Side note: I missed this episode when it first aired because I didn’t think that SNL would be airing an episode the night before Easter. Plus, I was also suffering side-effects of my second COVID vaccine and wasn’t in the mood to stay up late. That being said, I’ve heard from other SNL fans that this is one of the better episodes of this troubled season, so I’ll try to keep an open mind here.
Cold Open
Another edition of “Oops, You Did It Again”, hosted by Britney Spears.
• Not this shit again.
• Fineman’s Britney impression has not improved at all.
• Chris Redd looks dead on as Lil Nas X, who was in the news that week for a horrid anti-Christian music video in which he gave Satan a lap dance. Spears suggests that he try to make things fair by…giving one to God as well. So then Mikey Day enters as God, and Lil Nas X proceeds to give Him a lap dance. What a terrible and disturbing thing to air on the night before Easter!
• Then…*sigh*…Kate McKinnon enters as Pepé LePew, who had just been dropped from the second Space Jam movie thanks to some shitty New York Times article that claimed he promoted “rape culture”. The voice she is using is extremely annoying, and sounds nothing like Pepé. They also make a shitty joke about Yosemite Sam being at the Capitol riots. Get it?!? Because he likes guns, that must mean he’s a Trump supporter!!!
• Geez, the more I watch this, the more I want to rip out Fineman’s vocal chords. Whoever told her she was a good impressionist was lying!
• I’m not even going to comment on Pete Davidson’s non-impression of Matt Gaetz, because I can’t bear to listen to Fineman anymore.
Monologue
Daniel Kaluuya talks about being a black British man.
• He already got a laugh out of me when he describes himself as what the Royal Family were afraid Meghan and Harry’s child would look like.
• I’m liking this guy’s voice. I appreciate Chris Redd’s impression of him from a few episodes ago even more now.
• Funny clip of his appearance on the Golden Globes where his audio was muted.
• Rather heartwarming moment at the end where he says he got his inspiration for a play he wrote from Kenan & Kel.
• Overall, our first strong monologue in quite a while.
Sketch: Will You Take It?
Dr. Tevin Jones (Kaluuya) tries to convince the rest of his family to take the COVID vaccine via a game show format.
• Great accent from Kaluuya’s character.
• There’s Kenan doing that voice once again.
• Despite an undeniably one-joke premise, the performances of the cast are helping to make this work. It’s nice that they got all of the black people in the cast to be in this, even Punkie Johnson.
• Speaking of Punkie, I liked her excuse that she couldn’t take the vaccine because she’s Christian.
• Great ending where he tries to get his girlfriend (who’s also a doctor) to make them get vaccinated, but his family reacts with derision when they find out that she’s white.
Film: Viral Apology Video
Viral YouTube sensations The Prank Posse (Kyle Mooney and Kaluuya) find something disgusting in their cereal.
• Normally, I’d be mad about them doing another “HOW DO YOU DO FELLOW KIDS” sketch, but I’m interested to see where this goes.
• Mooney’s reaction when he finds what he thinks are mouse bones in his cereal is great, which is then followed by that clip being repeated in slow motion, and public domain cartoon footage of mouse characters. I can’t identify any of the cartoons that are shown, but one of them looks like it came from Van Beuren Studios.
• The editing in this short is a spot on parody of these types of viral videos.
• Sudden twist where Kyle apologizes to the audience, after the popularity that the mouse bones video brought him caused some troubling things from his past to resurface.
• The prank video that comes after that apology in which Kyle drops a flatscreen TV on Daniel’s head is hilarious. This leads to another video where Kyle apologizes for hurting his friend, and takes time to admit that his previous apology wasn’t sincere. Unfortunately, this means that his next upload, the “Tricking J.P. Into Kissing My Penis” video, will be delayed.
• After this, we get one last apology video, where he brings up the fact that a lot of his past prank videos were either “problematic or crimes”, and he gives some hilarious examples such as the “Shrek Costume At Funeral” prank, and the “Racist Fart On Bus” prank.
• Brilliant ending to the sketch where Daniel gets back at him by hitting him in the head with the TV, which unfortunately kills him, leading Daniel to make his own apology video before getting the hell out of there.
• This may be the most I’ve laughed at a sketch on this show in quite a while.
Sketch: Scattergories
A family tries to play Scattergories while the mother does annoying things in the background.
• The initial part of this sketch got me interested, as I have fond memories of playing Scattergories in school. Unfortunately, this then turned into a terrible Kate McKinnon vanity piece where she spends the whole time making loud noises while everyone is trying to play the game.
• It also doesn’t help that her character is an unlikable asshole who treats her daughter and husband like shit. At one point, you can see her about to shred up an old family photo of her and her daughter. Absolutely horrible.
• I’m sorry if I’m coming off as a little too harsh here, but Kate McKinnon needs to fucking leave. I’m tired of her and her unfunny antics taking away all of the younger cast members’ screentime. I’m tired of her playing male politicians. And, most of all, I’m tired of her dumb face staring at the camera every two seconds! Please get off of the show.
Sketch: Proud Parents
A boy (Chris Redd) shocks his parents when he tells them that he’s changed his major.
• Nothing too special here plot wise, but there were some good performances, particularly from Kaluuya and Ego as the parents.
• The statue that Dismukes’ character made in art class was amusing.
• I love how Redd’s award-winning poem is just a sentence long: “I wake up, and my emotions are as blue as blue paint”.
Musical Performance: “Pay Your Way In Pain”
Weekend Update (featuring Vaneta and Wylene Starkie, The Guy Who Just Bought A Boat, and Hattie and Jeff Deeley)
• Some really bad jokes about Matt Gaetz.
• Ugh, not the Smokery Farms ladies again! I hate these stupid characters. I hope they never come back again.
• This is also the final appearance (so far) of Alex Moffat’s Guy Who Just Bought A Boat, the first time we’ve seen him since November 2019. As usual, I fail to see what the joke is with him.
• Mikey and Heidi introduce new characters in the form of Jeff Deeley and his 106 year old wife Hattie, a couple with an extremely wide age gap.
• Mikey’s really good at playing creepy awkward characters like this. Even Heidi’s performance was better than usual.
Sketch: Frat Trip
Some frat boys attempt to plan a last-minute trip to Tahoe.
• Eh, this sketch was kinda boring. Not too much to say about it, except that it’s the only sketch of this entire episode that has Asian Terry Sweeney in it.
Sketch: Dog Park
Note: This sketch isn’t on YouTube for some reason. I have no idea if this is because of music or not.
Musical Performance: “The Melting Of The Sun”
Sketch: Half-Brother
Things get out of hand at a birthday party when the birthday boy’s half-brother and his wife start singing bizarre songs.
• Apparently James Anderson came back to help with this sketch. While the fact that it stars Cecily is an obvious sign of his involvement, this wasn’t too bad for an Anderlette sketch.
• I think part of the reason why I liked this sketch is because I like the type of music that they’re performing. It sounds like something you’d hear in a beatnik club.
• Kaluuya’s performance in this is really good. I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot in this episode, which proves just how amazing of a host he’s been.
Final thoughts: Well, I’ll be damned! That episode was actually pretty good! The pre-Update half was especially strong, with three great sketches in a row. Daniel Kaluuya was an amazing host, and he’s more than welcome to come back to the show.
Best sketches: Monologue, Will You Take It?, Viral Apology Video, Proud Parents, The Deeley’s commentary
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Scattergories, Smokery Farms commentary, Frat Trip
Next review: Carey Mulligan/Kid Cudi, an episode that I recall being extremely terrible
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