SNL Season 42: Dwayne Johnson

SNL closed out its 42nd season with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (who joined the five timer's club). Onto the review.

Hallelujah Cold Open: In a flip from the post election cold open, Donald Trump (Baldwin) showed up on the piano to perform "Hallelujah" with other members from his white house (with Scarlett Johansson returning as Ivanka). In such a busy week of news, it seems SNL went with a safe bet here. If this was the last time for Baldwin portraying Trump, then what a run he had this season. (7.4) 

Monologue: Johnson recently made some noise on a 2020 Presidential run (which joke or not, you know what, why not). Anyway, he played it up here, rolling out Tom Hanks as his VP. (8.0)

Cartier (ad): (7.1)

WWE Promo Shoot 2: I wasn't expecting to get a callback with this sketch, but it was a memorable one in a prior Rock-hosted episode with Moynihan (who's departing SNL). They took on the mantras of Koko and Trashyard Mutt, following the same pattern as the first time around, with "Koko" spilling more secrets of Trashyard Mutt. It didn't hit as hard the 2nd time out, but still enjoyable. (7.4)

Rap Song (short): Kenan introduces the features of this rap track....and boy are there plenty of featured artists. While "David S. Pimpkins" got everyone talking, I want to know more about Essentially Simon (Beck Bennett) and "Kathleen Bell" (Aidy Bryant). (8.0)

Scorpio: (6.5)

Gemma: Another return sketch, this time Vanessa Bayer playing Kenan's wife, who runs into his old pals Gemma (Cecily Strong) with Johnson. While the focus here may be on 'Gemma', Vanessa (also leaving SNL), made this work, just seeing how left out she is and how miserable she looks getting wet on the amusement park ride. She plays this kind of character so well, always with a kind heart. (7.5)

Enhancement Drug (ad): In this ad for "Xentrex", Johnson demands his doctor (Kyle Mooney) for a prescription in this ad. It turns out there are some interesting and troubling side-effects.....such as both an increase and decrease in semen. Johnson's deadpan delivery makes this work so well. (8.7)

(Katy Perry): (6.5)

Weekend Update: Jost & Che had a lot to unpack with this hectic week in news, from Comey's memo and leaked classified information, to a special counsel. 

Vanessa returned as meteorologist Dawn Lazarus, giving a look at the upcoming memorial day weekend in her own special way. Its a shame this character is so new, because Vanessa really hit it out of the park.

Also making his Update sign-off was Moynihan's Drunk Uncle. It'd been a while since we saw him, so this was a good appearance, recapping a wild couple of months. (8.6)

RKO Movie Set: (7.0)

World's Most Evil Invention: What tops a "shrink and freeze ray" as the most evil invention? Well, "The Rock" was able to easily top them....going above and beyond the definition of 'evil'. This really was a jaw-dropper. All I'll say is, this certainly was some dark humor, but Johnson's delivery is so perfect that it works.And I'm sure White Castle loved the publicity... (9.0)

(Katy Perry): (6.8)

Wingman: (6.7)

Senior Video: (7.0)

SNL certainly wasn't afraid to extend thew boundaries in this finale. Overall, what a needed season (given the current political climate). It'll be interesting to see how things progress next season. Does Alec Baldwin return as Trump? If so, will they bring in someone new? And how will they cope without Bobby Moynihan and Vanessa Bayer, who were able to take any role and fill out a sketch. We'll have to wait and see. (7.48)

Dave Chappelle: 8.83
Kristen Stewart: 8.13

Tom Hanks: 8.03

Scarlett Johansson: 7.98

Melissa McCarthy: 7.85

Aziz Ansari: 7.82

Lin Manuel Miranda: 7.74

Louis C.K: 7.65

Felicity Jones: 7.62

Alec Baldwin: 7.58

Jimmy Fallon: 7.57

Emma Stone: 7.56

Dwayne Johnson: 7.48

Casey Affleck: 7.40

Margot Robbie: 7.38

Chris Pine: 7.31

John Cena: 7.19

Kristen Wiig: 7.09

Emily Blunt: 7.07

Benedict Cumberbatch: 6.60

Octavia Spencer: 6.49