SNL Season 41: Ep.10

SNL came off its holiday hiatus with Adam Driver this week. So would SNL's return drive Kyle Ren into a fit of blind rage? Onto the review

Cold Open: GOP Debate: SNL has widely been known for their political writing and sketches....but they've been fairly weak politically this season, and it continued with this cold open. Maybe its just that you can't quite parody these set of candidates? It seems Darrell Hammond is going to be Trump here on out, with Taran Killam sliding over to Cruz. Jay Pharoah's Ben Carson is still brilliant, but there just was little bite with this. (4.5)

Monologue: It was expected that they would bring up Star Wars with Driver's monologue, so they had Bobby Moynihan and others impersonating Kylo Ren. As far as monologues go, this was fine, nothing special, nothing awful. (6.0)

Football (Arizona-Green Bay): So this sketch was certainly something. It was a take on injuries and our obsession with football and replays. Pete Davidson played a 3rd string QB for the Packers who suffered a devastating knee injury (to put it lightly), and Beck Bennett/Adam Driver apologizing time and time again for showing the replay at various angles. It was trying to make a point, but it didn't quite click enough. (6.2)

Undercover Boss: Star Killer Base: Some form of Star Wars sketch was to be expected, but this one was pretty creative. Kylo Ren (Driver) went "undercover" as Matt, a technician at the Star Killer base. Safe to say, that with his rage he was quickly found out. The interactions here with Driver were just fantastic. (8.3)

Aladdin: So this one was certainly out there. Adam and Cecily Strong played Aladdin and Princess Jasmine on a modern day magic carpet ride, with Jasmine dealing with flying birds, bombs, and sewage. This was a pretty bizarre idea that didn't quite work, but Cecily really did her all to sell it. (5.9)

America's Funniest Cats: Another out-there sketch, Adam played a TV show host of a show that played cat videos. He got interrupted by a pair of French hosts of a similar show (Cecily, Kate McKinnon), who got pretty dark and morose. This didn't have that great of a close, but it certainly was an interesting idea for a sketch. (6.5)

(Chris Stapleton) - "Parachute": (9.2)

Weekend Update: The Colin Jost-Michael Che team is slowly starting to come together. They at least some like a collective duo, working and reacting to each other. As far as the writing for the week, it was just okay, but it was the guests that made this week's update.

Pete Davidson talked about gun control, especially when it comes to mental health. Pete actually got pretty personal, admitting a couple of times he's been in a mental institution for depression. He was able to mix in humor while still making a lot of good points.

Pete Davidson: Gun Control

Next was what I think right now is the best Update guest, Laura Parsons (Vanessa Bayer).  A 12yr old Disney actress reading the news, this character is just great. The way she's able to sing and deliver lines on serious stories like Cosby, its like she's the new Stefon. (7.7)

Laura Parsons

Awareness Week: In this sketch, Adam and Cecily played advocates talking to a high school about "social puppeteering"...bullying to make people believe anything (like Cecily's in-depth 'honey i shrunk the kids' routine). This was an idea that probably killed in the writing room, but it just didn't play out. (4.9)

Fred Armisen - David Bowie Tribute: With the news a couple of days that Alan Rickman had passed away, I almost forgot that we'd also list David Bowie to start the week. Fred Armisen gave a classy tribute about how he stayed up to watch David Bowie's old SNL performance. That was followed by a clip of a Bowie performance. Just all class from SNL (10)

Golden Globes: This short was really something else. Adam and Vanessa played a couple that had won a Globe, and in their speech they playfully told their kids at home (Kyle Mooney, McKinnon) to go to bed. From there we got the perspective from the kids at home, going to bed alone, wondering when their parents would get home (as they partied throughout the night). It was that rare sketch that was both humorous, but also touching. The Liev Schreiber cameo at the end was a great closing punchline.  (9.1)



(Chris Stapleton) - "Nobody To Blame": (9.0)


Porn Doctor: A recurring sketch from the Amy Schumer episode involving a teacher, this involved a doctor (Driver) in a porn scene with Beck Bennett....and then Aidy Bryant shows up thinking its an actual doctor's office. This time around, the sketch lost some of its surprise factor, but it still was a good closing "10 to 1" sketch (especially that last scene). (6.6)


This show was certainly random (and they continue to fall behind with their political writing), but SNL had a solid return to begin the 2nd half. Adam Driver came off as a natural, who was willing to pretty much do anything thrown at him, which makes for a good host.

Overall Score - 7.22

Tracy Morgan - 7.94
Elizabeth Banks - 7.53

Adam Driver - 7.22

Chris Hemsworth - 7.20
Amy Schumer - 7.18

Matthew McConaughey - 7.13

Tina Fey/Amy Poehler - 7.03
Ryan Gosling - 6.92
Miley Cyrus - 6.07
Donald Trump - 4.92