Cold Open
Minnesotan news anchors have an on-air debate about the state of racial issues in America.
• Good lord, this was a pain to sit through. The show was clearly worried that Derek Chauvin would get away with his crimes because he’s white. Unsurprisingly, Michael Che is one of the writers of this.
• Luckily, none of their fears were warranted, as Chauvin would go on to be found guilty and sentenced to jail, which makes this sketch unintentionally funny in hindsight.
Monologue
The host’s monologue is interrupted by her enthusiastic husband, Marcus Mumford.
• It seems like we’ve had a bunch of British hosts this season. I don’t know why, but I really like that.
• I don’t get the joke where she says people confuse her for Michelle Williams. Do they look alike or something?
• While I’m not laughing that much, I find something charming about her accent.
• Then, her husband, Marcus Mumford, from three-time musical guests Mumford and Sons, shows up in a cameo that’s actually warranted for once.
• In the end, this turned out to be a nice heartwarming monologue. I’m surprised at how many strong ones we’ve had in Season 46.
Sketch: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Contestants still don’t know the answers.
• The most recent installment of this recurring sketch (as of this writing).
• I’ve never been a big fan of these, and this particular installment came off more tired than usual.
Film: Tremfalta
The new medicine that helps control IBS.
• From the first mention of irritable bowel syndrome, I can tell I’m going to hate this.
• Kenan doing that motherfucking voice AGAIN. Is that the only character voice he does nowadays?
• Business as usual for Lauren Holt, playing a silent role that ends up being her only appearance all night. It also just occurred to me that I have only one episode left with her in it.
• Like I expected, this has turned into nothing but lame poopy jokes.
• The only laugh I got was when Carey whispers to her husband (played by Mikey) to “Shut the fuck up” when he’s about to rat her out for making a mess of the bathroom.
Sketch: Study Buddy
A teenager (McKinnon) tries to impress his study buddy (Mulligan) during a study session.
• A sketch that I recall being extremely painful, given that it involves McKinnon in drag.
• A random laugh at the beginning when they mention having made a diorama of the Bush family in the past.
• The sketch then becomes another self-indulgent McKinnon/Bryant pairing, and now Bryant’s in drag as well!
• Christ, please let this sketch end already! Every word that comes out of these two makes me want to kill myself!
Film: Weird Little Flute
Pete Davidson, Chris Redd, and Kid Cudi sing about their weird little flutes.
• By all means, this should be something that I absolutely hate. But for some reason, I don’t.
• Redd looks hilarious in that fake beard.
• The flute parts of this song are really catchy.
• I can’t stand Kid Cudi, but I thought he did a good job here.
• Yeah, “weird little flute” is an obvious penis innuendo, but it was worth it just to see Chris Redd pull a flute out of his pants.
• Amusing cameo from Timothee Chalamet.
• My favorite part was the ending, where it turns out that they’ve been fooling around in a music store the whole time. After seeing the security footage (which features them bashing all the other instruments with their flutes), there’s only one solution left: they buy all of the flutes in the store.
• Am I going crazy or what? This is yet another surprisingly good Pete Davidson rap! Unfortunately, I don’t recall this upswing in quality lasting into Season 47.
Musical Performance: “Tequila Shots”
Weekend Update (featuring Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, Pineapple Penelope Peters, and The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic)
• Please stop it with the “Mitch McConnell hates children” jokes!
• I laughed at the picture Michael showed of the black guy during his CDC joke.
• Chris Redd and Beck Bennett show up as Obama and Bruce Springsteen, respectively. This also reminds me that we’re nearing the end of Beck’s time on the show.
• While Redd’s Obama voice sounds more like a black Jimmy Stewart, I like his energy. Beck, on the other hand, couldn’t sound a thing less like Springsteen. But I’ll let him slide in this case because Springsteen’s voice is hard to pull off.
• Punkie Johnson debuts a new character, a stripper named Pineapple Penelope Peters, or Pineapple for short. ESPN analyst Paul Pierce was fired that week after posting an Instagram video where he’s surrounded by strippers, and this character is supposed to be one of them.
• Punkie is doing an amazing job as this character. Her interplay with Michael is great.
• There’s a funny twist at the end where it turns out she’s been to his house before, as she remembers doing a pole dance for him.
• Unfortunately, the commentary that follows…I don’t know how to describe it. Asian Terry Sweeney shows up as “the iceberg that sank the Titanic”. After the surprisingly good commentary he had a couple of episodes ago, it’s back to basics with this one, as his portrayal of the iceberg is extremely flamboyant and annoying. In other words, it’s just an iceberg version of that awful “Bottle Boi” character he played last year. This was so terrible that I turned the episode off about halfway through this.
• For whatever reason, this commentary went viral online, proving that people today have no taste in comedy.
Side note: After Update, a memorial is shown for former SNL writer Anne Beatts.
Sketch: Starcharter Andromeda
Two dramatic crewmates ruin everything in this Star Trek prequel.
• I can already tell I’m going to hate this sketch as soon as I heard the awful Paramount Plus tagline at the beginning: “We thought of the Plus before Disney.” UGGGGHHHHH!!!!
• Another bad sign comes when there’s no sign of Akira Yoshimura anywhere, thus breaking a 40-plus year tradition where he plays Sulu in all of the Star Trek sketches they do. Instead we get a bland character played by Asian Terry Sweeney.
• Yet another bad sign comes when Carey and Mikey show up, and their characters are as over the top and annoying as possible.
• I did like the use of the actual Star Trek door sound.
• Geez, this sketch is so awful. It’s a shame, because they used to be so good at making fun of Star Trek.
• An actually satisfying ending where the annoying characters are ejected into space.
Film: Lesbian Period Drama
A new “will-they-won’t-they?” period piece from the makers of Portrait of A Lady On Fire.
• *sees title of sketch* Gee, I wonder which cast member wrote this one?
• Speaking of the cast member who wrote this, she thankfully isn’t one of the main characters, only appearing as a side character who has about ten seconds of screentime.
• Maybe I’d like this better if I’d seen the movies it’s parodying. But I haven’t, since I’m not a teenaged lesbian.
Sketch: The War In Words
Lt. Bertie Pembrook (Day) writes letters to his wife (Mulligan), which end up taking an unexpected turn.
• Third appearance of this recurring sketch.
• I find it slightly interesting that Mikey’s character in these sketches isn’t the same one every time. That’s a nice way to keep these fresh.
• Another switch in the format is that Mikey is at sea this time, instead of being stuck indoors again.
• While I’m not the biggest fan of the repetitive nature of these sketches, they do have a certain charm to them.
• Relatively funny part when he asks his wife to send him something “naughty”, and she sends cocaine.
• Yet another shake up in the format where disturbing details about Mikey’s wife are slowly being revealed. Apparently she’s murdered someone, and she had dinner with Nazis the previous night.
• Funny twist where they imply that the people she killed were Mikey’s parents. She even sends him a picture of her standing next to their gravestone.
• Overall, this is probably the best installment of this sketch.
Musical Performance: “Sad People”
Sketch: L’eggs
Two businesswomen infiltrate an after-school meeting to promote their hosiery brand.
• The fact that Streeter Seidell wrote this sketch is obvious because the characters keep overexplaining the jokes.
• I did laugh at Ego asking if hosiery is meant for “grandmas”.
• You know, I’m starting to get really tired of Aidy Bryant playing these types of characters. For some reason, it reminds me of the character she played in that awful Farrow & Ball sketch from Season 45 who kept emphasizing the British spelling of the word “color”. Her character in this sketch also has a habit of overemphasizing words.
• I like how the PowerPoint presentation the businesswomen are showing censors out their buttocks with photos of their heads.
• Aidy and Carey’s floor markings (little Xs on the floor that mark where they’re supposed to stand) are visible during the closeups of their shoes.
• Yeah, this sketch wasn’t too good. But at least it was buried at the end.
Side note: Another dedication is shown, this time for DMX.
Final thoughts: Overall, this was kind of a mixed episode. The bad stuff was downright horrendous, while the good stuff was surprisingly good. Carey Mulligan did alright, but I’d like to see how she does with better writing.
Best sketches: Monologue, Weird Little Flute, Punkie’s commentary, The War In Words
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Tremfalta, Study Buddy, Iceberg commentary, Starcharter Andromeda
Next review: Season 46 comes to an end with Anya Taylor-Joy and Lil Nas X. We also say farewell to Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt.
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