol

Virginia state government officials can’t grasp blackface unacceptability

• One of the most daring sketches as of recent seasons and a fantastic way to parody Virginia’s blackface scandal happening at the time.
• Kenan is the perfect cast member to anchor such a sketch, as he’s always a great straight man and his leadership here is a perfect use of his talents.
• A lot of laughs from the Virginia government officials’ inability to understand why blackface is wrong; Mikey’s line about his college Halloween costume being a black booty steals this whole sketch and causes Kenan to almost break character.
• Fantastic ending visual with everyone raising their hands admitting wearing blackface back in the ‘80s which causes Kenan to walk out. A perfect ending to a perfect sketch; one of the best from this era.

Rating: *****

Valentine’s Song

(AIB), (host), (KAM) sing about unwanted non-romantic valentines

• The obligatory musical pretape with Halsey hosting.
• This short is fine so far and the singing about unwanted, non-romantic stuff in Valentine’s Day is a fun concept in theory, but this execution so far is having me underwhelmed, though not in a negative way.
• Part of why I feel a little underwhelmed despite how decent this piece is, is that I know that Halsey would go on to star in a much-better pretape with a funnier concept the upcoming season. Said musical pretape (Slow) is possibly my all-time favorite musical pretape the show ever did.
• I will say, however, that there are some decent moments here, especially the whole scene with Heidi. She’s hilarious in this short.

Rating: ***

Parents Phone Call

via phone, (MID)’s parents (BEB) & (host) allude to traumatic injuries

• Already, I’m loving the out-of-the-ordinary way this sketch is presented to us. This feels to me like a sketch the show would’ve definitely done during the late ‘80s era. Could’ve seem Phil and Jan playing the roles played by Beck and Halsey, as well as either Mike or Dana playing Mikey’s role.
• I remember being very surprised when I learned Seiday wrote this sketch. It feels so unlike them in the best way possible. This is, and continuing the late ’80s vibes in this sketch review, feels like something Jack Handey would’ve written in maybe season 15.
• I love the casual reveals from Halsey and Beck about how their body parts were broken; Beck’s delivery is especially solid here.
• An overall great, offbeat sketch that I really enjoyed.

Rating: ****

Women of Congress

The Women Of Congress represent backlash against Donald Trump

• Absolutely love this very silly, fun concept of the newly-elected Dem women, alongside Nancy Pelosi, being introduced a la Charlie’s Angels.
• Very fun quick intros, with the ladies getting moments to shine; my favorite part here is Kate’s Pelosi, as it sounds even more dead-on and funny; the dead eyes stare next to Heidi in particular is great.
• The Trumpwin voice cameo is one I didn’t need, but I loved the fast-paced angered reactions from the ladies to it, especially Halsey’s Talib. A super short-and-sweet solid little piece of satire.

Rating: ***1/2

Musical Performance – “Without Me”

Weekend Update

MEV uses Grammy picks as an excuse to do her Lady Gaga impression

in real life, Instagram couple Nico (MID) & Brie (HEG) bickers nonstop

Guy Who Just Bought A Boat gives supposedly-respectful dating tips

• As expected, this edition of Update starts with a whole bunch of great ranting from Che and Jost in reaction to Virginia’s blackface scandal. Che’s Liam Neeson joke in particular was a standout here.
• And also, not expected: the Bezos hacking scandal. Colin’ riffing on Bezos here is making me laugh, especially the joke about Bezos’ head looking like a penis, so there’s a room to imagine how his penis allegedly looks like; the part with the photo of Bezos getting cropped to show only the top of his head especially killed me.
• Here comes what’s probably Melissa’s biggest ever moment on SNL, and one I, and quite a number of other fans back when this episode aired considered to be her definitive breakout moment. We would be led to believe so, as Melissa would get decent airtime for the rest of the season, including more lead/co-lead roles. Of course, in hindsight, knowing that Melissa’s already-bad airtime would get even worse the next few seasons lessens how huge this piece was back in the day. With that being said, I still think this piece as a whole holds up well.
• While in theory a one-note piece, this is being executed very well, Melissa is coming off very fun and charismatic, and the audience is loving this as well.
• Kyle almost steals this very fun piece with his random walk-on as Bradley Cooper; one of my favorite Kyle moments from this season in general.
• The Grammys joke’s punchline turning to be yet another Ralph Northam joke was predictable, but still made me laugh alot.
• Mikey and Heidi are so damn good as this Instagram couple; a duo I wish we saw more often during their respective runs.
• Heidi’s fantastic as the exasperated partner during her argument with Mikey (who’s very good here as well). I do not know if I said this before, but Heidi is probably the only recent SNL cast member I can truly see winning an Oscar someday; she at times feels too good for SNL and sketch comedy in general with her sheer commitment and deep dive into characters.
• Nice to see another GWJBAB commentary. Not only because I like it, but it would give poor Alex something to do instead of playing bland, dull roles all the time.
• I will admit, this isn’t my favorite appearance of this character, but there are some laughs here; Alex’s so good at playing this character’s smarmy, idiotic nature for laughs.
• A very strong Update overall; maybe my favorite of the whole season.

Rating: ****1/2

Sorority Karaoke

sorority pledges (MEV), (host), (CES) sing “What’s Up?” at karaoke bar

• For some reason, it still feels odd to me seeing Kate performing these supporting, glue-like roles, which is a feeling I do not get when Aidy and Cecily are cast in them.
• A cute sketch premise and a decent way to use Halsey’s musical talents in a live format. Also, great to see Melissa co-starring in a live sketch for a change.
• These types of sketches usually have me with nothing to say while watching them, but this one is enjoyable, and all of the three leading ladies are coming off cute and likable as these characters. The whole cockatoo moment with Melissa and Pete was my favorite individual moment here.

Rating: ***

Black History Month

KYM interrupts SNL Black History Month tribute to do some whitesplaining

• A nice visual of Leslie and Kenan side by side at the start of this sketch. By the way, this is a rare instance of an SNL sketch taking place on the homebase stage as it is without any set assembled.
• It’s so great seeing the four black sketch performers on the show standing proudly side to side celebrating Black History Month. We are far from the days of slathering ”honeyface” on cast members to make them appear darker.
• Fun interruption from Kyle to do some whitesplaining to black cast members as they celebrate, with this piece now turning into a variation of the one Beck and Kyle did with Scarlett Johansson back in season 42.
• This an overall fun, short-and-sweet piece that managed to poke fun at how some white leftists try to claim they really understand what black people, or, for that matter, oppressed minority groups go through. While I really enjoyed this one, I prefer the aforementioned Scarlett Johannson piece.

Rating: ****

Musical Performance – “Eastside”

host performs “Eastside” while painting a self-portrait

Maurice

family learns that patriarch (KET) is an online gay porn celebrity

• A very funny casual reveal of Kenan being an online gay porn star. This is a premise that only Kenan can make very funny and not come off questionable.
• Speaking of funny, I laughed out loud with how quickly Leslie became supportive of Kenan’s gay porn career after knowing how much money he’s making.
• This is another sketch where Kenan’s unique delivery works perfectly; his lines are mostly decent, but his delivery is having me laugh non-stop. The whole ”cake sit” bit is especially hilarious.

Rating: ***1/2

Riverdale

on the set of Riverdale, actor playing corpse (PED) is loud & convulsive

• This is the sketch I mentioned in my review of the Jason Momoa episode earlier in the season.
• This is yet another episode this season with Kenan being utilized heavily in utility/glue roles throughout the night.
• I love Beck Bennett, but I cannot buy him at all as Cole Sprouse. If this sketch was done in more recent seasons, Marcello would’ve been an easy pick to play him.
• Geez, are these horrible lines delivered by Beck and Halsey a parody of Riverdale’s infamous writing? I never saw that show, and, from what I’ve heard, I am not missing much. Either way, these lines also work as a solid spoof of how corny these teen-centric shows tend to be in general.
• Pete is a riot throughout this sketch with his hammy interruption of the scene being shot; this is such a fun, silly concept in a night filled with them.
• All-in-all, not only a great, fun sketch, but probably my favorite of Pete’s live performances in his entire tenure.

Rating: ****

Goodnights

Segment Ranked From Best to Worst

Virginia State Capitol

Weekend Update

Riverdale

Parents Phone Call

Black History Month

Them Trumps

Women of Congress

Maurice

Monologue

Meet The Press

Sorority Karaoke

Valentine’s Song

Final Thoughts:

• A very strong effort; lots of great sketches and I loved the conceptual, original approach that tonight’s episode took with its sketch concepts. I remember the soon-to-come Sandra Oh episode also following said approach and I hope it lives up to my positive memories of it. Halsey was an effortlessly charming host who worked very well with the cast and delivered memorable musical performances as well.
• As the blog celebrates its two-year anniversary, I just wanted to say it’s been an amazing journey so far. It’s incredible how quickly these two years flew by and how many episodes I reviewed for this site of mine. It’s as well so surreal seeing this site grow from a hastily-created blog of mine, to seeing it become a professional SNL reviews site, complete with a large number of devoted readers and regular commenters. I’m very appreciative and proud of the ever-increasing large base of readers and commenters this site has gained thus far; your comments, insights and generosity kept me going and helped this blog celebrate this milestone, which is something I never imagined would happen on January 10th, 2022, as I felt back then this whole reviewing business will end up being a short-lived failed experiment that I would look back on with embarrassment. Now, with two years on and a large base that’s only growing larger and larger, I’m not only happy I kept this site going and developed it a lot more into what it is now, but so grateful to all of you for the support. My words will never express the amount of joy I get from reading your comments and hearing your points of view, especially in disagreement with me. I’m proud and hope to continue this site’s journey for many years in the future.

My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:

Up Next:

• Don Cheadle.

My full set of screencaps from this episode is here