SNL Season 41: Ep.20

SNL had its penultimate episode of the season this week, hosted by Drake. So how was it? Onto the review

Cold Open: Donald Trump/Chris Christie: This would have been a perfect way for SNL to jump on the "John Miller spokesperson" story, but while briefly touching it, they went with a more basic Trump/Christie veepstakes open. There were a few decent lines (including one on George Zimmerman), but all in all this was just really basic (despite getting Jay Pharoah making a brief appearance as Ben Carson). (4.9)

Monologue: It was nice getting a fully fleshed out monologue for once. Drake started rapping about all the memes revolved around him and how he's more than just a meme. The timing may have been a bit off, but at least this was an actual full idea. (6.5)

Rental Car: Beck Bennett and Vanessa Bayer played a couple looking to rent a car for their honeymoon, but Drake and his boss Jay had some problems. There didn't seem to be any real punchline or premise here, but Drake and Jay just had a lot of chemistry. If not for Jay and his mannerisms, this sketch would have been a disaster, but the pairing of these two saved it. (7.0)

American Ninja Warrior (short): Bobby Moynihan looked to compete on American Ninja Warrior for his friends and town, destroyed by a tornado. However, on the actual course, it went just as well as it would for you or me. It may have been a one-note joke, but Bobby just sold it with his determination on his 2nd and 3rd attempts, even trying to literally run across water. (8.0)

Dennis Walls & The Cookies: A supposed retro PBS show, Walls (Drake) had irritated the director, leading the director to sabotage the show with a tiny saxophone, a spinning bed, and other inconveniences. The premise was there, but it just didn't play out. And the spinning bed portion felt too much like Will Ferrell's "Mark Jensen Family Christmas" sketch. (4.5)



Office Boss With Drake: Paul Ryan (Taram Killam) looks for a 3rd party candidate to run, so of course he goes to Baby Boss (Bennett). It was a bit out there that Ryan would want a Baby Boss presidential run, but it was just nice to see this character again. Beck really goes all out to sell this, from his movements to dialogue. (8.0)

Office Boss

(Drake): (5.5)

Weekend Update: Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che continues to be consistently solid this season. Jost and Che have found a nice rhythm where they riff on a topic. 

The first guest saw Kate McKinnon's "Olya" return. Olya talked about the connections between Putin and Trump, mocking America for what could happen with a Trump presidency. In my opinion, this was one of the best iterations of Olya.

olya

Leslie Jones made an appearance, discussing why its never too late to find your calling. This wasn't one of her best, as it felt really abridged.

Finally, Jay Pharoah showed up to discuss another "secret rap meeting" about Jay-Z's response to "Lemonade". Drake showed up, debate Jay's impression of him (which was pretty spot on). (7.3)   

Jay

Black Jeopardy: Black Jeopardy made a return, with Drake basically playing himself (a Black Canadian) who isn't aware of some sayings. This was more or less used as a jumping off point for Canada jokes. Probably the weakest version of this sketch. (6.2)

Drake's Beef (short): This short saw Drake throughout his week on SNL imagining responses to various beefs, whether from Aidy Bryant taking a chair, to Leslie Jones not paying him mind in a hallway. It was a good thought out idea, but it made its point and ran a bit long. (6.7)

(Drake): (6.8)

Chaperon: Talk about a 10 to 1 sketch, I have no idea what this was. Drake played some Hulk Hogan like school dance chaperon, and then Taran showed up as Drake's character from 15 years in the future. There's weird, bizarre sketches with something of a premise, and then there's whatever the heck this was. (3.5)

A bit of an odd up and down episode. SNL continues to struggle politically, as they still don't know how to cover Trump properly. The one bright spot was the chemistry that Drake and Jay Pharoah had. Here's hoping the finale closes the season on a high note.

Overall Score - 7.08

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

Brie Larson - 7.08

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

Drake - 6.24
Miley Cyrus - 6.07

Ronda Rousey - 5.78

Jonah Hill - 5.13
Donald Trump - 4.92