SNL Season 41: Ep.18

SNL wrapped up a 3-week stretch. Would they close out April on a high note? Onto the review.

Cold Open (CNN Brooklyn Democratic Debate): Larry David made another appearance (he's gotten more screentime than newcomer Jon Rudnitsky) as Bernie Sanders. This opening didn't seem quite fleshed out. Julia made an appearance as her Seinfeld character Elaine. Elaine and Bernie then bantered back in forth in Seinfeld mannerisms, which I don't think a lot of people got, being about 20+ years later. And then Vanessa Bayer randomly appeared as Rachel to ask a question. Just random. (5.3)

Monologue: Julia made some mentions of her early post-SNL film work, including "Troll". Monologues have been pretty down as of late on SNL. There just wasn't much here. It was fine I guess. (5.8)

Heroin AM (ad): One of the more predictable ads for SNL, this for Heroin AM "with the side effects of Heroin). There was some good writing going on here, but it did feel a little "copy & paste" from some of their other drug parodies they've done. (6.9)

Huge Jewelry: Think "Bronx Beat", and the Scarlett Johnasson clock sketches, and you got this. It was basically just a Long Island accent driven skit about selling obscenely huge jewelry. Nick Jonas made an appearance, but like with the monologue, there just wasn't much here. (4.0)  

Pool Boy (Short): Pete Davidson played a pool boy to Julia in this short. She kept on trying to politely tell him that their fling was over, which Pete took nonchalantly. This was one of those pieces that got better as we kept on seeing Pete's reactions. The closing line was pretty great as well, when Julia saw Nick Jonas (hello again) mowing the lawn.....and lets just say she was going to get some of that. (7.5)

Cinema Classics: SNL brought back "cinema classics". Kenan Thompson continues to be great as the hose of this sketch. We saw clips of Taran Killam and Julia, as Julia staggered around the set looking for her lines...even a shell that just said "yes". There were some pacing issues to be sure, but Julia really sold this pretty well. (7.0)

New Mercedes (ad): This was shot so well that I thought it was real for a second. Julia was selling a car that ran on AA batteries. Overall it fell a little flat, but that last scene was pretty great when she opens the door, and hundreds or thousands of batteries just come pouring out of the car. (6.3)

(Nick Jonas ft/ Tove Lo) "Close": (7.4)

Weekend Update: Even with the lukewarm first half, Colin Jost and Michael Che were able to do a pretty good Update. They had a good riff on Ted Cruz and his "NY Values". 

The first guest saw Kenan and Jay Pharoah as Charles Barkely/Shaq. These two are quickly becoming one of the great Update duo guests. Jay's Shaq impression is just so good. 

Barkely/Shaq

We saw a new character, as Aidy Bryant played "Animal Annie", who connected animal knowledge with her personal life. She then brought a real iguana onto the set, as her new partner. 

Animal Annie

Lastly, we got Cecily Strong as the "One Dimensional Female Character In A Male Driven Comedy". This character has been pretty hit or miss, but I think this was the best iteration of it. (6.9)

One Dimensional Female Character 

Who Works Here?: Julia hosted a game show where contestants had to guess who actually worked at a CVS. This was a sketch that had all the elements there, but it just didn't quite click. The lightning round they had was really good, as a variety of characters danced around the aisle, but overall, it just didn't work out. (5.5)

(Nick Jonas) "Champagne Problems": (7.0)

Match.com Event: This was certainly a 10 to 1 sketch. A speed dating like event takes place at a bar.....and 2 aliens (Kate McKinnon/Julia) show up looking to mate. From the black eye contacts, to the voice distortion, this was just all sorts of bizarre. I mean, SNL has been known for some weird sketches (see "Space Pants" just 2 weeks ago), but man, was this one out there. I didn't know how to even rate this, it was just so odd. In any event, it was memorable at least, which can't be said for a majority of this episode. (7.0)

"God Is A Boob Man" trailer: Yeah, you read that title right. This was a parody trailer about a baker who refuses to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Obviously quite topical given the recent situations out of Georgia, North Carolina, and Mississippi, but this really worked well. Without even knowing it, I thought to myself while this aired "There's probably a movie like this out there".....and lo & behold, there is. God's Not Dead 2, which means there was actually an original ":God's Not Dead"....fascinating. Some unintentional comedy right there. Anyway, this parody was pretty brilliant. (8.0) 

What a weird episode (and not necessarily good-weird like the Peter Dinklage episode). This sort of oddly went down the same path as last week with Russell Crowe where a lot of the material just fell flat. I honestly don't know quite what to make of it. A poor April stretch for SNL.

Overall Score - 6.51

Ariana Grande - 7.95
Tracy Morgan - 7.94

Larry David - 7.73
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

Peter Dinklage - 6.80

Melissa McCarthy - 6.78

Julia Louis Dreyfus - 6.51

Russell Crowe - 6.38
Miley Cyrus - 6.07

Ronda Rousey - 5.78

Jonah Hill - 5.13
Donald Trump - 4.92