SNL got in its last episode before the Presidential election. So how would they handle it? Onto the review
Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump Cold Open: The final cold open before the election saw Hillary Clinton and Trump in a side by side interview on CNN, with the focus on the Comey letter as Clinton looks to pivot and spin away. It sort of felt like it was just trudging along, but then something amazing happened. Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin both break character, seemingly sick of the election. They then run outside, greeting and hugging people while still in character. It was sort of like this alternate universe, or utopia. It was just a nice moment to see. (8.3)
Monologue: The monologue took a bit of a step back this week, as Benedict sang about how good looking he is. Really nothing else there. (6.5)
Koohl Toilet (ad): This was sort of out there, but it worked. Its an ad for a reverse sitting toilet.....so yeah. Sure, it was kind of idiotic, but it was amusing as well. (7.3)
Why Is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot?: There isn't much to say about this, other than it seemed pretty predictable. It started to seem like writers really didn't know what to do with Benedict (which is unbelievable, considering how talented he is.) (6.2)
Office Hours (short): Benedict plays a professor talking to Pete Davidson as a student. He goes on about his personal life, and admitting that he has feelings for Pete. What makes this work is how serious Benedict plays it off, while Pete consistently gives short monotone answers. This just all came together fairly well. (7.5)
Surprise Bachelorette: This one another one of those idiotic, yet fun sketches. Aidy Bryant plays a grandmother getting re-married, and as she arrives to a surprise bachelorette party, she dies of a heart attack. The party keeps going, including members of the Chicago Cubs as strippers giving her a lap dance. On paper this just seems like it shouldn't have worked, but those involved just sold it well. (7.0)
(Solange): (5.5)
Weekend Update: Update felt a little flat this week. There were still some good lines, but the energy wasn't quite there with Jost & Che, which can tend to happen when a show isn't going its best.
The first guest saw the Church Lady (Dana Carvey) talking about the election and the candidates. This kind of sent off an alarm that the well had run dry for the writers in terms of covering this election.
We then got those same members of the Cubs (plus Bill Murray) celebrating the historic world series win by Chicago, singing "Go Cubs Go". Much like the world series itself, this was a nice little escape. (6.8)
Gemma & Ricky: (4.7)
Criminal Mastermind: Now this was one of those sketches that should have worked on paper. Benedict plays this villain who likes to use riddles for his messages, but he keeps on running out of them. However, things just didn't really click all the way. (6.5)
(Solange): (6.9)
Meeting With Mr. Shaw: Just one of those bizarre 10 to 1 sketches. On a good night, these really hit, but when a show is sort of trudging along as this one did, you're just waiting for the show to end. (6.0)
This show fell surprisingly flat before the election. Benedict really tried, but a lot of the sketches were very one-note. It really felt like the writers just ran out of gas in covering the election. (6.6)
Tom Hanks: 8.03
Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74
Margot Robbie: 7.38
Emily Blunt: 7.07
Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60
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