Cold Open
President Biden holds a meeting with top TikTok creators to discuss how best to solve the Ukraine crisis.
• Note to self: if a sketch starts with Steve Higgins’ voice narrating over a text crawl, it’s gonna be bad.
• I groaned when I saw this was going to be about TikTok.
• None of these impressions of specific TikTok personalities are doing anything for me, not being familiar with most of them.
• I like Chris Redd’s Jason Derulo impression. Also, he’s the only one of these people I’ve actually heard of.
• Another appearance from Kate as Jen Psaki, and, like the first time, they don’t even make fun of her, instead making her a straight woman to Biden’s antics.
• JAJ’s Biden voice is a lot more whispery here for some reason.
• Kenan has some great facial reactions to Fineman’s annoying nonsense.
• I cringed at Biden excitedly gushing about “The BooBoo Boys”. I always hate when SNL tries to make presidents “hip” and “trendy”.
• Derulo is providing my only laughs in this cold open. The fact that he only says his own name is hilarious. I especially like his sad delivery of “Jason…” after Psaki says that they’re skipping over him.
• Wow, Aidy’s character is annoying. She reminds me of that little girl she played who kept stumbling onto the sets of porno films. Further proof that she’s already done everything she can and needs to leave as soon as possible.
• Kenan accidentally bumps against the table as his character leaves the sketch. Redd has to push it back in place with his foot. Is it sad that this blooper got a bigger laugh out of me than anything else?
• Melissa’s character is also extremely annoying.
• A horrifying sight as we see Asian Terry Sweeney shirtless.
• Blah, yet another horrid cold open.
Monologue
Zöe gets visited by several former Catwomen.
• Full disclosure: I saw The Batman a few nights before this aired, and I thought she was great in it.
• It only takes 55 seconds for Kate to show up and hijack this monologue. And she’s wearing ugly fetish gear and doing the worst Catwoman impression ever! UGGGHHH!!! Why won’t you leave already?!!???
• Man, Kate’s delivery here is so awkward and flubby.
• On the bright side, we also get Ego as the Eartha Kitt Catwoman, and she looks pretty damn hot….forget I said anything!
• Super lame joke about latex outfits making squeaky sounds. Am I watching one of those “Leather Man” sketches with Jimmy Fallon?
• Ugh, Aidy shows up as a crazy cat lady. The amount of sketches she’s ruined this year just by showing up is worryingly high. At least the real cat that’s with her is very cute.
• Overall, I think this monologue would have been better if the other gals didn’t interrupt it.
Sketch: Maid Of Honor
A maid of honor’s wedding speech is full of revelations.
• Are those tattoos on Zöe’s arm?
• Kyle: “Did she shoot someone?” Thanks for explaining the joke for us, Kyle.
• In case you needed more proof that this is a Seiday sketch, they won’t stop cutting to Kyle’s character explaining everything that’s happening.
• Any potential this sketch could’ve had is ruined by the insistence on spelling all the jokes out for us.
Fake Commercial: Amazon Go
A new grab and go shopping experience.
• When this first aired, my sister thought this was an actual commercial. I don’t blame her, because it’s way too bland for one of these fake ads.
• Ego’s skepticism is at least admirably performed.
• After being left out of last week’s show, Punkie finally reappears. Too bad this is her only appearance in the episode.
• Another non-impression role for JAJ. Note that this does not mean that he actually has any lines.
• Finally, I got a laugh, from Kenan, of all people. As he carries the bag of potato chips away, he makes this amazing and indescribable noise that I’ve never heard from him before. Even after almost 20 years on this show, Kenan still has some surprises left up his sleeve.
• Apart from that, not much to say about this ad. Way too slow and boring.
Sketch: Study Buddies
A nerdy teen tries to impress a popular girl.
• Aw fuck, not this again. A horrid sketch from last year’s Carey Mulligan episode is inexplicably brought back.
• At this point in her tenure, Kate’s drag routine is beyond played out, as is Aidy in drag. *sigh* Only six more episodes to go before I’m rid of them for good.
• LOL, Kate’s phone clearly has a single image printed on it! That’s the only laugh I’ve gotten here!
• My thoughts in this sketch in three words: No, just…no.
Sketch: The Princess and the Frog
Princess Tiana learns an “interesting” fact about frogs…
• “We now return to…” This sketch is going to suck.
• Also, I’m fairly certain that Disney Plus doesn’t have “We now return to” announcements, because, you know, there’s no ad breaks.
• Zöe is at least believable as Princess Tiana.
• Knowing SNL’s recent track record with Disney sketches, it’s only a matter of time before this degenerates into lame dick jokes.
• Yep, there we go. Chris Redd as the Frog Prince starts talking about how frogs don’t have penises.
• 20 minutes later, that’s the only joke of this sketch. What a fucking waste.
Please Don’t Destroy: We Got Her A Cat
The guys try to surprise Zöe with a cat, but it doesn’t go as expected…
• Good to see these guys back again after how awesome their last film was.
• Awwww, that’s such a cute kitty! It looks a lot like one that my Aunt Amy used to have.
• The joke about the “Man-Ant” they gave to Paul Rudd was kind of lame, but I still laughed.
• Random Paul Dano cameo. Again, I still laughed despite the dumbness of it, especially considering that it has him emerging from under a couch.
• Who are the guys on Dano’s fake movie poster? I feel like I remember them.
• Amusing fake-out where we get tricked into believing that Ben stepped on the cat, but it was really his LEGO set.
• I like how Dano just goes back under the couch when he isn’t needed anymore.
• Funny ending where the cat randomly speaks to them.
• The PDD guys deliver another solid film!
Sketch: Old Home Movies
A father’s secrets come to life when his family discovers an old video tape.
• A black screen reading “Old Home Movies House Ext.” briefly appeared before the opening shot of this sketch in the live airing. This was removed for the online upload.
• There’s one guy in the audience with a really obnoxious laugh.
• Amusing references to former writer J.B. Smoove.
• I like Kenan’s movements while the video is being “fast-forwarded”. It reminds me of the classic Video Will sketch with Jan Hooks.
• Kenan: “And I was just a struggling backup singer for The Commodores. I just wanna tell ya, I was never a backup singer for The Commodores.”
• Chris: “I can’t believe he have the erectile dysfunctions!”
• I like how, at the end, we see how this sketch was pulled off: Kenan was on a separate set just off to the right of the rest of the cast.
• A surprisingly good Kenan sketch at this stage of his tenure. For once his overused voice comes in handy. It also helps that this sketch reminded me of the aforementioned Jan Hooks classic, so I guess you could call this an unintentional sequel.
Musical Performance: “Chicken Teriyaki”
Weekend Update (featuring Terry Fink and Dan Bulldozer)
• I chuckled at the photoshopped picture of Che in an army uniform.
• Ugh, second episode in a row to have a stupid “Trump loves burgers!!!!” joke.
• Pretty good Jussie Smollett joke from Che.
• Not the LSD film critic again. They waited two and a half years to make him recurring, and now he appears twice in the past few months?
• I like him referring to The Power of The Dog as a “hysterical gay western”.
• Fink: “You say tomahto, I say *acid-induced gibberish*”.
• I don’t know why, but this routine is funnier than usual tonight. I especially like his claim about Encanto being hand-drawn by that “auteur” The Zodiac Killer.
• Not a big fan of him bringing up “Dogecoin”. That’s a phrase I never wanted to hear on this show.
• The best part is his “review” of Belfast, where he claims that it stars the cast of Jackass, and Dame Judi Dench as “Wee-Man”.
• I think I might have finally come around on this character. Too bad this is his final appearance before Alex leaves the show.
• Yikes, that joke about Queen Elizabeth moving out of Buckingham Palace has not aged well.
• Kyle Mooney debuts a new character named Dan Bulldozer, a “lifestyle influencer” who’s here to talk about social media’s impact on our lives. I assume he was named after writer Dan Bulla.
• Amusing artificially deepened voice for this character.
• I laughed at the fake photo of him at his computer.
• There’s some glitches with the voice modifier that surprisingly haven’t been fixed for the online version.
• While I got some laughs from this commentary, it was kind of meh on the whole.
Sketch: Word Crunch
Contestants have a hard time understanding the rules.
• “You’re watching the Game Show Network.” This sketch is gonna suck…
• The host’s name is “Gene Baby”? Lame. I’m shocked this wasn’t a Kent Sublette sketch.
• Good to see Andrew in a big role. He is totally believable as a game show host.
• Holy crap, Aristotle in a sketch! And he actually has lines!
• Unfortunately, this has turned into a one-joke sketch where Zöe’s character keeps saying “momhole”.
• I admire Andrew’s performance, but this sketch is a bunch of nothing.
Musical Performance: “La Fama”
Sketch: Don’t Stop Believin’
A man annoys everyone by singing the marching band version of “Don’t Stop Believin’”.
• I like how Chris has been in almost every sketch in this episode! Which makes it even more sad that he only has a few episodes left.
• Ugh, now we have an Asian Terry Sweeney vanity piece.
• I like his energy here, but this concept is extremely stupid. Is there even a “marching band version” of this song?
• Overall, I agree with fellow SNL reviewer Jesse Nathan when he said that this sketch has a huge Anderlette feel to it. Imagine my surprise when I found out that neither of them had anything to do with it.
Cut For Time: Can I Talk To You
Two men struggle to flirt with women at a gas station.
• A huge initial laugh from the way Chris’s character looks.
• Not the funniest concept, but Chris is making it work with his delivery.
• Mikey’s appearance as a similar character is a little more forced, but still amusing.
• Mikey: “Are you a Virgo, or a Sagit-Terry Crews?”
• Chris: “You gonna let me take you out to Harry Potter World and drink some butterbeer?”
• Random (but funny) climax where Mikey gets hit by a car.
• This starts out kind of slow, but by the end, there’s enough laughs to make you wonder why it didn’t make the live show.
Final thoughts: Kind of a mixed episode on the whole. Some really good stuff, and some really bad stuff. Zöe Kravitz was kind of a bland host, but that isn’t her problem. It’s the writing’s fault for not letting her stand out more.
Best sketches: That hilarious noise Kenan made in the Amazon sketch, We Got Her A Cat, Old Home Movies, Terry Funk commentary, Can I Talk To You (Cut)
Worst sketches: Cold Open, Maid Of Honor, Study Buddies, The Princess and The Frog, Word Crunch, Don’t Stop Believin’
Next review: Jerrod Carmichael/Gunna
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