Cold Opening – Bar Meeting
Pete Hegseth (COJ), Brett Kavanaugh (host), Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) meet at a bar
- Cue the umpteenth appearance from Jost’s Hegseth. Part of me is slowly dying every time I have to review this impression.
- I should be happy to see not only Matt in the cold open but reprising his classic Kavanaugh impression. But, between him, Jost and Kenan, we are getting already a “nostalgia” to the late ‘10s era.
- Not laughing much or finding any standout lines or moments. Speaking of the late ‘10s era, this cold open so far signifies the rapid decline in SNL’s quality of late. A “new era” that’s still stuck a decade in the past. Jost, Kenan, Mikey. Why bother even hiring new cast members?
- Not even the buddies gag with Matt’s Kavanaugh is making me laugh and it had me howling in the past.
- Aziz Ansari back as Kash Patel. I guess he isn’t doing anything else, career-wise.
- This reminds me a lot of the S37 bar cold open with the GOP candidates. I wasn’t hot on the latter late ‘00s era seasons, but this is another example how plain stiff and dull the show is nowadays compared to prior eras.
- Not bad, but a whole bunch of nothing. Should’ve thrown JAJ in this to save it. First sign of how screwed JAJ will be tonight. Sigh.
Rating: **
Monologue
host tries to plug his July movie while recording Mother’s Day message
- Matt is coming off as solid as usual with the live audience.
- His talk about that Odyssey movie is interesting, considering how awful it looks from what I’ve seen from it.
- A decent use of writer Jack Bensinger.
- Matt seems a bit lethargic during his message to the camera. Despite his charm, I’m not finding anything to laugh at here. Another sign of the show’s deadness and stiffness, I take it.
- I guess Marcello’s mom was visiting that week, unless we needed yet another remainder who our “stars” are. Not the last sign tonight.
- That’s it?! This is the monologue?! Compared to the wonderful prior monologue Matt was given, this is such a waste of time.
Rating: *1/2
Godzilla Movie
admiral (host) constantly spits on officer (MID)
- Come to think of it, Matt is perfect as a tough, no-nonsense admiral in a monster movie.
- Meh, a spittake sketch. A type of comedy that almost never works for me.
- A very dead sketch so far. My God, this season is the equivalent of a fucking requiem. This is a sketch comedy show I am watching?! Makes it worse is seeing the very lively, fun SNL UK just hours beforehand.
- A waste of Veronika. And, did we need to see Sarah briefly smirking? She is better than the Chloe fake breaks.
- The sketch is “enhanced” with Matt getting various beverages to spit on Mikey, who is looking even more ancient than ever.
- And now Mikey is cracking up….. Just kill me. Man, has this season in general been pure torture to watch of late.
- “Star” Ben Marshall sitting in the background looking concerned. So much for that homebase promo….
- Meh at the turn with the rest spitting on Mikey. This feels so inside, as a “cute” way to mess up with him live on air, considering his kindness backstage. But, save this shit for behind the scenes.
- This season’s losing streak with leadoff sketches continues.
Rating: *1/2
Mom The Movie
mom (ASP) is mundane in homecoming film
- Ashley Padilla is always perfect as the typical cheesy mom.
- Ashley is so funny that the brief clips of her cheerily dancing with her kids made me laugh out loud. See, this is how you use this brilliant talent.
- A good use of Matt Damon as…. Matt Damon. His first scene with Ashley was great.
- Says a lot what a vital backbone Ashley Padilla has (rightfully) become for the show that the quick fashion show moment felt like a typical Ashley moment. Instead of the tired, cringey “moments” with Mikey, Marcello, Kenan and Jost.
- Even the audience review portion is fun, and for once, Chloe was tolerable tonight.
- This is such a fun, warm, silly short so far. Ashley is freakin’ fantastic in this role. She was born to play corny, lovable moms. I also really admire this piece’s focused tone with the lack of any conflict and instead focusing on her character and how she interacts with her family. A perfect piece to show on Mother’s Day.
- The ending with Ashley & Matt was very funny.
- A great showcase for Ashley Padilla. I especially liked how this didn’t go the dull “sinister” route.
Rating: ****1/2
Tough Guys
tough guys (host), (KET), (MAH) aren’t so tough
- A huge groan from the visual of Marcello’s stomach protruding from his shirt.
- A not-so-subtle “fuck you” moment, once again, towards Jeremy. Now, “star” Marcello kicking him out of the sketch. I can see some fans going “relax! It’s a sketch!” But thing is, I’ve been watching this show for so long that these types of “moments” aren’t so subtle.
- “Tough” guys who aren’t really tough? Revolutionary comedy right there. Get that pay raise ready, Lorne.
- Yet another dead sketch. Good lord.
- Sitting through this dreck after such a fun, lively Ashley Padilla showcase is even more of a bummer. How the fuck do you put such a mess after that piece? Another remainder of who the “star” is tonight, I take it.
- Kenan standing around there, looking like he is about to burst out laughing. Insane that this guy apparently earns 3 mil a year for sitting backstage most episodes and then giving these types of performances whenever “showcased”.
- Yeah, this is a bonafide dud.
Rating: *
Tidy Care Crystals
new type of litter confuses couple (host) & (ASP)
- Another fun instance of JAJ’s voiceover. A shame this is the first time we’ve seen (or rather heard) him tonight. While I think JAJ had an overall great season, it remains a shame how much of it rests on his own hard work and not the show actually trying to use him. It is obvious they only care about a select few men and the rest can fuck off.
- Love the turn with the blue litter, especially how JAJ is still there as the announcer.
- Solid confused reactions from Matt and Ashley as expected. This is the second strong pretaped Ashley performance tonight alone.
- JAJ is freakin’ fantastic as the announcer here! I love his taunting of both Matt & Ashley. This also reminds me of the usual great voiceover from Cecily Strong and Beck Bennett. I am also getting great flashbacks to Phil Hartman’s typical sarcastic announcing.
- Loving JAJ’s “dumbass” comments towards Andrew and Ashley.
- Very solid ending with the dog reveal. JAJ’s voice work was a standout here in particular. Another major highlight for him this season.
- This surprisingly ends up being Ashley’s final appearance of the night. Only two appearances all night and both not even live. At least both were strong showings for her talent. Between her and JAJ being non-existent, an odd way to utilize your two best cast members this week.
Rating: ****1/2
Musical Performance – “The Great Divide”
Weekend Update
Tucker Carlson (JEC) on the Met Gala
Kamikaze Dolphins (MID) & (MAH) on the Iran War
JAW on being late
- WTF with that “Rubio!” ad-lib? Was that meant to be funny. Baffling and feels too inside.
- Man at these jokes so far. I am not sure if it is the much-better Ania & Paddy-anchored Update and their jokes, but much of this is so formulaic and dull. The “laughing at their own jokes” both Colin and Michael are doing, complete with “witty” ad-libs, makes it worse. A clear sign even they know these jokes suck ass.
- Meh at the “comeback” by Colin in response to that unfunny “Rubio!” ad-lib. Save this crap for your dressing rooms.
- Another “shocking” joke about Epstein. Meh.
- Ugh at the President of Brazil joke.
- You would expect me to jump up and giggle seeing Jeremy back as Tucker Carlson. His first meaty role (and no, I am not counting that disgusting humiliation sketch as one) in months, but the fact that he was cut several episodes in a row as Tucker Carlson upsets me. They already boxed him as the Tucker guy on the show. Besides the “stars” and ancient Mikey Day, it is beyond clear the show doesn’t give a shit about the rest of their male cast. Imagine having some all-timer talents and not use them? For more Mikey or a “new path” for Jost in cold opens? Checked-out Kenan? Why even bother hiring new cast members? For homophobic insults in cold opens and being called ugly in a 5 minutes sketch?
- Am I suppose to laugh at Tucker trashing the Met Gala as him being wrong? Everywhere I went, it was (rightfully) torn apart. A display of debauchery and greed while genocides and famines rage everywhere. But enough of my politics in this review…
- Even the writing for this desk piece is a step down from the first one. I also cannot stand how overly involved Jost is in this, yet again. His “what?” as Jeremy’s Tucker does a random sponsorship made me cringe.
- Yet another string of groaners and cringey jokes. Guess you know now why I’ve been avoiding reviewing them?
- Yay! Just what we needed, another Marcello “showcase”, complete with Mikey Day getting another meaty role while most of the newbies and other men in the cast sit backstage.
- More Mikey screaming and OTT reactions. I am watching a man going through midlife crisis live on air. For months now.
- Not even the audience is into this shit as you would expect. And of course we get Marcello giggling next to Mikey all the time. Trying to recreate that first desk piece, I see.
- Marcello laughing again at his own delivery…..
- Mikey Day screaming at Marcello’s face and seemingly ad-libbing to pad the airtime of this thin, cringey desk piece. Delightful.
- Says a lot, while I am not a fan of these Jane songs, her warmth and sincerity is a welcome sight in this endless Update edition.
- This is more endearing than funny, but Jane is likable. Yet, we also do need this warmth, this sincerity on Update and the show more than ever. It’s been so cold, dead and selfish for months now.
- I did get a laugh from the backup dancers being late to their cue.
Rating: *1/2
Substitute Teacher’s Goodbye
teacher’s (host) goodbye dance is treated with silence
- I am not sure where this is sketch is going, as Matt is now dancing to a dead silence from his students.
- I admit cracking up briefly at Sarah’s face when they cut to her.
- Chloe Fineman cracking up, for no reason, for what feels like the billionth sketch this season. Fucking kill me. And to think Lorne cannot let her and all those tired vets go.
- Matt is very solid as always as he keeps on dancing. He is great in this, as much as this sketch just is going over my head.
- And now Ben is clearly amused. At least he is professional enough to strategically place his hand in front of his mouth to hide his amusement.
- A funny reveal of Matt being Andrew’s dad. The awkward silence is adding to the humor, as much as the rest of the sketch is not for me.
- Of course Chloe keeps breaking without a single other cast member joining her. 7 seasons veteran, everyone.
Rating: *** (for what this was trying)
Musical Performance – “Doors”
Auctioneers
auctioneer couple (host) & (SAS) argue via auctioning
- This feels like the first lead live sketch role Sarah had in what feels like months.
- This is already a lot of fun, especially how both Matt & Sarah are arguing in typical auctioneer’s way of speaking.
- Sarah is great in this. I wouldn’t have expected her to nail these lines so effortlessly without any line flubs or breaks. One of her best roles in ages.
- I love the back-and-forth between Matt & Sarah about whose butter is better. This is a blast so far.
- Hilarious, how despite this dramatic marriage scene, this is more and more absurd, with the kids showing up and speaking the same way.
- Excellent appearance from JAJ (in sadly his only live appearance of the night). He is nailing this type of speak effortlessly. Boggles my mind when this monumental talent gets underused at times.
- An overall excellent sketch with a sweet ending. A “Best Of” easily. Sarah especially was fantastic in this.
Rating: ****1/2
Goodnights
Segments Ranked From Best to Worst
Auctioneers
Tidy Care Crystals
Mom The Movie
Substitute Teacher’s Goodbye
Bar Meeting
Monologue
Godzilla Movie
Weekend Update
Tough Guys
Final Thoughts:
- Definitely a better episode than the last few, helped by most of what worked being strong and memorable. But, still, there was unfortunately more bad than good tonight. Add in the usual deadness, poor cast use and major writing problems, and you got a tough watch. I wasn’t also crazy about how Matt Damon was utilized tonight, as I felt it was a step down from his fantastic hosting performance last time, but he still definitely shined in a few roles and was very strong when utilized.
- As you can tell, I’m really struggling with this season. It is either I woke up and realized its badness or it is simply dying a miserable death towards the final quarter. I do not think I ever gave this long a string of negative reviews in a row my whole SNL reviewing tenure. Man, I hate to say this as a huge SNL fan, but thank goodness next week is the finale. Not sure how many more bad episodes I can take.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
While I respect and understand your criticisms towards this episode, to be honest, I don’t think this episode was that bad. It was actually pretty solid in my eyes! The biggest highlights for me were the Godzilla sketch, Ashley’s Mom Movie and Cat Litter pretapes (which are deservedly ranked as the top two ones of the night for me), the Tough Guy sketch, and finally, the Auctioneers sketch. I especially like the Godzilla sketch because it reminds me of Julia Louis Dreyfus‘s great spit-take sketch from her final episode as a cast member.
In short, I thought this episode was pretty good, but I still nevertheless enjoyed hearing your honest thoughts about the episodes, and I’m looking forward to see what you have to say for the finale! ❤️
I’d say the only segments where I disagree with you are the monologue and two of the commentaries on Update. Like, I actually enjoyed Jeremy’s commentary but I zoned out during Jane’s song.
I thought this episode was easily a massive step up from Olivia’s and definitely one of the best episodes of this season. Aside from the cold open, much of Update (outside of Jeremy’s Tucker) and the teacher sketch, I thought this was a consistently fun episode.
Tidy Care Crystals and Auctioneers are two of my favorite sketches this whole season. I absolutely LOVED the escalation in the former along with how JAJ was used as the narrator. And the latter felt like something straight out of the late 80s with a simple premise with flawless execution. I agree that this might be Sarah’s best sketch of the whole season. Glad to see her finally hit a home run after a string of duds and dull straight man roles.
I really must disagree on the Godzilla Movie. I definitely groaned at the first spit take, but it gradually won me over thanks to the different methods of spitting on Mikey and the general fun spirit. As it went on, I came to embrace the silliness. It reminded me quite a lot of Dark Orbit from Finn’s episode. This is a DUMB sketch and it’s aware of how dumb it is. You either vibe with it and have some fun or you don’t.
Tough Guys, while by no means a masterpiece, is what I would call a pleasant type of filler sketch. It will be no one’s favorite out of tonight’s sketches, but it’s harmless and came and went without affecting the good mood much of the rest of this episode put me in. Tough guys not being so tough is a very simple premise yes. Much like Girl Watchers turning out to have no game with women is a simple premise. The jokes are more in the stories each of them told and I personally felt the escalation in the jokes here were okay, even if Marcello’s story went on a little long. Again, much like with Godzilla Movie, Marcello’s thick accent initially made me grown, but I came around to where I didn’t mind it nor the sketch.
The Substitute Teacher sketch is one where I at least applaud the show for trying something different and outside of the box. But as someone who has never really vibed with cringe comedy, this didn’t work for me. It wasn’t so much awkwardly funny as just…awkward, even if that was the intent. You perfectly summed up the frustrations I’ve had with Chloe’s breaking of late. She has reached Fallon and Sanz levels of just not giving a shit. Pray that next week will be her last episode.
Maybe I’m being overly naive, but I’m not really reading into the show’s harsh treatment of Jeremy as much as you are. I don’t think they read him as the Tucker guy. I think they brought back the impression because it killed (note the huge response when he came out). And it’s a damn good impression, even if one could argue it’s coming several years late. It’s no different than bringing back Heidi’s Angel character or Cecily’s Girl at a Party character. And while yes, they were used more in their rookie seasons, having a recurring character/bit that kills with the audience is something that is a good foothold to establish when starting out on the show. Something, by the way, that people like Troast and Emil never had.
All in all, I think this episode was a winner, and I sincerely hope this upswing in quality will carry over into Ferrell’s episode!
Thing is, this is the only thing Jeremy been doing, three weeks in a row now. His Tucker Carlson impression. Knowing how blatantly lazy and checked-out much of the show is, it is not a stretch to see he is being boxed in this type of role. Had he been in other meaty roles and being used better as a spark plug, I wouldn’t have complained much. But, it is beyond clear the show is simply not interested in men beyond Jost/Marcello/Mikey/Kenan.
As for how they treat him, it’s been a trend with anyone who isn’t a “star” of late. Did we forget the “dead man walking” jab towards Emil or Aristotle Athari being killed off in his final episode? Not to mention the fired S39 newbies? It is not a stretch, once again, to see the not-so-subtle hints here.
I think I made my case clear why I didn’t care for the material I panned. I appreciate your perspective there.
Regarding Chloe:
What about Nordwind (the writer)? Isn’t him being there the reason she’s still there? Isn’t there some kind of relationship or “life partner” thing going on between them?
I thought this episode was there up and down in terms of quality lots of stuff that I found pretty boring and some stuff that I got some good kicks out of. Matt was once again a very great host ended his thing with what the material was given for him but yeah, I’m also nothing burger ever episode I feel. Let’s get into it!
Surprised at your very low rating for the monologue as well I feel similar.m, I do think Jack as the audience member was goofy enough that it provided something for it but for the most part, I do agree that this was very wishy-washy.
I surprisingly really enjoyed the Godzilla sketch as the writing was then yes and the premise was not the strongest idea but something about it just amused me and I’m not even sure what. I think just personally I have a soft spot for spit take sketches and Mikey’s bafflement towards the end cracked me up.
The Tough Guys sketch was one of the most recent sketches from my memory that had very little laughs and honestly don’t blame them at all. This was easily my least favorite sketch of the night and I felt they didn’t escalate this at all even if I’m not sure how you could with premise like this I did get some sprinkled laughs throughout the sketch, but most of it just became white noise to me.
I have nothing new to add for your thoughts on the two pre-tapes as I agree that both were KILLER but I also notice the extreme lack of Ashley and James which I agree is definitely baffling. I guess for Ashley, maybe it’s a choice of her own because she realizes how big she’s getting in her usage on the show and perhaps maybe wanted to take a step back this week which I’m perfectly fine with because even the greatest performers ever don’t need to be all over the show and I think that also shows some class which I think is my favorite part of Ashley overall. James however, is strange though, but perhaps the same case.
Respectfully, hard disagree at your take of the as libs (MARCO. RUBIO.) from Colin and Michael, as I think it was a rare fun moment, especially since it seemed to be genuine as Colin seem to be shocked by it, and it shows the fun chemistry the two surprisingly still have. Surprised at your weak reactions for Jeremy Tucker Carlson as well. I definitely feel the first one was better than this one was overall just decent. I still felt it was a great showcase for a him. Jane on Update however, I agree was mainly nothing. I will say I do find it absolutely fascinating how so many people absolutely HATE these segments as while I never loved them. I never really looked at them as an extreme low point for comedy as others seem to think.
And that’s pretty much all I have to say for this one that was a weird episode with both a weird cast usage in kind of an empty feeling too. I don’t know if it was me or not, but it did seem like there was not as many as sketches in this episode and I at first thought that might’ve been because of a possible long Noah Kahan performance, but both of his performances were normal lengths, so I’m curious what was the reason for this. As usual amazing review from you as always as you continue to do awesome job covering season 51 of Saturday Night Live! One last round baby next week with Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney see you there Blood!!!!
We shall see.
But it’s worth noting that the show has been doing these jabs at rookies for quite a while. And we assign subtext to it based on how their tenures pan out. If they go on to bigger and better things on the show, it’s good natured ribbing. If they’re a one and done, it’s harsh bullying. Time will tell with Jeremy.
Think, for example, how different a moment like Martin Short’s S38 monologue with “the new girls” would come across now had Kate, Aidy, and Cecily all been one and dones. Or how the “dead man walking” comment toward Emil would come off harmless were he still here.
I liked the Mom pre tape a lot but it just went a tad too long. This is a prime use of Ashley imo. Not shrieking and yelling and pandering. The cat pretape was just as good.
Chloe breaking for no reason whatsoever in the substitute teacher sketch…
Tough guy sketch was probably one of the worst of the season
Ashley has said Ferrell is her favorite cast member of all time so I imagine they will be paired together next week in “passing of the torch” moments
Questions for Blood:
1) Seems like this “new era” stuff is just more made-up baloney, isn’t it?
2) Was this “mix-and-match” stuff (from lack of word choice) with the writers yet another bad idea from Lorne to you?
1) I think the show is now in a new era. That is, one that started in S48 till present. When I say “new era” I am making fun of certain fans who called every single season since that one a new era, where then you would watch and it is the same 4-5 dull cast members shoved down our throats while most sit backstage or in “types” roles.
2) I am fine with mixing various comedic voices together. The show just is dead. No energy there. Add in the poor writer and cast structure, especially the latter, and you get a tough watch. S48-49 had their moments (I like S49 most out of the past 4 seasons and still feel it holds up), but S50-51 are just dead. No life. No drive. Thank goodness for JAJ/Ashley/Andrew.
This was a real up and down episode–what was good was very good, potentially best of the season good, and what was bad absolutely sucked.
Matt Damon was, as expected, an excellent host–rare is the episode nowadays where the host drags down the proceedings (and there’s a few this year where the host absolutely saves the show, like Colman Domingo). He did seem curiously low-energy in the monologue, the same fate that has plagued a number of people this year like Harry Styles and even Olivia Rodrigo. Not sure what that’s about.
Let’s do the bad first
-While I kinda like the idea of having the three Alcoholic Republican stars in one sketch, the opening didn’t go anywhere for me. Ansari’s Patel didn’t need to return, and Jost’s Hegseth is beyond played out. I enjoyed Damon reprising Kavanaugh, but I got the vibe a lot of people had forgotten the details regarding that stuff.
-Tough guys was one of those sketches that couldn’t decide how silly it wanted to be and ended up flailing. Marcello just can’t carry these really thin premise sketches, and Kenan doing his usual lame stuff couldn’t generate any traction. I had kinda come around to potentially just accepting the sketch as dumb but chuckle-y, but that final story by Marcello went on forever and killed all momentum.
-Update was pretty trash. I liked seeing Jeremy’s Tucker again, but this didn’t break any ground. It at least was funny. The Day/Marcello thing just felt so badly flop-sweaty and inside -jokey. The premise being something I had never heard of or cared about didn’t help. And Wickline’s songs are the thing I care the least about from her stuff and seem a real regression from the promising season she’s having.
-I’m not sure how to evaluate the teacher sketch. Damon did a very realistic job as an awkward but genial dork, and there was a hypnotic feeling of comedy as the students watched. I also liked Dismukes’ angry expression at the end. Chloe corpsed for no reason to continue to cap her absolute abysmal season, and giving all the kids lines was unnecessary.
Now the good
-I actually liked that Godzilla sketch. Yes, it went on too long and the final gags didn’t land. Yes, it was a huge role for the played out Mikey (although a role he was good at). But the surrealistic escalation was very funny, Damon was great, and this did have vibes of an 87 sketch where like Phil would play Damon’s role, tormenting Dana.
-The pre-tapes were both superb and excellent uses of Ashley. Mom was both a good way to do a Mother’s Day thing that wasn’t intentionally viral by being gore-y or overly schmaltzy. Tidy-Cat was one of the funniest things this season, capped by a brilliant performance by JAJ as the voiceover guy (that felt like a Bill Hader type role, haha).
-I was really surprised by how good the Auctioneer sketch was. This was a good old fashioned silly premise played very well by Damon and Sarah. This may actually have been Sarah’s best non-“weird” performance on the show (well, non-weird by her usual standards). She sometimes struggles in these roles, but she was flawless here and showed in a very erratic season, why she’s still valuable (I shudder to think of Chloe playing this role). I could easily see this sketch taking place in different eras of the show.
So actually a lot of good…but the problem is the bad occupied the beginning and a hefty portion of the middle of the show. I could not blame folks for wanting to tune out after the Tough Guys or Weekend Update portions. There’s still good here, but things really need some revision.
Thanks as always, Blood Meridian, for your excellent review. It takes me a while to want to sit through anything with Mikey or Marcello these days so kudos for watching so quickly and having these reviews out so quickly.
From Saturday Night Network (I struggled to figure out some of the details – maybe these sketches will show up or Reddit will have a more detailed dress report).
MAKING AMENDS: A Martin Herlihly film. Jeremy visits his dying father in the hospital after his father left 24 years ago. Mikey is a patient in the bed over. As the film goes on we see a fight on a bar review TV show between Martin and Ashley which is taking the attention away from the emotional conversation.
ARE YOU COOKED?: A game show about whether the contestants have brain rot. Matt is the host. Tommy, Ben, Chloe, Jane, JAJ, Jeremy, Kam, Marcello as contestants. CAR WASH: A reprise of the Jane and Veronika characters from the Harry Styles episode. Matt and Mikey were involved.
KIMONOS: Ben and Tommy as cops, Kenan as police chief, Matt, JAJ, Ashley, Andrew, Sarah, Jeremy, Veronika. The men all wear kimonos which are increasingly more revealing. Jeremy is blurred below the waist.
HADES: A 3-set sketch with JAJ, Marcello, Ashley, Mike, Andrew, Kenan pushing a boulder up a hill, Sarah with spider legs as part of her hair, Matt with an ice cube stuck to his hand on a toilet stuck to a goat.
In dress, Mikey lost the top of his Update costume repeatedly and they riffed about it. It was fixed for the live show. The call and response on Update also wasn’t in dress.
Sarah was great in the Auctioneer sketch. One of her best performances ever on the show. When the sketch first started I was wondering why Ashley wasn’t playing the character but quickly realized Sarah was right for the part
Great review as always Blood! This show should really have JAJ and Ashley as its anchors. It’s no surprise the two pre-tapes were the strongest for that reason.
That said, I was blown away by the auctioneer sketch especially Sarah’s performance. I have been vocal about the misuse of her on the show but this was a reminder why I love Sarah. This seems like more in line with her sense of humour and yet is also something she could have never done with her limited acting skills back in season 47. I’m hoping that because the show has more confidence in Ashley and to a lesser degree Veronika, it will let Sarah do more of her thing and not have to be in thankless roles she is isn’t well suited for.
Maybe it’s SNL UK and how well they use their cast but I’m so tired of how poorly this cast is used as well. I would love to have them cut the cast down to 12 and get rid of the vets especially Jost and Che. In their prime they were great but Ania and Paddy’s Weekend Update shows just how much they need to move on.
“A not-so-subtle “fuck you” moment, once again, towards Jeremy. Now, “star” Marcello kicking him out of the sketch. I can see some fans going “relax! It’s a sketch!” But thing is, I’ve been watching this show for so long that these types of “moments” aren’t so subtle.”
I think you’re just looking too much into it, I’m going to be very very honest
I only got to watch this Sunday night and came to your review just now (Monday morning) to compare notes with my own impressions of the episode and I have to say, your fan-boying over Ashley is getting tired, with all due respect. Sure she is (usually) great in her sketches but she is DEFINITELY not as great as you make her out to be, week after week. And Marcello is not as bad as you keep saying either. Feels personal on both of those equations.
The Auctioneers was sheer brilliance. That must have been challenging to memorize and did not allow for much, if any, cue card reading. It was absolutely flawless, in my humble opinion, but this isn’t my blog lol.
I also enjoyed Jane Wickline’s funny song about being late. She nailed it.
For some reason we got to see a very long close where I watch it in Canada and that had not been the case for months. I love watching those!
Next week, the last, should be stellar!
I am not sure how I am “fan-boying” over Ashley Padilla. I didn’t care at all for her last two sketches she did, that got a big response and were hyped up all over the fandom. Add in the sketch she did in December as the old lady riding a scooter. I also was consistently critical of her and the show whenever I felt they utilized her poorly or that she performed a role not up to my taste.
As for Marcello, it is the same thing. I praised him whenever I felt he earned it. I am not a “stan” of anyone in this cast, but I certainly have my favorites. We all do, and even in that case, I critiqued two of my top 3 favorites (Ashley & Andrew) this season when I felt they delivered subpar sketches (in my opinion that is). In the end, these are reviews of a sketch comedy show I do not take too seriously, as much of a chore as the show has been this final quarter.
Thanks for your comments as always.
I love these reviews. However, I have to question your rankings when you give that auctioneer sketch that high of a review. Yes, it was impressive acting, but it wasn’t “funny” at all. I wasn’t close to ever laughing. It was almost difficult to watch. But otherwise, I appreciate your honest reviews.
Oh wow, I actually thought Blood was being way too harsh on Ashley the last few weeks, lol.
Marcello to me is a niche performer. I’m okay in having guys like that around and he is a strong physical performer and a likable presence. But a lot of his lead roles in sketches fall flat for me, particularly when he’s trying to play a role he can’t really do.
This was a strange episode for me probably for the simple fact that the pre-taped material outpaced the live material. Seems like an anomaly for the season.
To be honest, I’ve become less interested in the pre-tape material in recent years. Or maybe I was always less interested in the pre-tapes. I think one of the reasons I tend to like the show more these days than Blood (and others) is because I like the live “make ’em laugh” struggle session that is SNL. I love a sketch like this week’s substitute teacher piece that attempts a unique approach and experiences a sort of mercurial success. I like a “near-success” or a “dignified failure.” I like when the rhythm is off or when the audience is befuddled. I like SNL’s lack of polish. Which makes the pre-tapes a sort of counter to that. The pre-tapes tend to give an SNL episode cover because they tend to be slick and direct and rarely suffer from dullness or the ineffable variances of audience appetites. But the pre-tapes get stale. They become easy and comfortable. I’ve especially felt that in recent years. It’s felt like the pre-tapes became a failsafe or even simply just a filler to get from one sketch to the next. So when the pre-tapes are good or excellent (as the both were this episode), I don’t really have the same enthusiasm because it feels like nothing’s really been at risk. They lack the energy, even when they’re exceptional.
That all said, this was a great way for Ashley (and JAJ) to sort of steal the episode without having to be front and center. Now, I would actually PREFER Ashley and JAJ to be front and center, but I get it can’t always be that way. Both these pieces, very different in tone, were smart and subtle uses of the show’s top performer, but once again follow the winning formula of “premise first, then performance.” Yes, Ashley was kind of playing broad in the Mom piece, but the sketch never leaned on the performance. With the kitty litter piece, hell, the most showy performance probably happened off-screen.
The other highlight, of course, was the auctioneer piece, which, I think, might be the great Sarah sketch I’ve been waiting for. I loved it for its silliness and simplicity of concept, but even more for the degree of difficulty of its execution. Terrific work by all involved.
I already mentioned the Substitute teacher sketch, which I thought was really interesting and fun, only really hampered by the full tension of the piece not fully being fulfilled and Chloe (of course, Chloe) going full fuck-around Sally while the rest of the cast worked hard to lock in. This one will be great to revisit somewhere down the road.
Godzilla Movie, like last week’s stair falling sketch, might have been better served dropping in during the back half of the episode when loose silliness feels a bit more palatable. That said, the game was played pretty well. I’m not necessarily a mark for spit take humor, but I probably am a mark for stupid variations on spit take humor. I don’t think this was a masterwork or anything, but I tapped into the spirit of the thing.
I also sort of grudgingly respect the Tough Guys sketch. I too was worried about Marcello’s prosthetic gut (cheap and unnecessary), but kind of dug the S20 type turn. It was far from a great sketch, but it felt like less of a Marcello vamp (my biggest fear) than it did just a simple premise stretched out until it ran out of gas. You would think that I sound like I loved this episode, but I just think a few of the things that have been labeled as “poor” would be better described as “passable time-filler.”
Quick hits:
– I really really hate that we’re just running the clock back to 2018 with these cold opens. I mean, credit where it’s due, this was at least something of a cohesive concept, but the things that were once novelties have become albatrosses.
– Speaking of concept cohesion – can we just pick one premise and stick with it for these monologues. The “Marcello’s mom” bit could have really been something, instead, they kind of just gave it a dispirited shrug before moving on to another half-hearted concept.
– I though Update was OK. I don’t know, I dug the Marco Polo joke and it’s subsequent callbacks (it was a Marco Polo joke…it kind of seems like that wasn’t fully understood in the review). The Update commentaries ranged from good (Jeremy) to ok, but tired (Jane) to “let’s not try to make this a thing anymore, please” (Marcello and Mikey), but I do enjoy the looseness of Che and Jost. Like I said last week, they’re a balls and strikes proposition and some weeks are better than others. This wasn’t a killer by any means, but I didn’t think it was any worse than the norm.
Not sure how this episode stacks up, but once again, some highlights to celebrate.
The show seems unsure of how to do monologues anymore, which is why almost all of them seem to have like three different components.
I can kind of get that when you’re throwing balls to the wall hoping something works, even when the results didn’t pay off, like last week’s Olivia Rodrigo monologue which would probably have worked better if she just immediately did the Driver’s License parody. But an experienced guy like Matt Damon? Why are we bouncing between comedic ideas so much?