Cold Opening – Trump Gas Prices
President Trump (JAJ) & Pete Hegseth (COJ) interrupt family drama to talk Iran war
- Utterly bizarre to get a non-political cold open, unless we get a twist.
- Guess the topical take on the gas prices is making this a somewhat political open.
- Alright, so JAJ’s Trump appears after a one-week break. I kinda grew tired of these interruption opens, especially watching the cast frozen behind him. Unearned airtime for certain some in the cast.
- The pandering to Harry Styles’ fans is working, I see. JAJ is great as usual in his deliveries and is doing well with the crowd, unlike the prior (awful) cold open when Harry first hosted rightfully getting a silent reaction.
- Funny hearing such loud booes against Timothée Chalamet.
- The fourth wall breaks in this are funny, though they are overdone.
- The character breaks from Ashley & Marcello makes it obvious JAJ is improvising those lines or they were changed from dress. Either way, I did like his little chihuahua line towards Marcello.
- Speaking of overdone: we get another Colin-as-Hegseth appearance. He is fine in this role, but as regular commenter/fellow SNL reviewer John stated: it is just fanbait. I also am tired seeing the show pushing Colin, in his 13th season, being pushed over the promising new guys hired, alongside poor Andrew who’s floundering of late on the show.
- I am not really caring for Colin’s lines, especially how he is briefly cracking up at himself every few moments.
- Seeing JAJ’s Trump wandering around the set, yet again subtly sidelined, makes me think they are phasing out the impression just a year into the President’s second term. But, maybe that’s just me.
- All-in-all: I found this below par for the usual JAJ Trump opens, especially the overused Pete Hegseth impression. I know I am not both as high or low on these as some fans are, but you gotta shake up the format.
Rating: **1/2
Monologue
host talks break, queerbaiting allegations
- The audience continues to be super hot tonight, in continuation with last week’s crowd. A nice contrast to the typical dead audiences this season has been having.
- A good, sharp look on Harry.
- Good delivery from Harry about his music career, especially his talk about fruit.
- This monologue is the usual “host disapproves points about themselves”, but I’m liking this. An actual monologue, with passable jokes and a likable presence from Harry.
- A funny cutaway to that infamous image of Prince Andrew.
- Some rough jokes in this by now and Harry seems low energy.
- A decent use of the women in the cast standing behind Harry. Interestingly, Ben’s entrance gets the most response from the crowd, instead of vets Chloe and Sarah.
- I didn’t mind the kiss between Harry & Ben, as much as I know some would. It was a callback to an earlier part of the monologue. Still, not the best punchline, but it didn’t piss me off or anything.
Rating: **1/2
Sebastian Maniscalco: New Lawyer
Sebastian Maniscalco (MAH) acts as lawyer in courtroom
- Ugh, why is the audience going crazy at Harry in that suit? This will be a long episode, I see.
- Feels odd seeing Tommy in this type of a role.
- Marcello doing his Sebastian Maniscalco impression again, and in a leadoff spot? It is spot-on, but I’m tired of seeing this guy getting this spot all the time. I assume they’ll have the real one “confront” him here by the end.
- Why is Jeremy just standing there doing and saying nothing?
- Marcello is still fun in this role, and his usual solid physicality is still infectious, which is welcomed especially for a leadoff.
- Also, a recurring sketch that takes, you know, a different and fresh path in its sequel?! 8H is about to explode as I type this.
- Funny parts with Jane and Chloe.
- Like the first sketch, this is going a bit long, despite some laughs from Marcello’s moves. I know some fans loved that first sketch more than me, but they need to trim these a little more.
- Harry is actually doing a great job imitating Sebastian Maniscalco.
- A pretty funny leadoff. Feels like one of the few this season that worked.
Rating: ***1/2 (and hey, I liked this more than the first installment!)
MAHAspital
RFK JR. (JAJ) produced medical drama is anti-science
- I have never seen this show, despite a lot of hype about it.
- An alright RFK Jr.-themed take on The Pitt.
- Harry and the cast are actually really good imitating the show’s fast-paced style.
- Despite good performances, I am not exactly laughing that much. I am all in for making fun of basically everyone and everything, but so much of this is just meh to me.
- I will say, at least, it is nice to see the newbies all over this pretape.
- A hilarious appearance from JAJ as RFK Jr.
- OK, as much as I love JAJ, outside of the funny visual of him as jacked-up, his voice isn’t accurate as RFK Jr. and shockingly so; it needed to be raspier to get there. This is probably the very first time ever in these reviews of mine I critiqued JAJ.
Rating: **1/2
Sparkle of the Sea
German musicians entertain cruise passengers
- This looks like a typical James Anderson-type musical sketch. No need to ask which certain writers are behind this.
- Colin, Marcello and now Chloe in lead roles already? So much for that “new era”.
- Jeremy has been all over the episode so far. Sad I didn’t care for his number & Jane’s, despite the energy.
- JAJ is great in his musical number, especially the occasional “I’m sorry”-s and those closeups to his face.
- Mikey is very funny in his physicality. Continuing a surprisingly solid season for him. He is stealing this entire sketch for me. His serious looks are having me in stitches.
- Yeah, despite fun costumes and performances, a lot of this is washing over me. This ain’t anywhere near as fun to me as La Maison Du Bang! from two seasons ago. Not awful, but just passing right past by me.
- Kenan’s Jean K. Jean?! Man, this character didn’t appear in ages. Like, two eras ago.
- A super catchy musical number from Veronika & Tommy.
- I found this a mixed bag. The Harry/Chloe portions just didn’t get there for me, but they both seemed to have fun, and this did improve as it went along. So, this might surprise some, but here I go:
Rating: ***
Best Buy
employee (KET) defends himself from bisexuality allegations
- Veronika & Tommy have been all over the episode tonight. In fact, this has been a good show for the cast in general so far.
- Kenan’s lispy character feels like something he did a lot in the past. Even when he is delivering his lines with his usual likable, confident style.
- Mikey & Kenan-centric sketch? That “new era” is going strong.
- Ugh. I am not caring for this sketch so far. Kenan is good as usual, but I’m not at all laughing at Kenan’s character and his whole talk about his sexuality. This isn’t exactly offending me, but it could have been much better handled.
- The Harry Styles fangirls keep screaming every time he is shown on camera. I don’t recall them this hot last time.
- This sketch keeps going on and on. Baffling, unfunny. And says so much the two newbies are almost completely not on camera by this point in the sketch, where I thought this would be an ensemble piece.
- The second sketch tonight where Harry impersonates a cast member’s character/impression.
- Overall: ugh. Didn’t care for this. The screaming audience made matters worse.
Rating: *1/2
Musical Performance – “Dance No More“
Weekend Update
Tucker Carlson (JEC) talks Oscars nominees
Aerial Tramway (MID) & Red Heart (MAH) on new emojis
- While an alright joke, I didn’t care for that Obama punchline.
- A solid “alive in some form” joke from Colin following that first one.
- A good laugh from the “MIGA” joke from Michael. A decent ad-lib afterwards from Colin.
- We are still doing “seen here” jokes? Those were gold with Mitch McConnell, but I didn’t care for it here.
- A big laugh from the Epstein/Trump Titanic punchline.
- Jeremy continues to have a solid showing tonight. About damn time seeing this fantastic performer getting the airtime he deserves after a few weeks of underuse.
- A fantastic Tucker Carlson from Jeremy, unsurprisingly. This guy is such a talent that it baffled me he didn’t have a so-far bigger rookie season.
- I am getting so many laughs from Jeremy’s Tucker and he has a lot of great lines in this, especially love his catchphrase.
- The whole Hamnet part and “excuse me!”-s from Jeremy are priceless.
- Even the occasional crazy laughs and going serious by Jeremy are having me on the floor.
- Excellent description of Tucker’s laugh from Jeremy. Loved that part.
- Yet another killer desk piece from Jeremy. See, SNL? Use this guy much more often!
- the audience is so hot tonight that one of them went wild over Taco Bell’s mere mention.
- An alright AI joke from Colin. His latter Emoji joke made me laugh harder than I expected.
- Not sure I cared for the Scarlett joke. Michael’s delivery didn’t help.
- The “new era” continues with more lead roles from Marcello and Mikey tonight.
- Feels odd seeing Mikey playing this type of a role. Nonetheless in his freakin’ 10th season on the show.
- I am actually enjoying the interplay between Mikey and Marcello, though the latter is having a hard time keeping a straight face half the time.
- I never used emojis in my life, but his piece isn’t bad so far, considering a certain cast member’s in it; it is Mikey who is absolutely dominating it. His energy and commitment, with all the specific emojis he mentions, are killing me. The second segment tonight Mikey is killing with me in, after he stole the cruise sketch earlier.
- Between this and the fun Sebastian sketch earlier in the night, Marcello is having by far the best episode of this up-and-down season of his. His chemistry with Mikey is making me smile.
- This is going a bit too long for me, despite some laughs (almost all from Mikey).
- A decent punchline at the end.
- This feels like the first segment all night I felt was above just average (besides the fun Marcello sketch). Showing you what a flat night this has been so far.
Rating: ****
White Castle Drive-Thru
high school friends (VES) & (JAW) approach crush (host) awkwardly
- For our host, Harry has been really invisible as a host tonight. I don’t recall him dominating his first episode, but it is a surprisingly light use of him.
- Veronika & Jane are pretty funny during their brief part. What a fun & surprising duo both of them have been this season.
- Interesting seeing two sets in a live sketch in more recent seasons.
- Ah, so this is a slice-of-life sketch. Beyond rare to see in more recent decades.
- I love the realistic-and-funny way Veronika and Jane try to approach their crush Harry. Their fawning over him while being nervous is extremely fun and charming. Such a subtle, accurate detail.
- This sketch is wonderful and incredibly refreshing to watch, especially in recent decades of the show. The offbeat, realistic sketches this season has been attempting with this, Mom’s Confession, New Haircut, Free Samples, are all fantastic and very well-done. Another example of what a big step up this season has been from the last.
- Loved Jane’s “ride you to death” line.
- One other detail I absolutely love in this sketch are Jane & especially Veronika’s facial expressions. They’re so spot-on of typical nervous teens and are making me laugh even more.
- Very sweet turn with Harry accepting the girls’ prom invite.
- An overall gem of a sketch. Featuring the usual great chemistry from Veronika (continuing a strong season) and Jane, as well as charming, likable slice-of-life atmosphere.
Rating: *****
Musical Performance – “Coming Up Roses“
She’s a Dancer
Irish girls attract guys with traditional dance
- Poor Andrew Dismukes. Just now making his first appearance of the night. If this is his final season, then it is a sad, SAD way for such a solid, consistently strong cast member to go out on.
- On a brighter note, great seeing JAJ more and more be one of the guys. Not just playing Trump and dads. He’s had a good showing tonight. Continuing the very strong year he’s having in general.
- Harry’s vocals at the start are so damn catchy I hoped it that part would go on longer.
- A big laugh from the sultry start having a fun Irish-themed traditional dance. I love how this is going a different path than the usual musical short route.
- Considering her tough season, Chloe is actually really fun in this and it is a good use of her status as the senior woman in the cast.
- I love how JAJ is so into this. A fun contrast to the other guys being taken aback.
- Jane’s Irish accent is hilarious.
- The Irish dinner part with Marcelo and Veronika was hilarious. He had a strong night in general.
- The JAJ/Jane part was so weird it made me laugh.
- Very funny, catchy ending with the guys doing the Irish dance on their own.
- A short-and-sweet piece. I loved how this one took a fun, different route than the usual musical shorts in past seasons.
Rating: ****
Harry for Him
host advertises personal fashion line
- Feels rare seeing the host playing himself in a live commercial.
- Ben is pretty funny in his own testimonial.
- Ugh at the “tushy” part with Ben/Harry. More pandering.
- Seeing the cast wearing those Harry Styles clothes makes me laugh more than the writing itself. JAJ in particular is very solid in his testimonial.
- Andrew is his usual lovable self in his part in this.
- The audience is going crazy over Mikey in that Dorothy dress. He had a very strong showing tonight in general.
- Much like Mikey, Marcello has been all over the episode tonight.
- Not many laughs to be had here. Not a bad sketch, but more geared towards Harry’s stans than me.
- This sketch is going on a bit too long, despite the cast being their usual likable selves.
Rating: **1/2
Goodnights
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
White Castle Drive-Thru
She’s a Dancer
Weekend Update
Sebastian Maniscalco: New Lawyer
Sparkle of the Sea
Trump Gas Prices
Monologue
MAHAspital
Harry for Him
Best Buy
Final Thoughts:
- A bit of a flat first half, but the show stabilized to an overall passable effort by a strong Update and back half, including a five stars sketch. Despite my complaining about this so-called “new era” with certain performers getting too much airtime, this show did give us some showcases for our newbies and utilized most of the cast, even if they were often in small roles. Mikey, for the second week in a row, and Marcello had a particularly strong showing and took over the night.
- Harry Styles himself barely felt like the host tonight. Yet, he was still likable, charming, fun, much like his first hosting stint. I’d chalk his underuse to him seemingly being sick this week. With that being said, he did a good job in all his roles, especially the second pretape and the 10-to-1. I also loved his second musical performance in particular.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
White Castle was my favorite sketch of the night. Good, realistic portrayal of teens by Veronika and Jane. They are a real good team.
Lots of pandering tonight and I didn’t like the last sketch at all.
Lots of Kenan and Mikey for second week in a row.
Jeremy killed it on Update
Hopefully they cool down the Hegseth stuff with Colin
Jack Black a five timer now, right?
I felt this was a bit of a so-so episode overall, certainly not helped by having one of the most annoying, obnoxious, and braindead audiences in recent memory. The fact that they were screaming just when Harry popped up on camera grated on my nerves. I’m convinced Harry could have stood up there on stage scratching his ass for 90 minutes and this crowd would have been screaming, applauding, and fainting ala Oprah’s Favorite Things from S29.
That issue aside, I didn’t care too much for the pandering and ego-stroking that this episode repeatedly relied on. Between all the “host is hot” sketches, the queerbaiting, and going on and on about how wonderful Harry is, it rubbed me the wrong way. I know a host is pampered by SNL anyway, but this felt rather excessive. I’m sure Harry is a nice guy irl, but a good deal of this stuff left me cold.
That said, continuing a trend with this season, the highs were incredibly high. The Jane Renaissance continues thanks to her pairing with Veronika. Not since Bill Hader and John Mulaney has someone benefitted so much by partnering up with someone else. Veronika just seems to get Jane’s humor and knows how to properly channel it. The Drive Thru sketch (despite, on paper, being another “host is hot” sketch) was a nice slice-of-life vibe as you said and was very sweet and relatable. I’m glad this current season seems to doing more of these sweet and non-cynical type sketches as it’s been a very refreshing change of pace.
Thank God Jeremy finally got another bone thrown his way! His Tucker impression was honestly flawless. Reminded me a lot of Dana Carvey in how he NAILED his voice so well while also providing some funny catchphrases without feeling forced. I sincerely hope this may have secured a 2nd season for him because he 100% deserves it!
The Emojis Update piece made me roll my eyes at first as I typically despise these mascot desk pieces. And it didn’t help that Marcello, the king of being a star in his own mind, was there as well. That said, the silliness and the commitment from Mikey gradually won me over. The breaking didn’t even bother me either, as you could tell Mikey was REALLY amping it up compared to rehearsals. It actually reminded me a lot of a Will Ferrell type role. Tell me you couldn’t picture Ferrell hamming it up and getting laughs like this. As much as I complain about Mikey sticking around for so long, I can’t deny that he’s still (mostly) keeping things fresh and fun in his 10th season.
Super excited for Jack Black’s return. And not just because he won’t have such loud and annoying fangirls this time.
It is interesting to see Jane so quickly go from the bane of an episode for most, to the absolute highlight of an episode for most.
Beyond that, I felt this was an average-to-good episode, with nothing falling particularly flat (besides that Kenan-led sketch). It is telling the best stuff we got was from the newer cast (White Castle Drive-Thru& Tucker Carlson) and we even have some older cast members showing they’re on the show still for a reason (Mikey, really.) Marcello killed it tonight, and it really makes me wish we got more from him than “Marcello does a silly voice,” even as an enjoyer of most of what he does. I mean, as a Latino, it’s just fun seeing myself on one of my favorite shows, but it’s hardly the pinnacle of comedy.
And, on that “new era” bit, I think the show is doing a fine job carving out a new feel for itself. Sometimes though, I suppose you’ve gotta give something to your elder cast members.
I thought this episode was an all-around okay effort. I enjoyed a good number of sketches, like the Veronika/Jane sketch and maybe the Irish dancing one, and there weren’t too many bad sketches, aside from Best Buy and possibly the cruise sketch. But at the same time, it still had a flat, forgettable feel, unlike Harry’s first episode. But on the note of that White Castle sketch, it seems that Jane might survive this season after all!
As for the next lineup, I have to ask: are they trolling us? Because it seems like they are.
I thought this episode was a pretty fun one. Although not as memorable as the Ryan Gosling one, it was still entertaining and fun, and every sketch (minus the Pooty one) was pretty good! My favorite moments probably has to be the White Castle sketch and Mikey and Marcello’s emoji bit on Update. I really enjoyed the rare slice of life feel of the former, and the wild as hell performance of Mikey in the latter one. Overall, I think I give this episode a solid 8 out of 10.
Also, as your for comment about Andrew, I’m really freaking worried too. The man has been practically INVISIBLE this season. And compared to last season, we barely got any wacky showcases from him! Man, I really hope this isn’t his last season, because I don’t want him to go out like Will Forte in his final season: quietly without a trace. 😢
Well, see you guys in April for Jack Black ABSOLUTELY WELL DESERVED FIVE TIMERS EPISODE!!!! 😁😁😁😁
Great reviews as always Blood.
I thought this was good for the most part.
White Castle was a great sketch, and continues Jane’s mostly solid sophomore season, and Veronika’s great first season.
I really enjoyed the first 2/3rds of the monologue. It featured some great deadpan from Harry, and the writing was a step up than it usually has been for the monologues this season. But the Ben and Harry kiss just felt like pure pandering, and felt entirely unnecessary. Especially for an audience that was INSANELY obnoxious all night.
I really enjoyed the Sparkle of the Sea sketch. It’s the type of ensemble “Everyone gets their chance” sketch that I really enjoy, and everyone was a blast here, Mikey especially.
Weekend Update was also solid, for the 2nd week in a row. Jeremy was great as Tucker Carlson, and it gives me hope that we’ll be seeing him next season. The Marcello and Mikey commentary was SO stupid but I’d be lying if I said Mikey wasn’t cracking me up for the whole thing. His listing of his emojis were freakin’ HILARIOUS.
Almost everything else in this episode was fine, except for an unnecessary return of Marcello’s Sebastian Maniscalco impression.
Also the ABYSMAL Kenan sketch, which probably takes the spot from the Wizard of Oz sketch from the Josh O’Connor episode as my least favorite sketch of the season. This sketch just feels like it would’ve fit in perfectly with the many hacky sketches in the Tina Fey era (02-06) where the main joke would just be “Haha, Gay!”. Also, something about Kenan’s portrayal of this character just rubbed me the wrong way, and I don’t know how to describe it.
But other than that disaster, this wasn’t bad. Harry is probably tied with Josh O’Connor as the least utilized host of the season. He didn’t carry ANY material, and even in the sketches where he wasn’t playing a straight man role, he didn’t get much. Which is a shame since he was still good in all of his roles, and probably could’ve done a lot more.
By the way, I’m not sure if this is 100% true, but the supposed answer to Harry’s supposed sickness is that he had been walking from Brooklyn to 30 Rock for rehearsals, so maybe it isn’t sickness and more exhaustion? Idk.
HOLY SHIT JACK BLACK AND JACK WHITE. There’s a good chance SNL will let Jack down considering the lack of a strong episode yet this season (in my opinion, at least), but the host and musical guest combo has me too excited. See ya’ll April 4th.
HOW DID I FORGET TO MENTION JACK IS DESERVEDLY BEING INDUCTED INTO THE 5-TIMERS CLUB WTF.
Wait… does that mean it’ll break Jack’s tradition of singing a kick-ass song for the monologue…
Only time will tell.
Thanks as always, Blood Meridian. I think this was one of your best reviews – you never fail to turn gruel into gold when it comes to SNL.
Per Saturday Night Network, the cut material:
Update: Sarah as Chad Maxxington, a looksmaxxer. A minor appearance from Veronika.
Another Brad and His Dad.
Marcello introduces Kam to an RPG and the tutorial characters are warriors played by JAJ, Andrew, Harry. An elf played by Ashley. They urge the player to press triangle to take a shirt off or square to hear about Andrew’s divorce. When Kam clicks a button the game abruptly ends.
Ariel’s little brothers. Little Mermaid sketch. At a tavern after the film, Prince Eric (Tommy) celebrates his bachelor party with friends like Andrew. We see her clueless brothers (Harry and Mikey) who awkwardly navigate human customs and overshare about their sister and react to Eric’s lobster dinner. Kenan is in briefly as Sebastian the crab.
This was a very fun episode of the show. And I feel even oddly enough that’s thanks to the very rowdy crowd as I always enjoy a very hype audience and it brings the atmosphere up tremendously to me makes me love an episode even more.
I for the most part agree with you as the first three segments didn’t do much for me at all (I did think Maniscalco was better this time as well) but to me the episode really started to get better and stay that way for the rest of the night with the Sparkle of the Sea sketch.
My favorite piece of the night as well as the Jane and Veronika sketch as they were very relatable and I felt it was a great use of both of them and I hope we can see more great sketches with the two of them in the future for many me.
Not much else to say but very fun episode I thought. Excited to see the Jack’s for April and SNL UK! Great work as always and see ya next time!!
I’ve definitely been getting obvious “in his final season” vibes from Andrew. Someone on reddit mentioned he recently got married and has moved to LA for good (just coming to NY the weeks SNL is back) so that might be a sign he has one foot out the door.
Feeling worried for Kam and Tommy the most of the new guys. Kam’s barely getting on at least, Tommy a bit more but even then he rarely gets cast as funny roles, just small straightman roles.
Every time we have one of these double duty hosts, my heart kind of sinks a bit. I just always hold a feeling that the episode will not be geared for me (and despite me liking this season, the host selections have felt very “not for me”). So often, these hosts bring a crowd of braying sub-literates and calls of “he/she could have been a castmember.” Well, this week’s episode brought the knuckle-dragging audience, but I don’t think anyone will be calling for Styles’ induction into the cast. Thank God.
Blood has it bang on that the episode didn’t start pivoting to the positive until Update. Until then, there were moments I liked in isolation, but the episode felt less bad than it was disposable. The air of familiarity kind of kept the show in first gear for the first half, even if it didn’t outright suck. A Trump open we’ve seen before (I like the cast roasting still, but we’ve hit a wall with Jost-as Hegseth). We hitting the inevitable but not entirely unwelcome return of Marcello’s Maniscalco. It was fine and I am heartened to see that some liked it MORE than the first installment, proving that putting a new spin on a recurring bit never hurts. I think I’m more connected to the surprise of the first (one of my favorites of the season), but I’m not bothered by the differing opinion. Sparkle of the Sea was one of those classic time fillers of years gone by. It was possibly the softest gruel of the episode, but I was warmed by Kenan bringing Jean K Jean out of mothballs. I still have a fondness for that character, maybe the first quality thing Kenan ever did on the show. Speaking of Kenan, that Best Buy deal was another classic Kenan timewaster of the past. I don’t miss it and I don’t want it again.
The one interesting item of the front half was MAHAspital, which had a great premise and probably worked a bit better for those of us who actually watch The Pitt. It was weird seeing JAJ’s RFK miss so badly. In fact, Ashley had the best impression of the sketch (iykyk).
By Update I had a feeling that the show was just going to not be for me at all (though never terrible, save for the audience), but felt a little bit of hope return when Jeremy showed up with his Tucker Carlson. The show has had some Tucker impressions in the past, but I’ve always been confused about why the show hasn’t leaned into centering the impression. He’s a good punching bag and a funny impression. Jeremy killed in this spot, which comes as no surprise.
What DID come as a surprise was the fact that I didn’t hate Mikey and a giggly Marcello in full costume playing emojis. All signs pointed to BOMB but this one really powered through largely on the back of a resurgent Mikey. Credit where it’s due, this piece was more fun than it had any right to be.
Then the White Castle sketch came and did what so many of this season’s episodes have managed to do – it gave the episode a central piece that the show could kind of rally around. I’ll be honest, the opening few seconds with Kenan and a wooden Styles kind of had me wary, but Veronika and Jane did absolutely incredible work turning this into a worth five star sketch. I know Veronika has received a lot of praise mostly for her amassing a respectable amount of airtime on a short bench of female performers. But I’ve been waiting for her to deliver a piece that truly harnesses her weirdo energy. The girlfriend sketch from the Finn Wolfhard episode mostly did it, but in a “normies react to the weirdo” way. I would suggest that the Snack Homiez captures that energy, but in a more subtly rendered way. Anyway, what a delight it was to finally see her go ham and what a delight it was for her to further enshrine her little comedy team with Jane, who is running away with the “Most Improved Performer” award. I know it still might be controversial to say, but Jane is really really good when used in the right context. Lately, it’s all been the right context for her. This piece was a delight.
While I’m not a big music video guy, the Irish dancer pre-tape was a clear winner, with JAJ, Chloe, Jane and Andrew all coming away with big laughs. I actually have to admit that the music videos this season have seen a noticeable improvement. This one was a lot of fun.
The one piece where I’ll go against consensus was the Harry for Him piece. I mean, other than the screaming idiots in the crowd (remember when they didn’t clock the Obama joke in Update?), this was a fun trifle the way a 10-to-one should be. Maybe it’s just that I liked the premise, which essentially says “You can’t actually be this thing,” but I thought this was a nice piece of slight silliness that let each of the guys have a moment.
Anyway, I wouldn’t call this a good episode by any stretch, but it never felt like a truly lost episode. It just took a while to find itself. When it wasn’t quite clicking, it felt like a show from another era, but the episode’s best – White Castle – was really representative of this season’s top material.
As reading your review after watching that week’s SNL (which I usually do on the Sunday morning) is a new weekly must-do for me—I think this is my 4th time—I didn’t know at what point in the day (Sunday) you get to post your most recent column. I know it is a lot of work, but I kept checking because I was pretty happy with this week’s iteration and looked forward to comparing notes.
The Tucker Carlson imitation was indeed BRILLIANT! The only bad side to it is that when Tucker sees it, he will be more obnoxious and self-absorbed than ever. It is quite the honor to get ‘done’ by SNL, especially so well as Jeremy delivered here. This was drop-dead perfection.
I also loved the emojis, as an above-average user of these little digital buddies, I can assure you the dissing between the heart and the cable-car were legit lol! Their respective emoji ‘crews’ had me in stitches, but i guess that is inside-emoji intel.
Finally, at least IMO, I think we have come to the end of Che and Keenan’s Best Before Dates. Every week we start fresh with giving each of them an opportunity to be new, funny, surprising (in a good way) and every week we walk away frustrated. Stop phoning it in, guys! And Michael, enough with the Scarlett disses. Not funny.
Oh and hey, Paul Simon introducing Harry’s 2nd song? I know he is Lorne’s BFF and all, but that is high praise. (Ryan G’s intro of the first was also cute, but less surprising given last week’s shtick.)
I’m guessing James didn’t go for it more with the RFK voice because it’d probably be seen insensitive to people who have that vocal condition.
Anybody else find that Harry gave Bill Hader vibes during the cruise ship sketch? His face really looked like Bill’s there.