Cold Open: Trump Rally
In which Donald Trump returns to make bad jokes about Republicans.
• How many times do we have to bring this crap back? Alec Baldwin’s impression continues to get worse and worse, and he’s clearly lost all interest in it.
• Darrell Hammond makes his first non-announcer appearance on the show since Season 42, playing Bill Clinton once again. Too bad they didn’t give him anything funny to say.
1/5
Monologue
Chance sings about Chicago, the second-best city, and other things that are the second-best.
• I’m surprised how much I liked this. While it is another “song-and-dance” monologue that we’re all getting tired of by now, at least Chance is an actual musician. He pulled it off really well, and, thankfully, there’s no pro-Obama shilling like in his last two episodes.
3/5
Sketch: League of Legends
An MSG reporter (Chance) is forced to cover a League of Legends tournament. In other words, HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS???
• One thing that Season 45 has been doing way too often are these Internet focused sketches. It started with the Fortnite shit in the Adam Driver episode last year, but this season is where it’s really become a problem.
• Despite my initial apprehension, this was actually kind of funny. It helps that, unlike the Fortnite sketch, they actually took the time to mock the game in this one.
3.5/5
Sketch: First Impressions Court
Judge Barry (Chance) presides over First Impressions Court, where he doles out punishments based on first impressions.
• As soon as Kenan walked out in that ridiculous pimp outfit, I knew I was in for a treat. This was definitely one of the best sketches SNL has put out in a long time.
• The best part was when he punished a guy because his name was “LaDenzel”.
• Not even Bowen Yang as Gay Character #972 could ruin it for me.
• Epic cameo from Jason Momoa as one of the defendants, wearing a tacky leopard skin shirt. Then he rips the shirt off to reveal that he pierced his nipples!
5/5
Commercial: Tasty Toaster Tarts
A boy (Chance) looks through the cupboard for a snack while his friends point out obvious signs that he killed his parents.
• This sketch may not sound like much based on my description, but the execution was perfect. I was confused about where they were going with this until Chance’s character mentions that his parents “used to be” strict. And then his friends notice all the signs around the house that point to their absence, such as mail piled up on the table, a sloppily cleaned up blood stain, and duct tape on the fridge, along with a very suspicious smell.
• There wasn’t even any indication that this was supposed to be a commercial until the very end when he pulls out some Tasty Toaster Tarts, which, to top the hilarity all off, instantly makes the others forget about what happened to his parents.
5/5
Sketch: Spooky Songs
Ghosts in a graveyard sing about how they died, but one of them doesn’t seem to want to share his story.
• The best sketch of the night, hands down. After the first two ghosts sing their songs, Chance asks them to skip him. For the rest of the sketch, they try to get him to reveal what happened, and, eventually, when he does, it’s all worth it.
• What happened, you ask? Well, he used to shove 9-volt batteries up his ass for fun. Then, one night, he went on his roof with a metal pole up his ass, so he could get struck by lightning. This ends up killing him. The best part is how seriously he is treating this, like it’s something that all people his age did.
• I’ve gotta mention the impressive special effects, too. I’d really like to know how they pulled all of this off for a live broadcast.
5/5 (wow, three perfect scores in a row!)
Musical Performance: “Zanies and Fools”
Weekend Update (featuring Eric and Donald Trump, Jr.)
• And now the show starts to lose steam. Another lifeless and laughless Weekend Update, which is par for the course when it comes to Colin “Nu-Male” Jost and Michael “Kill Whitey” Che.
• Why the fuck do they keep bringing back Eric and Donald Jr.? They’ve never made me laugh, and Eric’s portrayal borders on offensive. Please stop doing these.
1/5
Sketch: Love at First Sight
A couple (Chance and Cecily Strong) experience love for the first time and begin flying.
• An extremely bizarre sketch. Not sure what they were going for here, but it wasn’t really all that funny.
• The biggest laugh I got from this one was how obvious the wires were. Sadly, they later replaced this with the dress rehearsal version in reruns.
2/5
Fake Movie Trailer: Space Mistakes
Astronauts make mistakes...in space.....
• Another bizarre sketch, but this one was actually a good kind of bizarre. A spot on parody of those outer space movies.
• Kyle Mooney’s death was hilarious. And I love how the blood stain remains there for the rest of the sketch.
• Great tagline, too: “What if you messed up at work, but your work was in space?”
• I fucking love the ending where the astronaut’s wife asked where his accident occurred, and the NASA technician’s response is a perfectly-delivered, “In space...”. Funny stuff!
5/5
Fake Commercial: Dazzle Designs
A rental service for choir clothing designs.
• In the Woody Harrelson episode from earlier in the season, Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon did a fake commercial for an apple orchard that, for whatever reason, became very popular. What does SNL do with any sketch that becomes popular? They try to replicate its success, of course. As a result, we now have this commercial for choir clothes.
• As much as I hated the original sketch, at least that one had Woody Harrelson being himself. This one has nothing.
1/5
Musical Performance: “Handsome”
Sketch: Dance Rehearsal
A dance instructor has a dark secret....he’s slowly becoming a werewolf!
• According to fellow SNL reviewer Matt from One SNL A Day 2.0, this was originally written for J Lo’s Season 35 episode.
• I thought this was going to be kind of dumb, but it was okay. Kenan put in a great performance, and the werewolf makeup was pretty good, too.
• Even Bowen Yang (playing yet another gay character) managed not to get on my nerves.
3/5
Final thoughts: I’ll be honest. I was not expecting a quality episode here. But imagine my surprise when, not only did I get that, but I also got one of the best episodes I’ve ever seen! They’d better bring Chance the Rapper back next season, because he certainly earned my approval!
Final score: 4/5
Best sketches: First Impressions Court, Tasty Toaster Tarts, Spooky Songs, the visible wires in Love at First Sight, Space Mistakes
Worst sketches: Trump Rally, Weekend Update, Dazzle Designs
Stay tuned for my next review, when I tackle the Kristen Stewart/Coldplay episode that aired a week after this one. It also happens to be the worst episode I’ve ever seen.
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