Cold Open: First Warm Day Of The Year Arrivals Show
Two reporters interview random people in Central Park.
• A variation on that Halloween red carpet sketch from the Jack Harlow episode.
• Perfect casting of James and Michael as pervs. For some reason, this is the only time we see James tonight, which is a sad way for his great season to end.
• Nice pratfall from Molly, continuing the Chris Farley similarities. We’ll get another example of this later on…
• Ego gets some good use out of her usual “bitch” routine.
• Kenan once again comes off as out of place in this sketch with his overused shouting routine.
• Nice fakeout with the LFNY at the end.
• I didn’t think this was as good as the Halloween version. I guess I need to be a regular visitor of Central Park to get it.
Monologue
Ana talks about learning English and reflects on her amazing year.
• I must admit that I have no idea who this gal is.
• Seems like we’ve had a lot of Hispanic hosts lately. In fact, for the first time, both the host and the musical guest are Hispanic.
• I wonder if her story about learning English from Friends is true, or if it’s just some sweet NBC synergy.
• Not too much to say about this monologue, but I found her charming enough.
Sketch: The Dome
Matt Schatt competes on a game show with his new wife.
• For once, the game show host has a normal name, instead of a “funny” pun or sexual reference.
• Sudden return of Matt Schatt for the first time since Season 45.
• No matter how many different settings this guy appears in, the joke is always the same: the host of some show (usually Kenan) is puzzled as to why someone as lame as Matt Schatt is married to a hot woman.
• This probably goes without saying, but Kenan has reached the point where I am actively rooting against him in sketches. That line he screams about Matt eating dog food was particularly cringeworthy.
• No comment on the reveal of Matt’s many nipples. I also definitely could have gone without seeing Kenan pinch one of them.
• This sketch was thankfully kept at a short enough length. Can you imagine how much lower I’d be ranking it if it was ten minutes of Kenan screaming?
Film: American Girl
American Girl dolls travel to the present day.
• What’s with all the American Girl product placement lately?
• The reveal of Ego’s slave girl character was good for a laugh.
• Nice awkward silence after Ego reveals that she doesn’t know when her birthday is because she’s a slave.
• Sarah: “Look what I can do!” *coughs up blood, and the scene cuts to her getting covered by a tarp*
• I’m surprised at how much I’m enjoying this despite not being a little girl.
• We end on a funny callback to Sarah’s death from earlier when Heidi announces that she’s going to cure cholera, before coughing up blood herself, and getting thrown out the back of the wagon.
Sketch: Recording Session
Two voice actors help a music producer with his new album.
• Uh-oh, there’s Kenan again. I hope we’re not in for more shouty shenanigans.
• I’m about halfway through this, and Kenan’s goofy voice shtick is ruining this otherwise blandly average sketch.
• Between the American Girl film and this, Ego’s been having one of her best nights in quite a while.
• Not too much to say about this one, other than the fact that I’m extremely tired of Kenan.
Sketch: Spanish Class
Spanish class gets interrupted by two new students.
• The exterior shot of the school looks very familiar. I can’t remember where I’ve seen that school before, but it must have been in some movie or sitcom.
• Mikey’s hilariously badly-pronounced Spanish immediately got a laugh from me.
• Marcello, naturally, has a big role in this sketch. He has pretty good chemistry with Ana.
• As good as Marcello and Ana are, Mikey steals the show with his awkward teacher character.
• Nice appearance from Karol G at the end, and even the cliche dance party that follows is pretty fun.
Please Don’t Destroy: Hangxiety
The guys overthink everything they did at the SNL afterparty.
• Sixth episode in a row with PDD.
• There appears to be a cue card from Megan Thee Stallion’s episode on Ben’s desk.
• Nice interaction between Ben and Michael.
• I love the scene of John getting hit in the eye by his phone.
• I’m surprised it’s taken this long for Ego to show up in one of these shorts.
• Nice ending with Mikey chastising the three for their rude behavior at the party, only for the camera to reveal that he has no pants on.
• I know I had very little to say about that one, but I think I‘m finally burned out on these guys. If they come back for the next season, try to space out their appearances more.
Musical Performance: “Mientras Me Curo del Cora”
Weekend Update (featuring Funky Kong, Genesis Fry, and Molly Kearney)
• Can Che go through a single Update without laughing at his awful jokes? That Clarence Thomas joke was particularly bad. And it’s the second episode in a row to have a bad Clarence Thomas joke.
• Oh shit, now it’s time for another horrendous Kenan commentary. Here, he’s playing Donkey Kong’s relative, Funky Kong, in yet another awful example of Mario movie shilling.
• Am I the only one who thinks it’s kind of offensive that they’re having Kenan play a monkey?
• I could really do without the return of the Jean K. Jean dance break routine.
• So far, this commentary is pure cancer. I’ve said it time and time again this season, but Kenan needs to get the fuck off the show.
• What in the world is the “Monkey Kong/he’s a donkey” joke about? Did he flub a line and they just decided to leave it in to be “funny”?
• What frustrates me the most is all of the idiots in the comment section eating this shit up. Should I start compiling retarded fan comments on this blog?
• Overall, one of the worst commentaries I’ve ever seen.
• Ah, thank goodness Sarah is here to liven things up, playing a meditation guru named Genesis Fry.
• This really seems like a character that Heidi would play, but Sarah is making it work.
• We’ve gone back to the “roasting Colin” routine. I always keep expecting it to get old, but it never does. Why is that?
• Sarah briefly corpses during her line about nobody at the NBC Store recognizing who Colin is.
• Not the funniest Sarah commentary, but she’s the only person in the world who could make this material work.
• Now, Molly finally gets a commentary as themself, after being forced to play another fat guy a few episodes ago.
• After being pleased about how SNL has wisely not made it a big deal that Molly is non-binary, they unfortunately throw that out the window with the “super special” introduction they give Molly here, where they get lowered onto the stage with wires.
• While I certainly admire the message Molly is trying to convey here, is a comedy show the right place for it? This gets me thinking about what some other reviewers have accused SNL of doing lately, by using certain female performers (like Kate, Cecily, Molly, etc.) as a “security blanket” for the audience.
• Lots of cringeworthy clapter here. But Molly’s eternal likability is making it work.
• Molly rising from the desk with the help of wires is very Bennett Brauer-esque, and yet another example of Molly’s similarities to Chris Farley.
Sketch: Lisa From Temecula
Lisa disrupts a wedding her sister invited her to.
• Fuck, not this again. The first installment with Pedro Pascal was only a “hit” because of all the breaking. As we’ve seen in the past with Debbie Downer, trying to make a sketch recurring solely because of breaking will spell disaster.
• I like all the airtime Molly has gotten in this episode.
• This sketch is so far just a lame rewrite of the already lame original. Oh, but she’s got a salad this time instead of a steak! Such a big difference!!!
• I kinda laughed at the line about the piece of meat looking like a Fruit Roll-Up.
• Ana is starting to smirk a little bit, but this sketch has thankfully not degenerated the same way the original one did.
• Mikey has been in almost every sketch tonight. Here he has one of his typical reacting/explaining roles.
• Ego’s line about being gay is just a worse version of her line about being black in the first one.
• Overall, this sketch is a perfect example of why certain characters should never become recurring.
Sketch: Acting School for Dogs
An acting school for good looking dogs.
• Are you kidding me, SNL? Is this Season 45 again?
• No comment on Chloe and Ana’s stupid “cute” faces.
• Also, Chloe’s name is “Donna Colonoscopini”. Can you guess who wrote this???
• The first dog they show off is already refusing to cooperate.
• That pug is not having any of Chloe’s antics.
• I have nothing to say about the awkward closeup of the dog saying “Le woof”.
• Usually these “cute animal” sketches elicit some kind of response from me, but I’ve lost all interest in them. The second half of this episode is pure murder so far.
Musical Performance: “Tus Gafitas”
Sketch: Nails
A trip to the nail salon doesn’t go as planned.
• Please kill me. Another “SILLEEE” Bowen showcase?
• A big ol’ yawn from me at the reveal of Bowen’s long nails.
• The tape recorder bit fell flat.
• Now all of a sudden we get a random Twilight reference. What is the point?
• And this bland, underwritten sketch is how they end the season. I know this wasn’t supposed to be the finale, but it still sucks that we end things on a horrible Bowen vanity piece.
Final thoughts: The season comes to a premature end with a huge thud. The first half of the episode was merely average, but the post-Update half was a nightmare. Ana de Armas was an okay host. Not too special, but not awful.
Best sketches: American Girl, Spanish Class
Worst sketches: Funky Kong commentary, Lisa From Temecula, Nails
Stay tuned for my final overview of Season 48!!!
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