Coming off last week's disastrous Donald Trump show, would SNL rebound with Elizabeth Banks? Onto the review
Cold Open (Paris Tribute): Coming off Friday's devastating attacks in Paris, I was wondering how SNL would handle it. This was a nice and fitting tribute by Cecily Strong, done in both English and French. It was nice and to the point.
Monologue: The show then got going with Elizabeth Banks' monologue. They could have easily gone with a Hunger Games related one, but they did something different. Instead, it was a monologue on how she's recently gotten into directing, and wanted to direct her own monologue. It took a little bit to get into, but when it started rolling, Banks was just great. Our lives could use more star swipes.
(8.5)
Aron's List: An "ad" for "Aron's List"......America's Register of Non-Violent Sex Offenders; it was fine. It wasn't really anything new for SNL and seemed a little out of left field, but there wasn't anything incredibly offensive (although some of the offenses they listed were a little suspect as being minor). But as I said, all in all, this was fine. (7.0)
Black Jeopardy: Recent recurring sketches were a theme of the night, starting with the return of Black Jeopardy (last seen during Louis CK's show last season). While not quite topping the 1st, this one was still pretty good. Sasheer Zamata in particular really got a chance to shine. I also thought this was a good take on cultural appropriation with Banks' character, who thought she belonged there...(not going to get into that specific topic, which would take a while). There was a lot of good writing here, stuff that wouldn't quite fit in anywhere else, like say in Weekend Update. (8.0)
"Fist Got Horny 2 U" (short): The women of SNL (Strong/Kate McKinnon/Vanessa Bayer/Aidy Bryant) plus Banks formed the girl group "Infinity +5" for a song about what first made them "feel feelings"...from Carson Daly and Mr. Sheffield from "The Nanny"....to the Menendez Brothers and the 90s sitcom "Dinosaurs". I loved that McKinnon got to play herself, stating how the Hanson brothers made her realize that she was "gay as hell". In terms of these type of shorts, this was far far better than last week's "Bad Girl Club". You could even make the case that this was better than last season's "Twin Bed". (8.6)
High School Theater Showcase: This was the 3rd incarnation of this sketch. It had the same general idea, but had more interactions with the parents, Bayer & Kenan Thompson. I liked how Leslie Jones just booked it out of there from the start. There were just a lot of great small moments, from "who run the world...whites", to Kate's "Sea world" monologue. This was better than the last version of this sketch. (8.2)
Disclosure ft/ Lorde "Magnets": (7.5)
Weekend Update: As seems to be the case with Update, as the show was going well, Colin Jost & Michael Che seemed to connect. They had a nice riff on the recent controversy with Yale, and Jost had a good "baby Hitler/Jeb Bush" line.
The first guest was Pete Davidson, as he talked about the recent "bathroom" uproar and the failed "HERO" equal right legislation in Houston. This was Pete's best Update appearance yet. He was actually making a point, instead of just throwing in some weed jokes. While he's been great on Update, he truly made a statement here.
The 2nd guest saw Kyle Mooney return as Bruce Chandling. This character seems to be a hit or miss, as it thrives in awkward moments. And while he's still not one of my favorite characters, I felt like this time it got more personal.
The 3rd guest saw Mckinnon return as Russian citizen Olya Polvlatsky. As I frequently mention, she's always great at what she does, and that was still true here. There were some truly great lines, like "did you fall from Heaven? Are my babies alright?". (7.5)
The Adventures Of Young Ben Carson: It was about time we got a sketch about Ben Carson. Jay Pharoah was just fantastic as Carson. He's really got that impersonation down. The great thing was that they didn't really have to make anything up here, they literally based and sourced everything on actual quotes from Ben Carson. Kenan was also great as "Black Jesus". (8.4)
Walk On Role: This sketch was based on a walk on role for Bobby Moynihan (who played a school principal) for a show called "The Bureau". The spin here was that he was playing the role of a pervert, and would be seen in countless promos. While everyone was committed here, it just didn't play out right. (5.1)
Disclosure ft/Sam Smith "Omen": (7.9)
Uber For Jen (Mike O'Brien Picture): Mike O'Brien returned with another short. He's now more of a freelance writer for SNL. Like with any O'Brien piece, this took a while to get into, but once it got going, it was pretty great. Mike was an uber driver for Elizabeth who took her on a journey of sorts, from hitting a guy, to the delivery of his child. It was overall well produced and well-made. (8.0)
Ghetto: This sketch featured the women of SNL, who were talking about "how ghetto" things were, until Banks started talking...who actually lived in a ghetto. The sketch made a good point on an over-used phrase, but it didn't quite mesh as it could have. (5.7)
From last week's horror-fest to Elizabeth Banks felt like a breath of fresh air. She was actually into it and felt like a cast member (which of course is always a good sign for an episode). The episode also reflected how good a mood the cast was in to move on from last week. All in all, this was a nice rebound season as Season 41 marches forward.
Overall Score - 7.53
Tracy Morgan - 7.94
Elizabeth Banks - 7.53
Amy Schumer - 7.18
Miley Cyrus - 6.07
Donald Trump - 4.92
No comments:
Post a Comment