Cold Opening – Summer of Trump
Donald Trump (JAJ) discusses potential VP picks outside of courthouse
- I guess it makes sense having JAJ’s Trump back for the season finale, considering the upcoming season’s election-related pieces and potential Summer debate sketches.
- OK, the gag order sounding like a RuPaul challenge is a solid line, delivered as strongly as always by James.
- Man, James’ delivery is even stronger and sharper than usual in these cold opens; I cannot even keep up with him during some parts throughout the cold opening. I guess this is yet another example of James’ old-school vibes as a cast member, with the fast-paced, rapid delivery of his lines flawlessly.
- The Juror #9 being really a 6 for Trump’s standards is a great line, and I bet it was from James’ contribution to this cold open.
- Devon’s Tim Scott is always fun, and it is even more uncanny than usual here. I wished they would give him more, but Devon was fun as usual.
- Man, they are really milking this Kristi Noem impression of Heidi’s. I did chuckle at Heidi’s line about killing goats, as dumb as it was.
- Michael’s look as Hannibal Lecter is fine, but, besides his stern look to the camera, he barely did anything. I guess it is a good microcosm of Michael’s season this year, as sad as that is for me to say.
- All-in-all, this cold open was fine. Maybe it is due to fellow SNL reviewer/frequent commenter Carson’s point about them feeling Bush Sr.-esque, that made me come around them a bit more, but I really feel their writing has improved in general. James’ stellar delivery and leadership of these is probably another factor.
Rating: ***
Monologue
host sings about the season ending
- I love Jake’s energy at the start of the monologue, though not even him could pull off this odd, untucked shirt look of his.
- Ah, our obligatory musical monologue with Jake. I like how these are now a staple of his hosting stints, as he always brings so much fun energy and commitment to them, without ever giving the slightest hints of self-indulgence.
- Jake mentioning, mid-song, both Pedro Pascal and Zendaya as potential hosts for the finale reminds me of hosting rumors about the former in particular. I guess he was considered, but probably not approached.
- The Boyz II Men turn is pretty fun, and Jake’s vocals are, as usual, impressive. I love also how very meta this monologue is: celebrating this whole season in general and reflecting back on it.
Rating: ***1/2
Dad Has a Cookie
dad (host) turns into a Cookie Monster-esque when being alone
- Jake is perfect playing the typical cheesy dad. While he is approaching an age where he could play those naturally, he manages to make them believable and likable; a testament to his underrated range.
- Very nice seeing Andrew and Troast paired in sketch, which is a good change instead of having Sarah or Chloe Fineman, as it gives Troast some much-deserved airtime in an early spot of the night.
- A great turn with Jake’s cheesy dad persona suddenly turning into a sinister one, especially with his deep obsession with devouring cookies behind his family’s back.
- I’ve seen some online fans saying Jake’s role could’ve been played by Phil had he still been with us. I absolutely can see that, especially that Phil did play some dark, sinister roles in his tenure and onwards (e.g. Headgames, Mr. Belvedere Fan Club, Acting Teacher, etc.)
- Andrew, finishing off his amazing season, is doing yet another great job in the straight man role in this sketch, especially that he isn’t doing the beyond-tired voice cracks and explaining-the-sketch Mikey Day has been doing all his tenure.
- Oh, I LOVED the “Bitch, I always got crumbs on me, that ain’t suspicious at all!” line from Jake; fantastic delivery from him there.
- Great mock-dramatic turn with Andrew defending Jake and saying he had a cookie; the twist that Andrew is actually allergic to peanut butter is hilarious, especially his befuddled reaction when it was revealed that the cookie was made with it.
- Hilarious turn with Jake almost making Andrew vomit out the cookie he did NOT actually eat – the needle injection by Chloe was especially fucked up and out-of-nowhere.
- Great ending with Jake’s heartfelt, cookie-mouthful speech regarding his happiness that his daughter is finally getting married.
- Terrific sketch overall, with an amazing, committed performance by Jake Gyllenhaal and a great straight man work by Andrew.
Rating: *****
Scooby-Doo! And The Mystery of the Shadow Phantom
Scooby-Doo adventure turns awry
- Fun seeing a Scooby-Doo parody, considering that it’s always been one of my favorite franchises and I always enjoyed SNL’s parodies of it from past seasons.
- A solid Shaggy impression from Mikey, which I assume is due to him being a big fan of the classic show.
- I see Sabrina Carpenter is already in a piece for her obligatory sketch appearance of the night. She is actually quite fitting as Daphne and giving a likable performance.
- Casting JAJ as the usual mysterious perpetrator in these Scooby-Doo adventures feels spot-on to me. I guess due to him always giving a fun over-the-top villain performance, like that fantastic Palpatine-esque role he had in Giant Horse, back in the Timothée Chalamet episode last November.
- As always, a fun voice and performance by JAJ in a pretaped short. It astounds me to no end the wide variety of voices and characterizations that this performer is effortlessly capable of.
- The turn with Jake accidentally peeling off JAJ’s face gave me a solid laugh, as well as the freaked out reactions of the rest of the guys. However, this short, while pretty good, pales badly when compared to other pieces of its ilk, such as A Christmas Carol from last season
- Christ at the part with Scooby-Doo trying to chew on JAJ’s peeled-off face….
- OK, the part with Jake’s Fred shooting potential witnesses and then getting murdered by Andrew’s Scooby-Doo is solid. Jake was especially fantastic during that final sequence in particular.
Rating: ***
Beautiful Girls
1940s singer (host) singing about boys overshadows the showgirls
- Great old-timey voice from Chloe Troast as usual. Nice to see her in another sketch tonight, even when it is a tiny role, as she always manages to add something even in her smallest appearances.
- Heidi looks amazing in that 1940s getup, which suits her so well.
- Jake getting his also-obligatory musical sketch of the night is great and this sketch is so charming, throwback-y in general so far.
- Very fun turn with Jake now singing about beautiful boys and their merits, which leads to his beautiful showgirls to be overshadowed and jealous.
- Chloe Fineman, much like Troast, just feels so natural in these old-timey sketches. I’ve always found her to have such an underrated, under-appreciated range, which is why I feel bad for the hate she gets at times from some online fans.
- The lyric about choosing the boy with the biggest “heart” gave me such a guilty laugh.
- Heidi and Kenan are solid during the cutaways towards them, even when it always feels awkward to do these in a live sketch nowadays.
- Great character/singing voice from James during his parts throughout this sketch.
- I love the overhead shot of Jake singing in the middle of the boys – a visual that feels so rare for SNL till Liz Patrick took over.
- A charming ending with Kenan joining the boys onstage and singing the final note, ending a pretty solid, fun sketch charmingly.
Rating: ***1/2
Bike Trail
cyclist (host) interrupts serious conversation between couples (MID) & (CHF)
- I got a good laugh from Jake randomly showing up screaming nonsense as he struggles to ride the trail with his bike. The detail of his belly showing up from his shirt is a nice little touch as well.
- A loud, thin sketch, but dammit if Jake is not committing to it so much and making it work. This sketch, under a lesser host, would probably be comedy death, but Jake is one of those talents that knows the right tone and when to go over-the-top.
- Even the random inclusion of Bowen hamming it up is making me laugh, as it fits the intentionally-dumb, loud feeling of this sketch.
Rating: ***
XIEMU
this cheap online marketplace is definitely not shady
- Immediately, by the Chloe Fineman-voiced disclaimers interrupting this clothing line shoot, I’m getting flashbacks to the classic Chonk commercial from S42.
- This seems to be parodying Temu, the China-affiliated online marketplace, especially concerns around its forced labor and quality of product.
- This is fine, and the cast and Jake’s straight man reactions are good, as well as a solid, underrated voiceover from Chloe, but it feels a bit derivative for me, and is a concept I feel was done better before.
- Ego is especially solid throughout this short and she is giving her usual great straight man performance.
Rating: ***
Musical Performance – “Espresso”
Weekend Update
Two Cicadas (KET) & (MAH) gloat about their large emergence
with the attendance of rabbi Jill, MIC & COJ trade anti-Semitic and other jokes during final Joke Swap of the season
- A very “edgy” joke about Matt Gaetz, complete with that overdone deadpan look from Colin. Blah.
- I will say Steve Bannon being named “Face of Gout” is pretty funny and spot-on.
- I hate to admit it, but I laughed at that Eiffel Tower joke, due to how dumb it was.
- (*Blood sees Kenan and Marcello showing up in the 3,4737,889th desk piece this season with a cast member wearing a goofy outfit while mugging the camera and almost immediately zones out*)
- What’s to say here? I’m not only so done with these pieces, as well as Marcello as a cast member, but it feels especially wrong seeing this boring, endless rotation of select cast members during this season of Update, not just the big season finale. Adding Kenan to this is not helping it, but I guess both he and Marcello are supposedly a “duo,” right? Next season, Marcello should stick a “Love Me” sign up his back, as it perfectly sums up his deep insecurity and desperation for laughs.
- (*Blood sees Kenan and Marcello mugging even further, as they reach with their legs towards Colin, and then he decides to jump out of his bedroom window going: “fuck it, it’s the finale. I’m out of here!”*)
- Ugh at the intentionally-crude pee stain/jeans joke from Colin.
- We are now ending the season with a Joke Swap? I expected the Christmas episode one to be one-and-done for the season. I sure hope this one lives up to standards, but considering how often unwatchable Update has been these past few months, I am worried.
- The reveal of a Jewish rabbi being brought in to listen to Colin tell anti-Semitic jokes feels like a clear imitation of the prior joke swap with the elderly Black lady.
- OMFG COLIN WAS LED INTO JOKING ABOUT SCARLETT!1!1!1 I’ve never seen THAT before, I tell you!
- Meh at the supposedly “edgy” jokes towards rabbi Jill. I’ve seen edgier-and-funnier jokes than this in my feeds. Am I supposed to laugh at mention #263637 of Colin Jost being supposedly a bigot?
- Overall: oof. A fitting way to end this Update season, as this was a fairly flat, mediocre edition, with an awful desk piece and a weak Joke Swap ending. So much of it felt so tired, been-there-done-that and lazy. Words cannot express how eager I am to welcome a new era of Update as soon as possible.
Rating: **
Cancelling Flight
cancelling Southwest flight is a chore for (host)
- This is a variation of that (overrated, in my opinion) Cancelling Cable sketch from Season 47. I at least liked Troast’s dead-on phone operator voice at the start of this.
- The part with Mikey is a bit too long for me, and while he is fine, his character voice is one he did many times before, but I guess that’s only natural due to him finishing off his 8th season on the show.
- Surprised by the amount of sketches Chloe has appeared in tonight, considering she was just in Cannes mere days ago. I loved her accent and the super quick part with the complex reference number gave me a solid laugh.
- Michael steals this entire sketch with his flirty attitude. I hoped his part would’ve lasted longer, though.
- Yet another very early-era Kenan role, though he is fine, I guess.
- The part with James is pretty fun, and as usual, I just love the little character touches he does with his quick parts.
- Bowen playing a variation of his role in the first sketch is predictable, and he is fun here, especially how his lines are so deep-voiced.
- Loved Jake’s ending scream in reaction to Kenan surprising him. With that said, this sketch as a whole wasn’t too great, despite some aforementioned highlights.
Rating: **1/2
Musical Performance – “Feather/Nonsense”
NYPD Press Conference
in reaction to Steve Buscemi’s attack, NYPD spokesperson (host) pleads not to punch character actors
- Great New York cop voice from Jake. Hearing him reminds me of the great times I’ve always had in New York in the past.
- The press conference revolving around a pleading to stop punching character actors, in response to Steve Buscemi being punched, is a fun concept.
- Michael Stuhlbarg (one of my personal favorite actors) being called “shockingly versatile” by Jake cracked me up.
- The points being mentioned about the risks to you while walking the streets in New York is pretty funny, especially the mention of the criminally-underrated Boardwalk Empire.
- The back-and-forth between Jake and the reporters, played by the cast, is fine, but I don’t think it is needed here. Heidi does look incredible, and you can tell Andrew nearly broke her before the camera returned to Jake.
- I love Jon Hamm, but I do not think we needed him in this sketch. He did came off his usual very solid, likable self, though.
Rating: ***1/2
Snake Eyes
Snake Eyes (JAJ) is the least intimidating biker in the West
- Considering the disappointing season she’s had (more on that in the wrap-up post for the season), Sarah is giving a good performance in this sketch and actually masking her real voice well with a decent Southern accent.
- JAJ anchoring the final sketch of the whole season! It feels so right seeing his quietly strong, impressive season to end in such a way. Between the cold open and this sketch, JAJ had a big night, which is always a pleasure to see.
- The voice reveal of JAJ’s initially-intimidating character being a high-pitched, Southern guy is hilarious and gave me possibly my biggest laugh of the night. I remain amazed at the impressive range and skillset that this performer has been displaying throughout his tenure.
- JAJ’s lines about quitting being a butt towards Jake are very funny, especially the part with his two fists. The dumb sound effects are also adding nicely to the oddball, silly vibes of this sketch.
- The cutaways throughout the sketch towards a terrified Bowen are cracking me up so much, and this sketch is a solid example of how funny Bowen is when used well.
- The general goofiness of this sketch, especially during the stare-off part between Jake and James reminds me so much of vintage, old-school SNL sketches from the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, as well as stuff that comedic legends such Peter Sellers and Kenny Everett would usually do in their works. James not only reminds me of old-school SNL legends, but even now of some of my personal favorite comedians of all-time. Definitely a sign of hopefully things to come from him in his upcoming seasons, and possibly even post-SNL.
- Jon Schneider, the reliable anchor of Saturday Night Network, mentioned some Jason Sudeikis vibes from JAJ at times, especially in his usual Glue/utility roles he’s been routinely getting since halfway through last season (like British Cavemen from last episode, for example), as well as some of the character pieces he does (particularly with Andrew). I absolutely can see Jason performing this sketch during his tenure, especially during those first few seasons in particular.
- The ending, while so dumb, with James being shot by Jake’s look, worked for me due to the silly, fun nature of this 10-to-1, even when you can tell it was a bit rushed before the goodnights.
Rating: ****
Goodnights
- A sweet tribute to Dabney Coleman, who was not only a great, charismatic actor, but one of the finest one-time hosts in SNL history.
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
Dad Has a Cookie
Snake Eyes
Beautiful Girls
Monologue
NYPD Press Conference
Summer of Trump
Scooby-Doo! And The Mystery of the Shadow Phantom / XIEMU (tie)
Bike Trail
Cancelling Flight
Weekend Update
Final Thoughts:
- A quietly solid finish to the season, and alongside the also-solid-and-fun prior episode, a good finish to a somewhat-up-and-down back half of an overall good year. While only the leadoff sketch and the 10-to-1 stood out to me as strong, the rest of the night was mostly between average-to-pretty-good, including airtime spread out decently between cast members. As highly-anticipated, Jake Gyllenhaal provided the right energy to end the season on a high and delivered, per usual, several fantastic, memorable performances, especially in the leadoff sketch of the night, which he almost singlehandedly made into one of the best sketches of the whole season. Now that he hosted twice in three seasons, I have a hope he would go on to host more in the future and get to be a member of the Five-Timers Club, which I also hope would be the case for Josh Brolin as well.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
Up Next:
- The wrap-up post for Season 49 with overall thoughts, stats and cast breakdown!
My full set of screencaps from the episode is here
Another great review Blood! It’s been quite a fun journey reading your reviews for each episode this season!
“Quietly solid” is a good way to describe this episode. The vibes were good and fun and there was a real joyous tone to the whole evening that really made some sketches come off better than they had any right to be. Jake, of course, also played a huge factor in that, especially with the Biker sketch.
The lowpoint of this episode, unfortunately, proved to be Update as you said. Ten years is simply too long for anyone to remain on Update, and Che and Jost are simply too long in the tooth for it. The joke swap portion kind of summarizes an increasing problem with them I’ve had for some time: they’re too focused on making each other laugh/shocked now as opposed to the audience. While I’m sure Che was tickled by Colin’s whole bit with the puppet and the rabbi, the constant breaking and hesitation over the “uber edgy” stuff that Colin was about to say ruined the timing of the joke and made the whole thing end on a sour note. I actually did enjoy the whole Scarlett joke though. Doesn’t matter how many times we’ve seen it for me. If ever there were an example of punching up, it’s to the Ivy League educated classically handsome guy on television who’s married to Scarlett Johansson.
Most of the rest of the joke swap fell flat, in part, because it relied more on the optics of the joke than the joke itself. The puppet and the rabbi proved unnecessary distractions to what was, in all honesty, a pretty tame and ho hum joke about the whole space lasers nonsense. While I’m not at the point where I’m beyond sick and tired of these two and hate everything they do, it’s clearer than ever at this point that Update is in need of some fresh voices, 50th season be damned.
I’m beyond tickled that my current two favorite cast members (Andrew and JAJ) got lead roles in the two bookending sketches of the night which were, far and away, the best sketches of the whole episode. These two have both had fantastic seasons this year and have consistently proven to be the saving grace of the show, even in bad/mediocre episodes (ex. Dua Lipa’s show). I’m beyond excited for what these two, along with Troast, bring to the table for the next few seasons. I’m telling you, the sky is the limit for the potential these three have.
Jake, as I mentioned earlier, truly was a fantastic host. He knew just how to approach hosting the show: be intensely committed, be unafraid to get silly, and come off as charming and likable while doing so. He really helped elevate the whole episode and I sincerely hope he comes back to host soon.
I look forward to your wrap up post! All in all, I think this has been a pretty decent season overall, albeit with some sense of running on autopilot and some issues in the writer’s room that really need to be addressed.
I had 2 thoughts coming out of this episode.
1. Jale Gyllenhall, while not exactly filling me with excitement, felt a lot like Beck Bennett would be like hosting, but a little more subtle. And with a little more singing.
2. Most of these sketches felt like the writers had tried to recapture lightning in a bottle, and generally failed.
For example. Take Cookies. A, couldn’t you imagine Beck as the Dad? And didn’t it also feel like they tried to recreate the essence of the Gosling/Dismukes sketch. It was a good sketch, don’t get me wrong. I felt that the ending should have been panning away from the house as the Ambulances arrive.
Lets see, in no particular order, The SouthWest wasn’t as good as the Comcast Epsiode, (Although for a moment i was hoping we had a Lisa for Temecula Day Job sighting)
I quite enjoyed the boys sketch, seemed different to a lot of what we’ve seen. It was like a Sublette sketch but with a PDD co-credit.
The 10-to-1 seemed liked it was going nowhere until JAJ spoke, and I’m glad I was drinking coffee or something when he spoke. It wasn’t that funny after, but at that moment it was gold.
The Bike sketch was silly, but still giving me beck vibes. Made me more confident that Mikey was staying, unless like year when he was all over that Ana De Armes Ep.
WU was a bit of. miss. Kenan and Marcello gave me nothing. The Joke swap did not seem as cutting (or funny) as normal.
The Scooby sketch seemed to be trying to copy the Scrooge sketch of last season.
I feel that this was a safe episde. It was fine. But this last three episodes of S49 seems to be a bit of a fizzle out.
JAJ is my MVP of S49
Dismukes is my most improved,
Chloe is my Rookie. (Although there wasnt much competition)
Thank you as always for your reviews. I can’t believe how fast 49 has flown by. For a season that often struggled through contrivance and manufactured elements, it was also very unpredictable at times. One thing not unpredictable was the quality of your reviews. These last few weeks have been difficult for me in terms of the episodes because I don’t think either were bad, but I did not entirely click with them either, including a sketch that I genuinely wanted to love (the kitchen sketch with Andrew and Jake). Your reviews helped me to understand and, in some cases, appreciate certain moments more and in other cases, like your comments about that incredibly weak Update, help break through my fatigue over the state of WU and encapsulate just how many things have failed with their current desk setup.
I did truly enjoy at least three sketches in Jake’s episode (the man parade sketch, and the last two sketches), and I appreciated Jake’s effort (I saw a review saying he was doing too much and how this ruined both of his last two episodes – he was a tad OTT at times but I don’t think any of the night’s weaknesses were on him). I’d still say this is one of the better finales, outside of 46, in a long time – probably since season 42.
Your praise of JAJ through the season has managed to highlight him and his work without devolving into stan wars or myopia. Your ability to find perspective on cast use is something many fans, including myself, can struggle with. I’m very glad he got this showcase to the end season, bookends with the cowboy and Trump (even if I still can’t get into the Trump sketches and never will). I hope this is a good sign for where he will be next season.
I’ve been thinking lately of just how checked out mentally I feel from the show to where even pieces that I would have enjoyed a few years ago I can’t fully connect with now. I do want change, but as much I want that change, and manifest through the endless cycle of conversations that you can have as an SNL fan, I know it’s not coming anytime soon, if ever. I have seen some fans who are very demoralized over the state of the show try to will the idea that the public at large or the press have hated this season and changes will be made, but I don’t think that’s true either. This season won’t go down as anyone’s idea of a classic, but a number of episodes were well-received (just a few by hardcore fans but others like Gosling’s by the larger public), enough to where the show will probably stay the course on where they are now, through 50 (post 50 budget cuts will have to lead to changes, if the show stays on – the best to hope for is those changes actually being for the better and not leading to what happened with Mad TV being slowly hacked away to nothing).
I had to accept this season that the show just wasn’t for me anymore, after struggling more with that in the garish, desperate season 48. Part of acceptance means a certain fog descending over your viewing experience. And that’s where I am with the show now. Yet I am never there with your reviews. They are always crisp and worth reading and re-reading. And if I ever do turn back and enjoy this era more, as so often happens with SNL fans and hindsight, I know your reviews will still be there to give me a new appreciation. Thanks again and may season 50 have a premiere we can all love. Or at least want to talk about.
These are some truly wonderful words of praise, John. I do not deserve them. Saying thank you will never be enough to repay you, and others, the support you’ve given me, so I hope to not let you down, and hopefully, S50 turns out to be a gem, and if not, hey, at least we get to talk about it and have fun.
Man….. The show has managed to make me dislike Marcello sketches this season. Especially considering the strong showing that he had at the beginning with the Bad Bunny episode.
Unfortunately according the SNN, Molly’s WU piece (playing Martha from the “Baby Reindeer” miniseries on Netflix) got cut again. Even if its a reference few people may get it, it still feels like a better piece that the Cicadas (which only got on because its Kenan/Marcello+funny costumes and is more evergreen) because it at least breaks the fourth wall of WU which is rarely done nowadays.
I gave up on Molly coming back for S50 a while ago but here’s hoping they find success elsewhere…
Marcello is locked and thankfully Devon/Longfellow made the case of how integrated to the cast they are in this final push
Great review in a year chock full of ’em. I think the sentiments expressed largely reflect mine. This was a refreshingly nimble and consistently enjoyable episode, vitally unencumbered with trying to create an aura of finality to it. Just a straight down the middle solid episode. And frankly, I’m surprised. I got to review the last Gyllenhaal episode for the OneSNLaDay site (expected publish date: July…2026) and, spolier alert, I didn’t much care for it. I put some of that on the host, but this new iteration actually seemed to mitigate Gyllenhaal’s weaknesses and play up his strengths with punchier, sillier ideas.
COLD OPEN: Appreciate the namedrop, Blood. Truth be told, when the sketch came on, I immediately thought “Oh these are the cold opens that I like that everyone else hates.” I really do think that JAJ’s Trump has the “wind him up and let him go” quality of those old Carvey CO’s and while they have an air of “filler” to them, it’s a much more effective way of passing the time than watching the cast struggle to find their mark for a rictus grin group LFNY. I think I still take the Trump Bible edition over this – that one felt particularly potent and sharp – but I found much to enjoy here.
MONOLOGUE – SNL is going backwards, moving away from the unwritten charmalogues and back toward singing monologues. In a weird way, it’s progress. I will always take concepts and effort over simply having the host tell us how much they love their mom. This had energy, a little bit of writing effort and the visual of Kenan, Ego, Punkie and Devon dressed as Boyz II Men. I am won over.
COOKIES – Ho hum, another episode stolen by Andrew. Really, the most amazing thing is that the show actually seems to KNOW what they have in Andrew. They are putting him at the top of the show because they know his efforts mean paydirt. This one was obviously very similar to the Ryan Gosling piece although I think the interaction and escalation worked better for me here. Or maybe I’m just going full contrarian with the Gosling episode (it was good, but seriously, chill people). When we run the tape back on this season, it will be clear that Andrew owned all aspects of the show that he touched. I think this is the clearest MVP the show has had since the late Hader seasons.
SCOOBY DOO – Blood and guts! Fun. A part of me hates that the show tries to recreate a Farewell, Mr. Bunting moment, but the extended build up really did serve the big reveal well. It kind of went all over the place after that, but the chaos generally worked for me.
BEAUTIFUL BOYS – This one I definitely liked more than our gracious host. Despite the clunkiness of Kenan and Heidi’s audience reactions (a modern SNL trope of underlining the jokes that I could always live without), the turn and the visuals of the guys (especially Michael) was too rich for me to dismiss. The whole thing really tickled me even if it didn’t really advance past its reveal.
BIKE TRAIL – When I reflected on the episode the morning after I watched it, this is the one the refused to come to mind. “Loud” and “thin” are the best adjectives for this and I would 100% agree that Gyllenhaal’s performance helped give this sketch enough gas to be considered passable, but this was also one of my least favorite styles of Mikey performance.
XIEMU – Hey, it doesn’t hurt to throw a little overstated satire in the time filler slot.
UPDATE – OK, I give up. You guys win. This was not a great Update. Over the last few weeks, I have given Update a pass based on strong jokes and what I thought were rote but inoffensive correspondent pieces. But I have to admit, they were never really able pull out of the skid, were they? Even the last ditch Hail Mary that was the ever-reliable joke swap felt like a dud, which makes that awful Marcello/Kenan bit and all the “Che tries to play edgy for the audience” seem as empty as they really were. I don’t often get too existential about the show (we’ll have a season wrap up, but I think this was a very strong season, all told), but this felt like a very strong indication of “maybe this ship has sailed.” I don’t expect these guys to leave because I no longer ever expect anyone to leave, but it seems the thrill is gone.
SOUTHWEST – Big disagree with Blood that the first iteration of this sketch was overrated (another OneSNLaDay spoiler alert). I thought the previous installment provided a lot of what I crave about SNL: relatable concepts, ample opportunities for the cast to score, and note perfect escalation (it’s essentially what Andrew’s sketches did all season). This version lacked the original’s zip and punch, but like Blood, I don’t see it as a major degradation of what came before. It’s been nearly three years, it’s totally fine to bring a onetime winner out of the vaults.
CHARACTER ACTORS – Loved this one. Largely because I loved the sentiment, but also because I thought the sketch established its premise without dumbing things down too much for the audience (does SNL make the audience dumber or does the audience force SNL to get dumber? I think the answer falls somewhere in the critical reception for the Ryan Gosling episode). A great, premise-y end of the episode sketch.
SNAKE EYES – God smiles when JAJ gets to shine. The vocal reveal was an absolute hoot and this was just a perfectly silly way to end the season. Don’t look now, but there are a few guys on SNL who are really, really good and the show is starting to give them the runway they need to take off.
Although this episode didn’t feel like an event like the Season 46 finale, it didn’t feel tired and sluggish like the previous two seasons. There were dips and misfires along the way, but the show spent more time overachieving than underachieving. Gyllenhaal can go either way as a host, but I felt the show still had enough in the tank to close out in a confident and clever way.
Your final paragraph is very dead-on, Carson.
I enjoyed the previous Gyllenhaal episode as you know, due to various reasons, but I think it is best I save my counter argument for when your eventual review of it is posted.
Besides some pieces I felt were overdone/derivative (though none of them were really bad to me), I enjoyed the bigger highlights of the night (and I enjoyed Beautiful Boys & NYPD Press Conference, but didn’t feel they earned more than ***1/2 from me, which still indicates a solid rating), but I get a feeling one or both of them, will be seen later on by me as classics or near-classics that I just underrated on the way.
Thanks as always for your generous, well thought-out comments and support; it means the world to me.
Just catching up on these reviews but wanted to say great work on the season.
I actually think Gyllenhaal’s last ep is one of the biggest disaster eps of the past few years, but I’ll also wait (hopefully not insanely long) to mount that defense in Carson’s review
I thought Jake wasn’t a…bad…host, but I thought he tried way way too hard, especially early on. The bike sketch was a non-starter no matter what, so I guess he decided to go all out, which is admirable in a way, but I thought his performance really needed to be amped down in the cookie sketch. I agree he had Beck vibes, but I think Beck would do a better job at starting more around 0 and building up to the angry energy.
The joke swap is one of the few times in which Jost totally outshined Che. Che’s stuff was a carbon copy of his last time, and the rabbi stuff wasn’t anywhere as good as the civil rights activist. Jost making Che talk trash to Kendrick was at least new.
There are much worse episodes, but the creative bankruptcy in a lot of this episode is annoying. A beat by beat remake of the good cancelling cable sketch? Scooby Doo was amusing but was just a re-fashioning of various similar shorts. The stuff at the very end, while not A1 to me, was at least something new.
I had a feeling the show would phone in May and it pretty much happened. Though I was shocked Maya didn’t bring back more of her characters.
– Jay had to wait years to play Obama, Just saying
– I like the commercial parody
– The Scooby sketch (Which you can’t convince me Squirm didn’t write) at least didn’t fart on Scrappy, Making it better than the first Live-Action movie.
– Joke Swap was lame and that hurts me
– Nice to see Beautiful Boys not go for a gay joke like I thought it would
– Was it my cold or was Troast quiet in the voice part on the Southwest Sketch?
– This felt more like a March episode than a Season Finale. Gosling’s felt more like a Season finale.
I was barely able to watch this episode before the premiere starts.
Solid finale, not that much stood out as really strong, but I liked everything in this one.
Scooby-Doo, Cancelling Flight, and Snake Eyes were the highlights of the night, with Snake Eyes being one of my favorites sketches of the season.
Everything else in this ranged from average, to really good and I’m happy the season ended on a solid note. I haven’t seen a Jake show so I was happy to like him a lot as host, despite some overacting here and there (Bike Trail and Cancelling Flight are the main examples)
7.0/10
The Joke Swap didn’t do it for me, but that was an actual rabbi, Jill Hausman from the Actors’ Temple in New York City. It’s an actual synagogue in the theatre district that doubles as an Off-Broadway theatre. I did a Purim spiel there earlier in the year.
“If you’re here, who’s controlling the weather?” I’d guess the Freemasons.