We’re in for a rough show, fellas….
Cold Open
A special Mother’s Day message from the cast of SNL.
• The scene with Kate and her mom (who oddly resembles Kristen Wiig) was really sweet. I also enjoyed the meta reference where she assumes that Kate plays Mary Katherine Gallagher, and they do a variation of her “Superstar!” catchphrase afterwards.
• Holy shit, Kyle’s a fucking giant compared to his mom!
• Beck’s mom looks like a drag version of him. Their scene is then followed by Mikey’s mom asking to hold Beck’s hand.
• Hedi and her mom have the exact same smile! She must have been cloned or something.
• Kenan’s scene was probably my favorite. There’s yet another meta joke here when he says that she taught him all about doing reaction shots, which is of course followed by a shot of Kenan doing that bug-eyed surprised face he does so well.
• Another really funny part is when Bowen Yang’s mom sprays his mouth when he tries to kiss her. Yeah, that would probably be my reaction too.
• The only cast member we don’t get to see here is Michael Che, but this is more than made up for when Colin’s mom wants to read out a joke he wrote to the audience, which Colin is very much against.
• Overall, probably the best cold open of the season. No stupid politics, just a nice heartwarming piece that we need to have more of on SNL these days.
Monologue
Elon Musk talks about why he loves SNL and what he was like as a kid.
• Already off to a bad start when Musk claims that he’s the first person with Asperger’s Syndrome to host the show. Sorry pal, but Dan Aykroyd beat you to it.
• What’s with all those awkward pauses he keeps doing?
• All these jokes are so cringeworthy, especially the one about his son’s name being “Cat running across the keyboard”.
• “Her name is Maye, like the month, but with an E added on.” You can tell he has no faith in this show when he has to read lines like this.
• His mom showing up added nothing to this, although I did like her response to the above line: “Thank you for spelling my name, Elon.”
• Also, is it just me, or does she look a lot like Dame Judi Dench?
• What a boring monologue! Thus beginning the horror that is this episode.
Sketch: Gen Z Hospital
A friend group eagerly awaits for updates on an injured patient.
• SNL tries to take on Gen Z/Millennial culture, and fails miserably. Good lord, did I hate this sketch.
• Most of the characters in this sketch are wearing ridiculously colored wigs, and they speak in that annoying West Coast Millennial dialect that I really hate. You know, words like “dude”, and “bruh”. The use of this kind of language actually got the show in trouble with some black audiences for “co-opting” their vernacular.
• The sketch dies a painful death once Musk enters the scene and starts talking like the others. I don’t know why, but it feels really sad to see a famous billionaire be reduced to this garbage. They should have gotten Steve Jobs to host while he was still with us. He had a lot of charisma that would have translated perfectly to this show.
• Overall, this may be one of the worst sketches of the entire season. I can’t believe I forgot to put it on my list!
Film: Every Conversation With People You Haven’t Seen Since Quarantine Started
Partygoers try to make it through extremely awkward conversations.
• The main joke of this sketch got old really fast.
• Another example of random violence as a punchline comes when Kate’s inner thoughts reveal that she stabbed her husband with a screwdriver. Um, okay?
Sketch: The Ooli Show
An Icelandic talk show, where the host (Chloe Fineman) keeps getting interrupted by her celebrity guests.
• This character, who appeared in a one-off sketch in the second At Home episode, becomes recurring…for some reason. Even worse, they do it in the worst way: they put her in a talk show sketch! While recurring characters being given their own talk show sketches certainly has worked in the past (think of Fericito or Will Ferrell as Harry Caray), I don’t see it working with this particular character.
• Oh, and this is yet another “Funny Accent Sketch”! Lucky me…
• I did get a chuckle from the noise Beck’s character made after being introduced. And there’s poor Lauren Holt being wasted with a silent role.
• I’m getting a Hans and Franz vibe from the voice of Musk’s character.
• First appearance of Kate’s Frances McDormand impression in quite a while. Too bad it’s wasted here.
• Ooli’s apparent catchphrase (“Wow, pretty cool!”) gets more and more annoying every time she says it.
• Mikey Day’s performance as Ooli’s co-host is pretty good, but I wish he was in a better sketch than this.
• Pete Davidson’s appearance as Steve Buscemi is completely wasted. He only gets two lines! I wanted to hear more of him, because he sounds like he’s got the voice down.
• Melissa Villaseñor plays Bjork here, and her impression is nowhere near as good as the one Winona Ryder did in the Season 27 finale. Hell, it’s not even as good as Kristen Wiig’s, which is something I never thought I would say.
• While not as terrible as I remembered this being, it was still extremely annoying. I hope we never see this character again.
Film: Murder Durdur
An advertisement for a new TV show that follows a Pennsylvanian detective (McKinnon) trying to solve a case.
• Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me! Two funny accent sketches in a row?
• Apparently, this is a parody of some detective show starring Kate Winslet that I’ve never heard of.
• This mostly just consists of McKinnon’s character confusing everybody else with her bizarre accent. I wasn’t even aware there was a specific Pennsylvanian accent.
Musical Performance: “Without You”
Weekend Update (featuring Pauline, Lloyd Ostertag, and Baby Yoda)
• Rather unusual to see a joke about the episode’s host. There was a lot of controversy before this aired regarding him being chosen, but this is about all we get making fun of that.
• Some more anti-white jokes from Che. I’ve stopped mentioning them as much in my reviews because he does it in pretty much every episode.
• Ego is back at the desk with a new character, a mother named Pauline, who’s here to talk about her recent trip to Disney World. Instead, she goes on a passionate rant about what a terrible time she had. This is yet another great commentary from Ego! It seems like every time she appears on Update, she knocks it out of the park!
• My favorite part was at the end, when she reveals that she fathered a child with Michael Che. What’s the son’s name? Che Jr. Che. Brilliant.
• Another unusual moment comes when Musk shows up as Weekend Update’s financial expert, with a commentary about cryptocurrency. I don’t give a fuck about cryptocurrencies so I found this a total snooze.
• I cringed so hard when Musk mentioned “Dogecoin”. That’s a word that I never thought I’d hear on this show, and I wish it stayed that way.
• But the worst moment of this entire update is when…ugh, Baby fucking Yoda returns yet again! I have no further comment about this shitty character, so let’s move on to the next sketch.
Sketch: Wario Trial
Wario (Musk) goes on trial for the alleged murder of Mario.
• DEAR. FUCKING. LORD. I have to review THIS shit again? Oh well, it wouldn’t hurt to tear it another asshole.
• A while back, I put this at the top of my Worst Sketches of Season 46 list. I still stand by that decision today, because this is, without a doubt, the absolute WORST thing SNL has ever produced.
• Things start off bad right away with Luigi’s borderline offensive accent.
• I have no comment on the “joke” with the judge using a ? Block for her gavel. And it makes the actual sound effect, too, which makes me wonder if this whole sketch is another promotion for Universal’s upcoming Mario film.
• Unintentionally funny part when Wario’s lawyer (Mikey Day) says he’s going to bring up his client’s page on the Super Mario Wiki, but the page shown is actually from the Wario Wiki.
• Yet another drag role for McKinnon, this time as Waluigi. And, yes, she speaks in a very offensive accent.
• My life would have been a lot better had I never seen Elon Musk attempting to dance.
• I should have known they would do a “lol Mario eats mushrooms” joke at some point in this. That joke has been used and abused for over twenty years now, and it still isn’t funny.
• I could rant on forever about how awful that Princess Peach scene is, with her inaccurate Italian accent, and the fact that they claim she is Mario’s wife (she’s not), but I don’t want to waste too much space.
• The less said about that blurred picture of Luigi’s dick, the better.
• Something I didn’t bring up the last time I talked about this was the HORRIBLE way it ends. Davidson comes out as Andrew Cuomo, who advises us to not unfairly stereotype Italian-Americans. Wow, I don’t even know what to say. Do they not see the irony here?!?
Film: The Astronaut
Chad is chosen to save Elon Musk’s SpaceX colony on Mars.
• Our first Chad film in a while. And this is a very special one…
• I like how a lot of these start without any indication that he’s in them. For example, he doesn’t show up in this one until about 40 seconds in.
• Chad’s usual bored and uninterested delivery is just as funny as usual. I even got a laugh from his somewhat juvenile amusement at the word “sacrifice”, because of the “sac” part.
• The scene where he leaves his girlfriend (played by Miley Cyrus) is great. When she tells him that she’s carrying a baby, he says “No thank you” and shuts the door. That was a really well timed joke.
• Another surprisingly funny juvenile joke where he misreads the pressure numbers as “BOOBS”. This is followed by a nice fake out gag where a burst of pressurized gas pushes him back, only for him to return without any apparent injuries and save the day.
• And now, for the grand finale. Musk beams the camera feed all over the world so everybody can see the man who saved Mars. Chad thinks this means that they want him to take off his helmet, which he does, and then his head blows up, killing him instantly.
• According to Davidson, this is indeed supposed to be the final appearance of Chad, as he had gotten tired of playing him. While it is a shame that we won’t be getting anymore of him, I’m glad they decided to kill him off before he got too stale. Definitely a highlight of this troubled episode.
Musical Performance: “Plastic Hearts”
Sketch: Cowboy Standoff
A group of cowboys can’t agree on a plan to take down a powerful gang.
• This is surprisingly the first we’ve seen of Kenan since the cold open. Unfortunately, he starts speaking in a Western version of that annoying voice he does.
• A weak ending to a weak episode. Hearing Musk try to talk like a cowboy was extremely painful, and the material itself wasn’t that funny. They should have just ended the episode after the Chad sketch.
Final thoughts: While not as bad as I remembered it being, this was still a very poor outing. Of course, it didn’t help that one of the worst sketches ever was in this episode. Even without all of the controversy, Musk was an awful host. I hope they never try booking someone like him again.
Best sketches: Cold Opening, Ego’s commentary, The Astronaut
Worst sketches: Gen Z Hospital, Murder Durdur, Baby Yoda commentary, Wario Trial
Next review: Keegan-Michael Key/Olivia Rodrigo
RIP Chad
2016-2021
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