The remaining candidates face off in a debate.
• Nice to see Mikey Day get a big role as George Stephanopolous.
• Rather cringy joke about Trump going “Super Saiyan”. HOW DO YOU DO, FELLOW KIDS?
• Sudeikis’s Biden is a riot once again, especially the “creeping up from behind” joke.
• I don’t understand why there’s such heavy applause for Kate’s Elizabeth Warren. It’s one of the worst impressions the show has ever had.
• Pete Davidson takes over as Tom Steyer. While I admire that they didn’t get Will Ferrell to come back to pad out the cameos even more, they still forgot to make anything he says funny.
• Probably the best debate sketch so far by default. It still sucked, but I found it a lot more tolerable than the rest.
2/5
Monologue
RuPaul shares his philosophy on drag.
• It’s rather surreal seeing RuPaul not in drag. He actually appeared on the show back in the Season 19 premiere, where he was in a game show sketch where you had to guess people’s genders. Of course, that sketch would probably never air today.
• While I must confess that I think RuPaul’s Drag Race is one of the dumbest TV shows ever, I really like how energetic he is here. And I have to admit that some of the words he says are automatically funny because of his voice.
3/5
Sketch: Family Charades
The Johnson family faces off against another family in an intense game of charades.
• As far as charades-related sketches go, nothing will ever beat the one from Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s 2006 episode.
• This one isn’t too bad, but the main joke got old very quickly.
• Ego Nwodim gets a lead role. Can you please promote her to a full cast member for Season 46, Lorne?
2.5/5
Short Film: Chad & RuPaul
RuPaul discovers Chad (Pete Davidson) on stage, and tries to give him a makeover.
• These Chad films continue to be the only thing I can tolerate Pete Davidson in. Something about his bored and uninterested delivery is hilarious.
• That being said, this was pretty boring, and not as good as the one I reviewed in the Mulaney episode from Season 44.
• I could have done without seeing Davidson in drag, thank you very much.
2/5
Sketch: Check Splitting
Two employees (Cecily Strong, RuPaul) make a big fuss about splitting the check at lunch with their coworkers.
• Another really boring sketch, not helped by the fact that Cecily’s character was extremely annoying. And, big shocker here, it was an Anderson/Sublette sketch.
• Kyle Mooney’s voice was pretty funny, though.
• This was surprisingly the first appearance of RuPaul in drag in a sketch (not counting the short film).
1/5
Fake Commercial: Boop-It
A new toy that is in no way like a Bop-It.
• What was the point of this one? Do you know anybody who still plays with a Bop-It? I sure as hell don’t. Maybe if they made this sketch back when Bop-It was popular it would have worked.
• Then again, no it wouldn’t. The “Boop-It” isn’t really a parody of the real thing as much as it is the same toy. What’s the point of making fun of it if you’re going to make it work the exact same way?
• I thought Beck’s role as the drunk father would help save this, but he only ended up making it worse.
0/5
Sketch: The Library
A library invites RuPaul to teach kids how to read.
• SNL takes on those “Drag Queen Story Hour” events that have been plaguing our country for a few years now. And, surprisingly, it actually turns out to be pretty funny!
• RuPaul’s offensive comments towards the characters in the books he’s reading are great.
• The only way they could’ve made it better is if they had him get arrested at the end for being a child predator, like many other people at those Drag Queen Story Hours have been.
4/5
Musical Performance: “Yummy”
Weekend Update (featuring Cathy Anne and Chloe Fineman)
• We start off with more horrid Trump jokes, including one comparing his acquittal to the OJ Simpson acquittal. Was Trump accused of murdering two people? No, so where does the comparison come from?
• Absolutely ghastly joke about Rush Limbaugh trading in his Medal of Freedom for a bottle of oxygen. If they made that joke about a Democrat, they would have been fired.
• We get another montage of Trump slurring his words edited together to make it seem like he’s losing his mind. Enough with these!
• Chloe Fineman shows up to give her thoughts on the Oscars. While we (thankfully) don’t get any jokes about “WHITE MALE RAGE” this time, we unfortunately get Fineman doing annoying impressions of all the movies. This marks a turning point for my opinions of Fineman. Once I reach the SNL at Home episodes, I quickly lose my patience with her.
• I genuinely laughed at Che’s joke about the black display figures being placed behind bars. But then he ruins it by immediately cracking up at it.
• Cecily returns as Cathy Anne. Once you’ve seen one Cathy Anne appearance, you’ve pretty much seen them all.
1/5
Sketch: Thirsty Cops
Two thirsty cops make their moves on a driver they’ve pulled over for speeding.
• This sketch from last season’s Seth Meyers episode becomes recurring.
• The character that Leslie Jones played in the last installment has been replaced by a character played by RuPaul.
• I didn’t really like the last Thirsty Cops, and, surprise surprise, this one’s pretty bad too. Hope they don’t bring it back again.
1/5
Sketch: The Old New York Show
Madge and Dickie host a talk show from their hotel room featuring special guest, Mr. Tarry Teats.
• Ugh, yet another self-indulgent McKinnon/Bryant pairing. Even worse, they made this one a talk show, one of the most overused premises in SNL history. Expect this sketch to become recurring in Season 46!
• McKinnon’s performance is really over the top and annoying here. Season 45 has been surprisingly light on her so far, but this sketch reminds me how much I hate her.
• Aidy Bryant isn’t much better. I’m slowly beginning to lose my patience with her, too.
• RuPaul’s character added nothing to this, but what’s up with the name they gave him? “Tarry Teats”? James Anderson’s influence must be rubbing off on these two.
0/5
Musical Performance: “Intentions”
Final thoughts: A slight step up from the JJ Watt episode. The sex and potty jokes were thankfully reigned in, but there are still several problems. There were some strong ideas in the first half of the episode, but after Update, it all went downhill. As for RuPaul, he didn’t do too bad, considering how much I hate his show. I’d be alright if he hosted again.
Best sketches: Monologue, The Library, Joe Biden’s lines in Democratic Debate
Worst sketches: Boop-It, Weekend Update, The Old New York Show
Next review: John Mulaney/David Byrne
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