Cold Opening – Group Chat
girls (host), (SAS), (EGN) get invited to Signal chat
- Quite an interesting way to parody the Signal group chat mess. It reminds me actually of the classic Monica/Saddam/Clinton cold open from S23. I also find it really odd we aren’t getting a JAJ-as-Trump cold open. Won’t be shocked if this is the only time JAJ won’t be playing the President in the cold open, as I imagine he’ll be heavily parodied in the remaining five cold opens after this.
- Andrew as Pete Hegseth by sheer concept is very funny, and he is giving his usual fun bro-y delivery as the secretary.
- I really like the structure of this cold open, especially cutting back between various performers, including even host Mikey Madison in a very rare host appearance in the cold opening.
- This cold open is fine so far, though the cutting between performers is a bit awkwardly timed and performed. I do, however, really like the ladies in this. Both believable and likable.
- The whole bit with Marcello was priceless, especially him asking for their info to send to ICE.
- I am surprised by how overall short this whole cold open was. But I still got a few laughs (especially the Gaetz & ICE lines), it had a premise behind it that it followed and was short enough.
Rating: ***
Monologue
host talks background and does pole dancing
- I’m not familiar at all with Mikey Madison, besides knowing she starred in Anora. She has quite the striking look and seems already comfortable on the homebase stage.
- Oh, to not confuse you readers, I’ll be referring to Mikey by her name and Mikey Day by his surname – giving the hosts the priority in naming as they often dominate these reviews’ commentary.
- I got a good laugh from the “relaxed” vibe montage of Mikey in various film roles. Her range line afterwards was decent.
- This monologue is basically a variation of charmologue/host talking about their background. Still, while Mikey is likable, I’m a bit tired of these types of monologues. This also feels like several monologues in one.
- I have no comment about that pole dancing bit, though Mikey performed it (or her double) rather well, as brief as it was.
Rating: **1/2
Acting Teacher 2
acting teacher (MAH) has more unorthodox teaching methods
- Another acting teacher sketch? I found the first sketch to be fairly fun and a highlight of the otherwise weak Charli XCX episode, but to have it as a recurring sketch? That won’t probably work.
- Marcello remains fun as this character, even when I know some fans don’t think he is that good in this role, but I like him, and he is still good here.
- Is it bad that I forgot Chloe Fineman is even a cast member nowadays? She’s frankly having a terrible season this year and is non-existent. Devon is also another one who feels like he isn’t in the show.
- I got a big laugh from Marcello’s White Lotus line. Otherwise, this sketch is very similar to the first.
- OK, the whole mugshot bit was pretty funny. We didn’t need cast members to call it out like we have no eyes, though.
- The whole “line” bit between from Mikey and Marcello was pretty good.
- While I’m not sure I want to see this sketch coming back after this one. For a sequel, this was pretty decent and had several enjoyable moments, with another fun characterization from Marcello.
Rating: ***
Big Dumb Line
waiting in lines is the NYC activity to do
- Considering how much I don’t care for SNL’s more recent musical shorts, not sure I’ll be into this pretape.
- A solid posh accent from Mikey. I also love her look.
- Chloe & Bowen in a rare duo. I guess the show is trying to make us remember Chloe is still in the show, especially if she is really leaving the show this coming May.
- Boy, this short is falling really flat for me. Not only because I don’t care for the premise (maybe if I can relate it would’ve worked), but the tone is grating to my ear and I don’t find it catchy at all. SNL musical shorts are often fairly catchy, good or bad, but this is basically an unwarranted assault upon my music buff ears.
- I love Ego Nwodim, but oof at her attempt at a posh accent, even when the others sucked at it, excluding Mikey.
- I don’t think I need to ask which certain writers are behind this sketch, though it might be just Nordwind & Chloe/Bowen.
- The audience is absolutely dead during this. I cannot blame them one bit.
- That random Joe Jonas cameo was a bit too random for me.
- Overall, this thing just wasn’t for me at all. I probably would’ve been into this sketch had I actually hanged around people Chloe & Bowen are parodying.
Rating: *1/2
Jury Duty
jury selection goes wrong
- I got a good laugh from Day’s “I have work!” opening line.
- This role of Kenan’s feels way old hat by this stage of his tenure, and I didn’t really care for his moment.
- Mikey was really solid during her brief moment, although I thought she would be playing a Kardashian.
- I really loved the whole JAJ moment doing fun prank calls. He came off so fun being basically himself.
- Ashley Padilla briefly steals this whole sketch, and it feels refreshing seeing her playing this type of role, considering the type of “adult in the room” roles she’s been playing so far into her run.
- The usual great straight man work from Ego. Possibly one of the last times she’d perform such a role, that is if she’s leaving by the season’s end. (Sob)
- I didn’t need more Luigi mentions, though Heidi performed her part very well.
- This sketch is following the same “wacky parade” template, with more misses than hits for me so far.
- Chloe’s big night continues, though surprised no applause for her when she introduced herself. And, not to be mean, but her playing herself doing some lousy pop culture impressions came off really sad to me. There’s really no place for her on the show anymore.
- Oh, Emil is playing Luigi? Boy, he looks uncanny to him.
- This exact type of role Marcello is given is exactly why some SNL fans don’t seem to stand him. Outside of said loud roles, he is usually pretty decent. I did at least enjoy his cartwheeling into the sketch which was impressively performed.
- An overall hit or miss sketch.
Rating: **1/2
Spring Break
couple (CHF) & (MAH) have heart-to-heart as chaos ensues
- A big night for Chloe and Marcello so far.
- I see this sketch is following the template of that classic Waffle House short, much like the subway short from last season. I know some didn’t care for that one, but I liked it fine enough.
- Good acting from Marcello & Chloe, though they aren’t holding a candle to JAJ & Devon from last season. I’m also surprised our host isn’t playing Chloe’s role.
- Man, the background gags are falling really flat for me this time around and the audience doesn’t seem that into this short as they usually would be. Between this one and the (awful) pretape earlier, the audience has been oddly subdued. Not that I blame them once again.
- For the second piece in a row, Heidi was a lot of fun, as she was hilarious here and gave me my only really big laugh. Interesting how very little she’s been on tonight, while Ashley seems to get more and more prominent this back half.
- Not sure I needed that vomit spraying ending, and I’m usually very into grossout humor.
Rating: **
Musical Performance – “I’m The Problem”
Weekend Update
DEW shares morning routine
Joann (ASP) rants about JOANN Fabrics and Crafts going bankrupt
- Considering how flat this whole episode has been, hopefully Update will put it back on track.
- I’m loving the opening rant from Colin about the Signal chat scandal, especially loved the Emoji joke.
- While we’ve been getting some lazy homoerotic humor this season (thankfully less this back half), I admit getting a good laugh from “sucking off” the journalist joke.
- Che’s jokes are no slouch either, especially loved his OnlyFans/Kristi Noem joke. One of his few “oh so wrong” type of jokes I liked this season.
- I loved the toddler/El Salvador prison joke from Colin.
- Nice to see Devon getting something to do, and this time as himself! Unless I’m forgetting something, this is the first starring role he has gotten since the very first episode of the season.
- As usual, Devon is coming off very likable.
- Not sure the montage of Devon doing the exact same routine as that “influencer” is that much of a premise, though I did crack up at his “you like that?” line ending the montage.
- Colin showing up in one of the montages is hilarious! He always steals his very rare non-Update appearances.
- The rapport between Devon & Che is pretty fun and is better than the montage sequences. The audience seems to agree, as they’ve been only reacting to the non-montage portions.
- Not the best desk piece, but I am at least glad to see a different performer, and this time a very underused one, getting the spotlight.
- Good to see the very fun “Hear Me Out” segment back. Paddington being its topic is hilarious on its own.
- Colin is hilarious ranting against Paddington, especially wanting to call ICE on his “Peruvian ass”.
- Wonderful to see Ashley Padilla having her very first Update showcase! Considering how she was cut a few times in the past. About damn time this fantastic performer got her first showing behind the desk. Ashley has already been having a quietly impressive rookie season, so it is sweet to her stock continue to rise through what has been a really strong back half for her thus far.
- A very fun performance from Ashley, even when I’m not as familiar with the brand she’s parodying as others could be. Her energy and delivery are a blast, and she is doing an excellent job commanding the stage, with a lot of charisma and presence.
- This is a type of desk piece I could easily have seen Kristen Wiig playing in her tenure, especially in her (phenomenal) early seasons. I also could’ve seen Nicole Sullivan & Mo Collins crushing this role, as Ashley is doing, 25 years ago. This just shows, like JAJ on the male side, how old-school Ashley is as a performer, for the first time a female hire had such vibes since when Heidi Gardner first joined the show.
- The portion with Ashley’s Joann starting to drink and rant is pretty fun, and much like the Jury Duty sketch, it feels so rare by this early point of her tenure to see Ashley play this type of a role.
- Holy hell at the Michael’s rape joke. LMAO.
- I got a huge laugh from Ashley randomly getting high sniffing on markers.
- I admit getting a solid laugh from the overlong sale at the end. Great delivery from Ashley there, too.
- An overall very strong first impression from Ashley behind the desk. I won’t be surprised at all if she makes one or two more visits to the desk before the season ends.
Rating: ***1/2
Pop’s Big Regret
dying mob boss (AND) delivers standup jokes
- Great seeing JAJ playing this type of a role for the first time. His mobster characterization is great, as expected. I genuinely feel JAJ can basically do anything.
- Andrew’s Marlon Brando voice is hilarious! I also loved how he suddenly got shot as he looked at himself in the window.
- This sketch reminds me of the sketch Alec Baldwin did in S37 where he makes some confessions, though this is standing out on its own well.
- Andrew’s lame jokes as the dying mob boss are the type of absurdist, anti-comedy material he sells so well.
- A big laugh from Andrew being shot again as he tries to tell his joke again to the shooters.
- Mikey has been practically non-existent as the host in tonight’s episode. She is doing a solid New York accent, which I heard she did as well in Anora.
- While not one of Andrew’s stronger sketches, this has a real charm to it in a way Andrew Dismukes only can make. I’m also enjoying the performance from Mikey and JAJ’s straight man work.
- An actual charming ending.
Rating: ***1/2
Musical Performance – “Just In Case”
Midwife 2
Barry (BOY) remembers nurse (host) from the past
- Ashley has been all over this episode so far while both her fellow rookies got very small roles and Heidi being very invisible, though she’s being clearly phased-out throughout this season.
- Why in the world we are getting a sequel to this fucking awful sketch from a few seasons ago? Bowen has been decent enough of late, but between this role and that pretape earlier tonight, he is doing his worst so far.
- I hate the whole “seriOUS” recurring line. This is the type of indulgent shit I strongly dislike from Bowen Yang. He is much better than this.
- Poor, poor Mikey Madison. She has to be the most wasted host of this entire season.
- I do appreciate the structure of these sketches, but much like the first sketch, this is the type hollow, very dull Bowen Yang sketches that leave me scratching my head. Bowen had a strong night last episode, but this is the type of role that will make me frankly glad when he eventually leaves.
- Can someone please explain to me where is the joke in these sketches? Is it the wigs or the lame-ass pop culture references?
- And now we end with a campy dancing sequence? Next, please.
Rating: *
Please Don’t Destroy – Mikey Madison Is Squidward
(host) wants to do Squidward in a pretape
- A big laugh from Mikey entering the guys’ office wearing that….
- I love the premise of Mikey dressed up as Squidward, which reminds me of the great short Bad Bunny did last season.
- This sadly feels the first time Mikey has been truly utilized tonight, besides her role in that mob sketch. She is coming off really solid in this.
- I really like the serious SpongeBob Squarepants montage, especially the sequence with all of them in Times Square.
- We even get a brief shoutout to the aforementioned Bad Bunny short here.
- Good to see the episode rebounding nicely with Update onwards, excluding that D.O.A. sketch before this one.
Rating: ***1/2
So, Like, What Are We?
girlfriend (host) interrogates date (MIL) during gameshow
- A gameshow sketch in the 10-to-1 spot? Feels certainly odd.
- Interesting choice to have our host playing the gameshow host, instead of Kenan or JAJ.
- A fun premise of Mikey interrogating her date Michael, and it feels nice seeing this criminally underused performer getting the spotlight.
- The usual great straight man reactions from Michael, and the concept of the girlfriend confronting her date is solid. This one also feels like a variation of another season 37 sketch: the Abby Elliott gameshow sketch.
- Mikey is good here. Much like the PDD short. About time she is utilized tonight.
- A big laugh from the “hungry for butt” text message reveal.
- Very good rapport from Mikey & Michael, and I especially liked the ending. Even when this sketch is clearly cut for time.
Rating: ***1/2
Planning New York – An SNL Animated Short
planning NYC took a lot of turns
- Finally, this short got on the air. It has been cut several times since November.
- Much like the God short a few episodes back, I really like the solid, low-key humor in this, and the animation style is fun.
- Between this and the prior sketch, nice to see Michael getting utilized well. Bowen is also really fun in his voice work.
- Much like the prior short, solid fast-pacing and the dramatic closeups continue to crack me up a lot.
- A lot of good laughs from the various ideas in planning New York, especially loved the part about the multiple avenues.
- Pretty solid piece overall.
Rating: ***1/2
Goodnights
- Why in the world did Morgan Wallen leave the stage mere seconds after the goodnights started? What a total asshole. I feel bad for Mikey here.
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
Weekend Update
Please Don’t Destroy – Mikey Madison Is Squidward
Planning New York – An SNL Animated Short
Pop’s Big Regret
So, Like, What Are We?
Acting Teacher 2
Group Chat
Monologue / Jury Duty (tie)
Spring Break
Big Dumb Line
Midwife 2
Final Thoughts:
- The streak of solid episodes this back half sadly comes to an end, as I found this episode to be a lot milder than the prior four shows. This wasn’t exactly a bad episode, but with a flat first half, and nothing standing out as strong as it improved in the back half (nothing got a rating above ***1/2 from me), it is easily amongst the more forgettable shows of the season, but certainly above the many rough shows of the season’s front half. I liked how some cast members finally got some chances here and there (especially Devon & Michael), and Ashley Padilla killed it on Update.
- Mikey Madison has to be one of the most underused hosts of this entire season. A bummer, as she was really good each time she got to do something. She did get a few solid moments by the back half, but alongside Michael Keaton & Jean Smart, is definitely near the bottom when it comes to hosts’ airtime this season. A shame, as I wanted this episode to make of me a new fan of hers. At least she came off likable.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
Up Next:
- For the first time in 20(!) seasons, Jack Black is back, with music from Elton John(!!) & Brandi Carlile.
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
Another great review as per usual Blood!
Well, the streak of solid episodes was bound to end sooner or later. Though to be fair, this particular episode wasn’t awful like you said, just very uneven and forgettable. Even just going from sketch to sketch, the quality was a little all over the map. It’s bizarre how the cold open was one of the highlights of the episode for example.
So so happy that Ashley finally got her Update showcase and, as expected, she crushed it! I could totally see the Wiig parallels (in a good way) here and she came off totally at ease and confident in her delivery. If Ashley becomes an SNL legend (which I sincerely hope happens), then it will be surreal to look back on this first season and see just how long it took for her to get on Update, whereas a certain other FAR less talented performer got 4 chances (so far) this season.
Lot of recurring sketches tonight, but unlike the Martin Short episode, most of them came off harmless and, even if they paled in comparison to the originals, still had some merits. Unnecessary? Perhaps, but nothing anger inducing (the closest though would have to be the fucking awful Midwife reprisal, which seems like something that is only for Bowen Yang to amuse himself with).
The hit and miss quality of the pretapes continues as that Big Dumb Line piece reminded me of some of the desperate bottom of the barrel Digital Shorts at their worst (think I Wish It Would Rain or The Best Look in the World). This short was clearly desperate to go super viral, but the concept was too random and not interesting, the song was bad and forgettable, and the schtick of everyone singing in posh British accents felt like a reference to something I’m unfamiliar with.
Decent cast usage tonight (though I could have done with less Marcello and Chloe) and almost everyone got to have one or two decent moments, which is certainly something worth commending. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Mikey Madison. There were multiple times tonight where I had to remind myself “oh yeah…she’s hosting tonight”. She was mostly given thankless roles that felt like they could have been played by basically anybody and it didn’t help that a lot of the wigs she wore made her look suspiciously similar to certain female cast members (I thought she resembled Sarah and Melissa Villaseñor at various points). When she was given something to do, which was all too rare, she did fine, but sadly, as someone who is totally unfamiliar with her work, I was left wanting a lot more. I really can’t even gauge whether she was a good host or not as, despite seeming likable, she was MIA most of the night.
Oh well. Fingers crossed Jack’s episode is better!
The forced one off’s into recurring were sad and pointless.
I did enjoy Ashley on Update (Thank God that role didn’t go to Heidi as it felt like a Gardner role) and the Game Show sketch which I agree also was similar to the Abby Elliott game show.
Also thank God no JAJ as Trump sketches. I could live without them for the rest of my life.
I feel like I need to rewatch Jury Duty as I’m a sucker for “Lets have the entire cast in a sketch”
Its funny that for an episode where the producers push Marcello, Bowen and Chloe as the main starts; its Longfellow, Padilla, Devon and Dismukes who managed to make parts of the show savalgable
Maybe cause IMO, They don’t have default tropes yet?
Great review as always, Blood.
I thought this was a fairly solid episode as a whole, and a slight return to form after the very average Lady Gaga episode.
While the first half of this episode was very average (borderline meh for me), this episode improved a LOT in the post-Update half. Almost everything in that half I thought was strong, with the abysmal Midwife sketch being the only sketch I didn’t care for.
The less said about that annoying Midwife sketch, the better.
The only other thing I didn’t care for was the Big Dumb Line pretape. I actually think the concept could’ve been executed well, but it wasn’t. Also the song honestly got on my nerves near the end.
Update this week was honestly the best in a long while. It’s probably my 2nd favorite of the season so far (but nothing will honestly beat the Christmas update for me). I loved both Devon and Ashley’s commentaries, and it felt so nice to see Devon in general a lot in this episode. I loved him roasting Che about barely showing up to work, and the daily routine video was hilarious. Ashley was Joann was great, and it feels nice to see Ashley finally get an Update commentary on the air. Her sniffing the sharpie was one my favorite moment of hers so far in her tenure.
The Italian Dad sketch with Dismukes is another great sketch from him this season, and it also felt like the first sketch all night that utilized Mikey Madison well.
I was originally gonna write off the PDD short as another example of them running out of ideas. But then I watched it. And it was great! I loved the dramatic SpongeBob scene and it made the short for me.
The game show sketch was another great sketch, with Mikey and Longfellow’s execution being really great. It was also nice to see Longfellow get something to do.
I also loved the Planning New York Animated Short, even more than the God Short in the Timothee Chalamet episode. (I’m honestly embarrassed of my original thoughts I gave of the God short) Longfellow and Bowen were great here, and their banter was also really good.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I’m gonna go into next week’s Jack Black episode with caution because this season has been very unpredictable when it comes to utilizing its hosts well.
I also wanna look tour that this is the first episode all season with no cameos. Which was nice.
How soon we forget Joe Jonas.
(seriously, I don’t really get what the point of that cameo was in 2025, beyond SNL again trying to alienate their online fanbase as I’d imagine many were on Sophie Turner’s side)
Thank you for the review. I appreciate your work more than ever in episodes like this as it can feel like there’s nothing to say, unless you want to rehash the Morgan Wallen tantrum. Yet there are clear storylines, and SNL, especially modern SNL, is more interesting in storylines than content.
Some stories, like Ashley’s slow and steady rise, and Heidi and Ego likely closing out their tenures with grace, are a positive. Others, like Emil’s continued decline (Devon and Michael, the two male cast in the ‘danger zone’ with him [in my opinion], each getting boosts while he just gets a dated Luigi retread), are depressing and all too typical of the show. Still others, like what felt like a last-ditch attempt to find a “moment” for Chloe, and the need to push “stars” Bowen and Marcello, are numbing – no matter how often you are reminded that this is just how SNL operates, it doesn’t make sitting through Time Midwife feel any less like spacing out in the doctor’s waiting room.
I saw on SNN that the jury sketch originally had Chloe in a Patricia Arquette wig (from Severance, presumably, unless someone really loves Lost Highway). I wish they’d gone that route, because the path they went instead was absolutely brutal in showcasing all the reasons why she has had so little impact as a cast member. Why did they think having her do an already out of date Parker Posey impression – and not even a good impression – was a sound idea? SNL sketches are not Instagram reels or tiktok videos. Hell, even Jane Wickline, our apparent tiktok queen, is trying more actual sketch comedy, even if it’s just a few awkward lines in a few sketches a night.
The contrarian in me may be the reason why I didn’t really mind Marcello as much as many seemed to this week, even though nothing impressed me either. The biggest sin of the acting teacher sketch was being overlong and not having enough focus or energy, but his frantic kicks did amuse me (Andrew had my favorite moment of his tonight with faking sleep – I’m glad he got some good chances elsewhere but none of them did a lot for me, even the trademark Andrew eccentricities).
I wonder if I’m just too checked out with PDD to give them a fair chance anymore. This piece did nothing for me. I’m glad your review has a different perspective as I might go back and rewatch as a result.
Mikey was painfully underused, to the point where the cold open role felt like a bone. The last sketch showed she could have been fine if given the chances, but that’s always too much work for the show. Why try to craft a slice of life sketch when you can crank out another “relatable” musical number that mostly just feels dated and elitist?
I sound like I’m more negative on this episode than I actually was. As you said, there are probably at least half a season of episodes that genuinely bothered me more, whether through wasting wonderful hosts or drowning the night in tiresome cameos and embarrassingly bad political writing. This had nothing horrible (the Bowen pieces come closest) a decent cold open (high praise – not kidding), a decent Update, and one of my favorite aspects of SNL episodes (when the show suddenly surprises and gets better in the last few segments).
Learning that the game show sketch was originally longer and had more people in dress makes me hope they will see the merits of cutting and allowing pieces that just have a few cast members. That sketch and the cartoon getting the most positive response (from what I’ve seen anyway) should be a sign for the show’s future, if they try to see it.
I was hoping this would be the biggest pleasant surprise of this run of three episodes, but as it is now, I will just hope they try harder with the next two (and by try harder, I don’t mean cameo hell).
Chloe is basically an influencer who does relevant celebrity impressions.
Well the streak had to end at some point, didn’t it?
I think, Blood, you summarized it best when you said “A big night for Chloe and Marcello so far.” That’s what we were dealing with tonight. And to be honest, I don’t think Marcello was particularly bad this episode, but let’s be honest, these two are not the performers that are going to will a mediocre episode to a higher echelon. To say the least.
But it wasn’t a lousy episode so much as one of those classic “SNL hangover” episodes that just kind of exist. Like a Rachel Brosnahan episode or a Topher Grace ep – they’re here, they’re gone and what is there really to say about any of it?
The Cold Open is another of those “functional! linear! short!” cold opens that we sort of damn with faint praise. But it earned its three stars and I would have been inclined to give it more if Bowen would have ever stopped staring directly into the camera to deliver his punchlines.
I also liked Andrew’s mobster sketch. Yes, it’s probably a lower tier of Andrew sketch, but like last season’s CSI sketch, I could see it continuing to tickle me on a rewatch.
Update was another relatively strong outing. I know we were really hurting with the “Hey it’s the 90s” of it all early in the season, but I think Jost and Che still have it in them to bring some punchiness to the proceedings. The two commentaries, and Ashley’s in particular, were good fun from performers we want to have more fun with.
Finally the cartoon – more of those! They’re fun and bring a really enjoyable tone to the show.
As for the rest, yeah, a lot of white noise. And some of it bombed too (bombing only counts if it’s Shane Gillis though). The monologue was a grab bag, which has to be at the lowest tier of SNL monologue-styles. Maybe I’d put it above the charmalogue just a hair because of the presence of actual jokes. If nothing else, the monologue showed me where I know Mikey Madison from.
Marcello’s acting coach thing is ultimately a benign time-filler. It certainly doesn’t thrill, but it’s got a lot business going on that they can piecemeal some laughs (Marcello’s walk, Andrew sleeping). In the realm of recurring pieces Marcello has forced on us, this is the least objectionable.
The Line pre-tape was also a slight, inoffensive 2013-throwback. The central joke had a relatability, but the vocal affectations and Joe Jonas cameo were baffling. The crux of the piece was a little low on seasoning, but the fixes did more harm than good.
By the time we got to Jury Duty, it’s clear the show is just killing the clock. There is never a need for these types of sketches and the positives that can be extracted (Ashley maybe, Marcello surprisingly and frankly the whole Luigi thing worked for me) can not overtake the parts that hit all wrong (like whatever they were going for with Chloe). I remember feeling burned by the opening run of the Ariana Grande episode, but this episode is even more hellbent to continue riding in the ditch.
The Waffle House rehash was another lukewarm leftover, but was deservedly punished by completely tanking with the audience. To be fair, there was something severely off about the background antics; save for the puking, nothing really popped at all. I could blame the foreground actors, who basically never learned how to subvert their central identities (Marcello as screaming jock, Chloe as – as Bronwyn put it – vapid influencer), but really this kind of sketch has just been drained of any element of surprise.
The Midwife sketch was pure Bowen piffle. I admire the madness, but there’s little else to celebrate.
The PDD piece was low-grade stuff, at best (and another rehash). I’ll cop to the generation gap, but I would have liked some jokes to land anyways.
The game show sketch finally seems to remember its host, who had the cold open to compensate for the fact that she’d be severely underserved the rest of the way. There is nothing particularly new or interesting here, but new and interesting are clearly not the goals of this episode. Credit to Michael, who is increasingly doing well in reactive roles.
I also want to talk about the Morgan Wallen stuff. I’m actually quite a big fan of a lot of Red State country music. Eric Church is fantastic and Miranda Lambert is a bona fide American songwriting genius. That said, I’ve never listened Wallen. Not out of any moral grandstanding, I’m just not particularly thrilled by the concept of new country bros, which includes Wallen and even less complicated figures like Zach Bryan. But I was never really rattled by Wallen’s primary controversies. The COVID thing was just a guy being a garden variety dumbass – it was ignorant, but if you weren’t witnessing something akin to that kind of ignorance in your hometown on a daily basis, you live in a magical bubble. The N-word thing was obviously a little bit more of a hot plate item, but , ladies and gentleman, slurs are alive and well in our high schools and among too-comfortable bros. It was stupid and deeply ignorant, but not really anything deeply hateful. Regrettable, yes. Wrong, absolutely. But more shithead behavior than some David Duke type thing.
But this little SNL walk-off thing was the first time Wallen’s behavior has felt calculated and performative. I was willing to let a dumbass be a dumbass, but Wallen making a big spectacle out of himself to stoke the fires of some culture war and score some cheap points with the “fuck your feelings” crowd feels so disingenuous it’s actually pathetic. Wallen as an ignorant redneck never really rattled me. Wallen as a scheming opportunist feels far more insidious.
OK, rant over. Great review Blood. Congrats on the uptick in readers too. Well-deserved.
Oh, I did want to add…why all this consternation about cast members leaving? If we know anything about the show, it’s that the most likely departures are those who are within the first three years of their tenure, not the long-standing castmembers. I would love it if the five most long-tenured castmembers left (Kenan, Jost, Che, Mikey, Heidi) and if my least favorite people left (Chloe, Marcello), but handicapping cast departures feels like a fools errand.
I actually agree with your cast choices (would love Bowen to leave as well, but we shall see). As for why, I guess it is a tradition for us fans to predict who would leave or not (and Comcast is 100 billion in debt + been dumping lots of anchors all over – SNL is easily on the chopping block with cast/writers reduction anyways). I do agree it is a fool’s errand to make calls from now, though I couldn’t help it personally with how some are so obviously being phased-out. In a tad over 6 weeks we shall see what happens, though.
Thanks for the very sweet comments & support. It means a lot to me. I truly want this blog to keep going for a decade in the future.
@Carson If I may add, it is a fools errand to guess the departures this early, and cast members within their first three years leaving was only a thing that started within the past 10 years of the show’s history. Most of the time, before this past decade, it usually was veteran cast members leaving.
Additionally, most veteran cast members these days announce their departures within the week of the season finale. Again, that’s just how it is nowadays. But I can see Che and Heidi leaving at the end of the season, for sure. Kenan just recently said he wouldn’t mind staying on the show forever, so not him. Lol. Lastly, as for Colin and Mikey, perhaps they’d leave the cast in order to work behind the scenes or something (like as writers again, or something).
Lastly, I don’t see Marcello going anywhere. He’s one of their newer stars, and I think they plan on milking him. As for Chloe, I wouldn’t care if she left or came back either way. She’s good at what she does, but still. Also, as Blood said, Comcast/NBC is apparently making budget cuts, so we may see several veterans leave, like he suggests.
*milking him as in they’re just going to possibly use him in Sketches too much, I mean.
Okay, here’s something that annoys the fuck out of me: at the end of the Midwife sketch, the dance that Madison and Bowen do is the same one that Hilary Duff did on Today in 2007. But here’s a thought: how was I supposed to know that? How were you supposed to know that? How was anyone on this site supposed to know that? How were ANY SNL fans, casual or hardcore, supposed to know that?! The point I’m trying to make here is that that is a VERY OBSCURE THING…TO REFERENCE!!!