Cold Open: Epstein Files
President Trump tries to distract from the Epstein Files.
• “You’re watching C-SPAN. Thank you.” UGGGGGHHH!!!!!!!
• I love how the first person we see in this sketch is Ashley!
• Geez, this dialogue is so on-the-nose and unfunny. Trump’s Press Secretary hates the media, so let’s have her openly state this every chance she gets! Brilliant writing, guys!
• Thousands of photos of Trump and Epstein pointing at things? How come the only one I’ve seen of this happening is that constantly passed around video of the two of them at a party?
• If you didn’t laugh at this sketch, don’t worry! There’s only a million more Epstein Files sketches in this episode!
Monologue
Glen talks about his cancelled hosting stint and shows an old student film he made.
• Did he just do a “your mom” joke? How old is he? Ten?
• I like the brief glimpse we get of his old student film.
• Interesting story about how he was supposed to host a Christmas episode, but his invitation was cancelled when Top Gun: Maverick was delayed. I don’t know what year this would have been because that film got moved so many times.
• Sweet ending where he brings out the UPS guy he took a selfie with in the past.
Sketch: AI Photos
Grandma is terrified of artificially generated photos on social media.
• I love Marcello’s insensitive comment to his grandmother about how she probably doesn’t have a lot of time left.
• Great idea for a sketch. I just wish they didn’t have to explain everything for the slower people in the audience.
• The reveal of the dog having a tail at both ends is both hilarious and creepy.
• Bizarre scene with Mikey revealing he has no genitals.
• Great performance from Ashley, by the way.
• All the crazy shit going on in the last photo they bring to life is amazing. My favorite detail: Baby Ashley being used as an accordion.
• Nice callback at the end to Marcello’s comment from earlier.
• This episode is off to a good start!
Film: I Miss My Ex’s Dad
A song about missing your exes’ dads.
• Pretty catchy song so far.
• For some reason, the shot of mustachioed Kenan sitting in his chair made me laugh endlessly.
• I love the look of Glen’s character.
• The lyric about meeting Steely Dan was pretty funny.
• Glen’s dinner table freakout was a little too long, but still amusing.
• I can’t remember the last musical short film on the show that I actually liked. But this one was pretty good!
Sketch: Bachelor Weekend
Sebastian Maniscalco entertains during a bachelor’s retreat.
• Tommy has been in pretty much every sketch so far.
• I’m only vaguely familiar with Sebastian Maniscalco, but I know enough that I’m finding Marcello’s impression pretty funny and accurate.
• How in the world is Marcello pulling off some of these moves? The pose he’s in while he’s talking about playing Twister is particularly impressive.
• You can clearly see the rest of the cast trying not to laugh at Marcello’s antics throughout the sketch. For once, I don’t blame them.
• Ugh, they had to ruin it at the end with Chloe’s annoying Jennifer Coolidge impression. Other than that, I really enjoyed this sketch.
Sketch: Scent of a Marriage
Scandinavian actors go from serious to upbeat during takes.
• Great, now they’re ripping off SCTV’s classic “Whispers of the Wolf” sketch!
• Unsurprisingly, most of the Nordic accents are abysmal. Chloe is basically just doing the voice of that annoying Ooli character she used to play.
• Wow, what a shock. Kent Sublette was one of the writers of this. As if I needed to guess with the campy tone and silly voices.
• I can’t put my finger on what Jane’s “accent” reminds me of, but it certainly isn’t Norwegian.
• This is going for way too long. How many times are we supposed to laugh at them screwing up the lines?
• Not even JAJ’s spot-on Stellan Skårsgard impression is enough to save this garbage.
MacGruber (Part 1)
MacGruber attempts to distance himself from the Epstein Files.
• Well, this is a surprise! The world could use more Will Forte guest appearances.
• The character that Kristen Wiig usually plays is replaced with a different character played by Chloe.
• When Glen said he has a document he wants to leak to the press, I knew exactly what he was referring to…yep, more Epstein jokes.
• Will does a great job as always, but I’m upset that we’re using MacGruber to comment on current events again. Remember those awful COVID sketches he appeared in last time?
Sketch: Bob Army
Military factions show off their “bobs” for a new recruit.
• Andrew’s character is named “Sublette”. Hmm, I wonder who that could be a reference to???
• As soon as Bowen, Glen, and Sarah entered the room in those awful wigs, I knew I was in for a rough sketch.
• Oh, it turns out all of the characters in this sketch are named after writers! That’s pretty clever. Also, it figures that Bowen would be cast as “Fowlie”.
• Speaking of Jimmy Fowlie, could it be more obvious that he was behind this one?
• I haven’t laughed at all so far. This is the kind of garbage that made me want to retire my blog initially.
• Such a shame to see JAJ lowered to performing this rubbish.
• No comment on the “bob-sniffing dog”. Please laugh at the cute doggy, you guys!!!!
• Overall, blah.
Musical Performance: “Man I Need”
Weekend Update
• I got a genuine laugh from the joke about “blowing Bubba”.
• After that, it’s just a long set of easy Trump/Epstein jokes that everyone else had already made.
• Finally, another laugh from the Bill Cosby joke.
• Che: “The U.S. Mint this week stopped producing new pennies. Doesn’t make sense…” *audience slowly realizes the pun and begins to laugh* Sadly, he decides to ruin this joke by sharing an alternate punchline about how it’s “one last blow to Lincoln’s head”.
• As much as I’ve gotten tired of “Colin Jost is a white supremacist”, I did laugh at the joke about him being Hitler’s secret grandson.
• Wow, no commentaries for the first time since Season 49!
Sketch: Taken
A woman reunites with her ex-husband, and ends up cucking her current one in the process.
• “Awkwardsauce”? I’m getting that bad feeling once again…
• So this is a Taken parody, huh? I like Glen’s poor attempt at a Liam Neeson impression.
• Not gonna lie, Glen looks pretty good in that outfit…forget I said anything.
• I do not like where this is going so far. Can SNL please move on from the whole “guy gets cucked” formula?
• Aaaaaaand we just got a huge fart. It’s official: this sketch blows.
• It really hurts me to criticize a sketch that involves Andrew Dismukes taking off his shirt, but what else can I do? This sketch was a rare failure from him.
MacGruber (Part 2)
MacGruber continues to distract from the Epstein Files.
• “Toss me that radical left-wing hoax list!” Oh boy, here we go again…
• Now we have characters explaining the jokes in MacGruber sketches too???? Please stop it!!!
• I do like how the bomb doesn’t go off when the timer runs out, so MacGruber has to smash it against the wall to get it to detonate.
• This was just more of the same from the first part. I’m betting that the third part will be even worse.
Musical Performance: “Let Alone The One You Love”
Sketch: Haircut
A new haircut causes awkward tension among friends.
• Take a shot!
• Already a laugh from Ashley’s weird haircut. This is a character she tried to get on Update twice last season.
• Ashley’s odd mood swings are cracking me up. You can tell this is a character she brought along from The Groundlings.
• Mikey: “Can I get y’all started with some…I HATE IT!!!!!”
• Something about Ashley’s delivery reminds me of Kristen Wiig, but actually funny.
• Ashley, describing a favorite band: “Let’s just say that, if you see four guys with this haircut singing about killing kids, you’re at one of their concerts.”
• Nice reveal of the “skin-square” on the back of Ashley’s head.
• Even the ending with Kenan revealing he has the same “skin-square” was pretty good.
MacGruber (Part 3)
MacGruber casually reveals Epstein trip secrets.
• I like how this last one takes place in a monastery for some reason. What monastery do you know of that has a control room?
• By default, this is the best of the three parts because it has MacGruber singing a beatbox version of “Amazing Grace”. I also liked the ending where he’s about to reveal who he saw on the island, only to make a bizarre noise before the monastery blows up.
• Overall, wow. I can’t believe they ruined MacGruber again. While not as painful as the 2022 installments, it still hurts to see him reduced to this. Fellow SNL reviewer Anthony summed it up best: “MacGruber’s always been a sleazebag, but in that classic Forte way where you relish in his hyped-up brand of assholery. Where’s the fun in watching him rotely repeat talking points from the real-life assholes of the world?”
Final thoughts: This was a bit more mixed than the last episode. While there was a lot of really good stuff here, there were also some atrocious piles of shit like the MacGruber sketches and that nonsense about “bobs”. Special credit should also go to Glen Powell for doing a pretty good job as host. A few months after this, he played Fox McCloud in the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and I really loved him in that role too. He should come back to host again.
MVP: Glen Powell
Best sketches: AI Photos, I Miss My Ex’s Dad, Bachelor Weekend, Haircut
Worst sketches: Scent of a Marriage, Bob Army, Taken
Next review: Aw shit, it’s Melissa McCarthy.
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