Cold Opening – USS Lincoln
Pete Hegseth (COJ) & RFK Jr. (JAJ) brief troops
- I have no idea why they are still using Jeremy as the guy who introduces Pete Hegseth in all these cold opens; feels redundant.
- This cold open feels a week out of date, considering that clownish Wolfenstein-esque speech Hegseth gave recently.
- Typical Colin-as-Hegseth lines though they are not as bad as the last few times.
- Ugh at the whole “no homo” part with Kam. I know they are making fun of Hegseth’s own homophobia, but I do not find it funny.
- Odd utilization of Andrew, Mikey and Tommy. The cutaways to them feel awkward even when their performances are fine.
- JAJ’s RFK Jr. voice really improved a lot since last time he played him. He is cracking me up so much in this.
- I got a huge laugh from the gag with JAJ’s RFK Jr. suddenly speaking in a deep, professional voice as soon as Colin’s Hegseth hit his back. I know this gag was used before on SNL, but it surprised me here.
- No idea what to make of that Linkin Park joke.
- Not too bad, overall, especially considering how burnt out I have been on this impression.
Rating: ***
Monologue
host performers stand-up about weight loss, growing up with older sisters
- Unlike how his prior sets start, the audience seems more into this from the start.
- I find it funny seeing Shane doing a bit about weight loss, as that’s an area I do not see many standups of late tackle.
- Shane cracking jokes about checking out a woman while she works out reminds me of a scene from his show.
- I am not sure about the whole “women dress like whores in gyms” part. I am not the target of this joke, obviously, but this will surely cause typical internet outrage over silly jokes.
- I admit that Shane got me with his bells bit and how he looks like checking others out.
- I am groaning at the Joe Rogan mention, for reasons I do not need to get into here.
- The sisters part is fine and relatable as someone who grew up with half a dozen older sisters, a few of which decades older than me.
- The “you are gay or you are Hitler” part, while I get Shane’s intentions there, was not exactly the best way to end this standup set on.
- This set, like Shane’s prior ones (and some other standup monologues of late) will either be the best or worst thing ever. How he “bombed” yet again or, if you are one of his bigger devotees (and I generally enjoy Shane fine enough), some masterful trolling of the show. For me, truth be told, I found it milder than his prior ones. I got my share of laughs but there were questionable portions in this that either made me cringe or just had me checked-out. Still, not awful.
Rating: **1/2
Cop Talk
cop (host) intensely hosts his talkshow debut
- I will get into this with an open mind, as I am never crazy about SNL’s talkshow sketches.
- Mikey is pretty funny as “sidekick” cop.
- I do love the gag with the car window gag between Shane’s cop host and the guest. Jeremy’s gleeful reaction is making me laugh and he is using a voice and characterization I’ve never heard before.
- I love how this is turning into the usual tense interaction with a cop. Mikey is also cracking me up, for the first time really in some time in a major role.
- Shane is so damn good in this role. Everything about his delivery and performance is slaying me. It’s like they had an actual cop and put him in this sketch.
- The “names” for the various guests is a nice touch.
- Kam playing a comedian isn’t exactly showing off his range. His bit also ended way too soon though I cracked up.
- Veronika and Shane have a nice chemistry during their interaction. Reminding me of how good they were as a couple on Tires.
- This turned out much funnier than I expected it to be. Kept at a good length, too.
Rating: ****
It’s My Room Now
dad (host) imagines his new room after daughter (SAS) gets married
- Not only is it nice to get another JAJMukes pretape, but to see the underrated Tommy paired with them. It reminds me of how fun all three were in that great Husbands sketch from last season.
- I also love how all three of them are clearly styled upon famous singers. Tommy also reminds me of Ethan Hawke in that goatee.
- Man, JAJ’s intro is wonderful. I am always amazed how great a singer he is.
- I love the turn with Shane’s plot with what to do with Sarah’s room now that she got married.
- As a huge Hugh Laurie fan, I appreciate the House M.D. mention.
- Shane is so fun in this and is very believable as a dad. The parts with Ashley as the wife are low-key but funny. A department she excels at.
- Very funny escalation with the “super room” turn. Shane is so good in this pretape, especially his gleeful expressions at how massive the room has gotten.
- The black mold lyric was pretty funny.
- This season does it once again with a very solid pretape. In fact, this also continues last season’s trend in having strong, creative musical pretapes. Probably because cast members with musical abilities are doing them.
Rating: ****
Green Eggs & Ham
son (host) argues with dad (MID) about Green Eggs & Ham
- Mikey Day feels at home in these types of sketches.
- I really am loving the sets and costumes for this sketch.
- I am not exactly a big fan of Dr. Seuss (I was always more into Dahl), but the performances here are entertaining me.
- Shane’s accidental F-bomb came out of absolutely nowhere. He played it off well, and showing what an absolute professional he is, Andrew is not phased by it at all.
- Shane’s frustration at Sam-I-Am is keeping me cracking up, even when I would have loved it if he played one of Dr. Seuss’ famed characters.
- I am not caring at all for the Sarah walk-on.
- Mikey is solid in his interaction with Shane as his son.
- Seeing Marcello as the Cat in the Hat makes me miss Bill Hader.
- I ended up enjoying this more than I thought. Maybe because the awful Grinch sketches scared me a little from this; it turned out fine.
Rating: ***1/2
Innovation Nation
the invention of sneakers had sinister origins
- I always love it when SNL casts JAJ as an old-timey character. Great voice from him here, too.
- I am so onboard with this sketch concept already. This really speaks to my type of humor, and as often when standup comics host (like last season’s Nikki Glaser episode), we get some creative, oddball sketch concepts that are right up my alley.
- Very funny quick appearance from Tommy.
- I love Shane’s whole talk about the shoes being for sneaking and the back-and-forth between him and JAJ about what to call them.
- Very funny sneaky movement from Shane across the set.
- JAJ is a very solid anchor and straight man in this sketch. A very classic “Glue” utilization of him. I totally can see Phil Hartman and Bill Hader, two of my absolute favorites, playing the role JAJ is in this during their respective tenures.
- Shane’s spiel about the mistress is great, especially his “thank you, Sneakers” line.
- I love the ending.
- A very solid, writerly sketch overall.
Rating: ****
Upfront: Heating & Air Conditioning
affordable heating & AC comes with cost
- Nice to see Shane as a solo commercial spokesman for the second hosting stint in a row.
- Shane has really slimmed down since his last appearance on the show.
- I love this premise of “affordable” heating and AC being low-rent and run by incompetent weirdos under Shane’s command.
- Interesting use of extras next to a few cast members. Marcello’s look in this in general is cracking me up a lot.
- It feels refreshing seeing Veronika playing the wife instead of Ashley for a change. Hopefully, this is a sign both will share more of these roles, as I find both to be this cast’s strongest women.
- Sarah is very funny in her small part in this.
- Like in Rock Bottom Kings, I love how sinister Shane comes off as a commercial spokesman. He is great here in general.
- I love the dark turn with Shane disclosing a past relationship with Sarah’s character.
- A great “it was a bump” delivery from Shane, and that “testimony” from Ben being cut off so short was equally hilarious.
Rating: ****1/2
Musical Performance – “Reliquia”
Weekend Update
Kevin O’Leary (JAJ) on building a data center in Utah
A mother (ASP) shares fall tips with daughter (GRR)
- I have been one of the harshest critics of the desk these past few seasons, but I will admit the opening “Developing Story” was decent.
- Great to see JAJ behind the desk finally. I am always surprised he didn’t do Update as much the past few seasons.
- JAJ’s Kevin O’Leary impression sounds even better here than the last time we heard it in the season premiere. very uncanny. I guess partly because JAJ is doing it for a longer period than the few lines he got last time.
- JAJ’s performance here is excellent, helped by some very sharp lines delivered in his usual expert manner. By the way, this has been a very strong night for JAJ in general, which is awesome to see. He’s been all over the episode.
- I do love the slams against Utah and constantly calling Colin poor. The way JAJ is playing Mr. Wonderful in such a calm, soft way is brilliant. Showing that man’s darkness and greed in a subtle way, which makes it more effective.
- All-in-all, I feel this is one of the best things James Austin Johnson has done in his tenure by this point, which says a lot. Easily my favorite appearance by him behind the Update desk yet.
- While the jokes in this edition aren’t as cringeworthy as last week, not many are standing out to me. However, I really liked the centenarians one.
- An unexpected-but-welcome duo between Ashley and Grace. Considering that Ashley is the second most senior woman with Jane in the cast (which simply blows my mind), it is sweet to see her paired with a newbie.
- Yet another instance with Grace Reiter getting laughs out of me without doing or saying much. I love her expressions as the daughter already.
- I love the chemistry and rapport between Ashley and Grace. Love how the latter is subtly showing how sinister she is, and the writing is prety sharp.
- Loving the back-and-forth between Ashley and Grace. Very realistic of typical spoiled kids with their parents. Ashley’s angry shutting down of her daughter killed me.
- While I am still laughing, I do think Ashley is kinda going over-the-top with her angry yelling at Grace, even when it is realistic and still keeping me laugh.
- A very fun desk piece, two in a row. Helping this still-not-bad edition of the desk go over well for me.
Rating: ***1/2
Saying Goodbye
son (host) is conflicted over between staying with dying mother (GRR) or going to Jelly Roll (BEM) concert
- It feels odd seeing Sarah playing this sort of role. I do like her acting in this.
- I got a laugh from Shane revealing he bought tickets to see Jelly Roll. Sarah is a good straight man to him, and I enjoy her befuddled reactions, as she isn’t overplaying them.
- I cracked up at the visual of Ben as Jelly Roll. Although, I am not caring for his impression, which is odd, as he tried with Mr. Beast and Jack Harlow before it.
- This sketch feels a little slow, though I do like the use of thought bubbles, which feels unique for SNL by this stage to have them a major part of a sketch.
- A nice way to include Rosalía in a sketch.
- I really like the ending of the sketch before we go to commercial, with the cast and Rosalía celebrating.
Rating: **1/2
Musical Performance – “Magnolias”
Chess Tournament
supportive parents (GRR) & (host) encourage son (JEC)
- Mikey Day has been all over this episode. Thankfully, he’s been utilized well and mostly low-key, compared to the hammy, over-the-top performances from him in the past two episodes.
- Grace playing a daughter, an elderly lady on her deathbed and now a mom is a nice showing of her range.
- Much like JAJ, Grace had a very strong night this week.
- Nice to see the underrated Tommy Brennan getting good airtime tonight.
- Jeremy’s nerd characterization is very funny, especially his deadpan delivery of his name.
- Why is Jane Wickline in this sketch (her only appearance of the night, by the way) as she is doing nothing so far.
- OK, Jane got me, as her delivery of that one line cracked me up.
- I know she is an experienced sketch comedy veteran before being hired, but man, Grace does not feel like a rookie cast member. She is performing this expertly and killing it.
- A nice turn with Shane and Grace getting back together over the course of the sketch.
- An energetic, fun way to end the episode. Even when this is a sketch, much like the last, I can see some not getting into.
Rating: ***1/2
Goodnights
Segments Ranked From Worst to Best
Upfront: Heating & Air Conditioning
Innovation Nation
Cop Talk
It’s My Room Now
Chess Tournament
Green Eggs & Ham
Weekend Update
USS Lincoln
Monologue / Saying Goodbye (tie)
Final Thoughts:
- A very solid effort and by far, the best episode of the season by quite the margin. Lots of great sketches tonight and I love the fact when standups hosts, we get silly, solid sketch concepts that are right up my alley. Shane Gillis was a fun host and was utilized well, even when I feel he did not stand out as much as last time and I felt his standup set was pretty forgettable. Rosalía added to the vibes tonight, as she was an incredible musical guest and both her performances were phenomenal, in particular the first one.
My Favorite Moments of the Episode, Represented with Screencaps:
My full set of screencaps from this episode is here
While I’m certainly happy that Grace got a chance to be funny this week, I still feel bad for Saidah, who hasn’t been given as much of a chance, and has only gotten to be in one live sketch so far in her tenure. In fact, the same thing goes for Tommy, who didn’t get any lines in his first two sketch appearances last night, nor any comedic roles.
Also, I weirdly didn’t catch Shane’s f-bomb. Maybe it’s because he said it more quietly than everything else he said.
I’ll expound later, but I totally agree that Mikey was used very well this episode–the guy is still fine in his straight roles or in funny supporting parts. Even during the Dr. Seuss one, his attempts at making people break just riffed off of Shane’s f-bomb (and even then, he was doing that to an experienced comedian and SNL host).
Now THIS was the step in the right direction I was hoping for.
Another very consistent and fun Shane episode. It’s so crazy to me how with every time Shane has hosted, MANY of the show’s big problems (poor cast usage, moments of dullness, etc.) just seem to go away.
I felt just as highly of the Upfront pre-tape as you did. Shane’s delivery of all the things the maintenance men would be doing was great.
I actually thought his monologue was another strong one from him, but I can see why some people would find certain moments in it off putting. It also was a slight step down from his hilarious monologue from his last episode.
Pretty much every sketch in this episode was just well-written, utilized the cast in each sketch so well, and Shane was once again utilized perfectly in many moments throughout.
I can’t think of much else to say, I really liked this one, and it actually gives me a bit of optimism for the rest of the season.
I’m not familiar with Inde Navarette, and I haven’t seen Obsession, but I’m hoping for another good one.
I was fairly negative about the previous two episodes, but already one thing that this season seems to be doing better than the last was actually utilizing the hosts well. That was my biggest issue with the last season, but looking back, despite my issues with the Jalen and Dakota episodes, the show was not just keeping them in straight man roles for the whole episode and putting them in comedic roles. It’s nice to see.
Not gonna lie, a little baffled by how opinions of this episode are so far, because I sure didn’t see much in this episode. It didn’t have any stinkers like the last two, and I’d consider it the best of the season overall, but it’s very much by default. Honestly, it’s very much in line with the previous Shane episodes in terms of quality.
I think my main issue here is that Shane just doesn’t have much range as a host. Every sketch, he played some variation on “vaguely skeevy deadbeat who probably peaked in high school,” and while I can praise Shane for being himself here, it doesn’t really land in a sketch comedy series with a lot of different locations/scenarios. As such, the sketches in this episode felt like they blended together into a bland Shane-shaped slurry. And the less we say about the monologue where he alternates between “don’t women in gyms dress like whores nowadays?” and “here’s a story about my friend Joe Rogan,” the better.
That said, this episode wasn’t without its highlights. Update was in top form, especially compared to last episode’s. Could still do without all the looseness and ad-libs Colin and Michael have nowadays, but the jokes didn’t rely on the cheap joke swap-lite crutches they’ve been standing on for a while. Plus, the Update features were both fantastic. Glad they capitalized on James’s great Kevin O’Leary impression from the premiere, and Ashley and Grace’s commentary was very snappy and well-delivered.
In terms of cast relevancy, I should hit upon the obvious: Grace had her night. Love seeing her sharp delivery right out the gate, and I think she can hit upon a lot of the same roles Aidy Bryant used to play while delivering her own spin. The ten-to-one was probably the best of the night for me, and half of it is just Grace’s lived-in performance and physicality. As for the other cast members, this was quite a sausage-fest, wasn’t it? Though, I should’ve suspected as such for a Shane episode. Ashley only had that one Update feature, Veronika only had a walk-on or two, Saidah is still lagging behind everyone, and Jane had a total of two lines. Hoping we get more from them next episode. For the other men, still disappointed we’re getting too much Mikey (even if he did save that relative dud of a Green Eggs and Ham sketch), but otherwise I can’t complain. James had a great night between the Update and Sneakers sketches, Ben had a sneaky good night from the Jelly Roll sketch and some supporting roles, and at least we’re seeing Tommy live.
Honestly, though, a lot of sketches this round floated around the 4 to 6 out of 10 range for me, which is a bit of a letdown. I feel I’d like them more if they were performed by someone else, considering I don’t think the writing was much an issue this go around. Part of me feels like a bit of a weenie considering my opinions on Shane the person versus Shane the sketch performer, but that monologue alone just doesn’t make me want to like him. But that’s the way it goes on this show sometimes.
A HUGE step up from the previous two episodes. I’m not a massive Shane stan or anything, but he definitely gives the show a shot in the arm whenever he hosts. This episode once again had a bunch of solid writerly concepts that, for the most part, were executed quite well. Even the weakest sketches were fine enough that they flew by without any lingering issues.
I’m pretty much with you on the monologue. Some good jokes, some awkward and off-putting moments, overall hit and miss. I know people are gonna have their pitchforks out for this, but to be honest, this was just some mildly edgy stuff for late night television. Nothing more, nothing less.
I’m absolutely THRILLED JAJ had such a good night. That Update piece was one of the best things he’s done yet. He not only nailed Kevin’s voice once again, but also put in some great subtle character work. Just enough to make him feel intimidating and evil in all the best ways.
Likewise happy to see Grace have her breakout night. I’ve really got a good feeling about her. She’s got plenty of range and seems totally effortless in her performances. Watching her in that Update piece with Ashley, I felt, for the first time since Heidi and Ego left…the female side of the show is in a good spot. I’m not saying they’re on the level of Kate/Aidy/Cecily, but the potential is definitely there. There’s actual chemistry and they’re gelling together well. Sarah is maybe the exception, but she still has her moments as tonight proved and if the show would just let her cut loose once in a while, she’d be fine. Oh well.
I agree Mikey had a solid night with one notable exception: he was a superfluous presence in that otherwise good Chess Tournament. Him being there as (I guess) some sort of teacher felt really out of place and was detrimental to the sketch’s flow. I’m guessing he cowrote it and that’s why he was in it, but his whole “OKAYYY” routine contrasted sharply with Grace’s fresh and exciting performance. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much since he otherwise had a solid night, and I’ll take this any day over whatever the hell he was doing in the first two episodes.
In any case, I’m glad we finally had a standout episode. Hopefully it’s not the last!