SNL returned at quite the opportune moment. How did Adam Driver do in the premiere? Onto the review. (sidenote: I'm no longer counting the musical acts into the review....which given Kanye this week...gives this show a bump up in the overall average, to put it lightly)
Kavanaugh Hearing Cold Open: There was a lot of intrigue in how SNL would take on last week's wild Kavanugh hearings. SNL did a less than stellar job with Anita Hill, so there was added pressure. They brought in Matt Damon to play Kavanaugh, and he portrayed him as a frat bro pretty much. The wild anger that he showed was on full display. They could have done a better job with Chuck Grassley, but Kate McKinnon as Lindsey Graham was inspired. There have been some think pieces on how SNL maybe muted the actual hearings, etc, but I thought they did a good job here depicting Kavanaugh. Maybe it didn't quite reach the Tina Fey/Sarah Palin levels, but I think they've defined Kavanaugh for a segment of a public with Damon's impersonation. (9.2)
Monologue: (5.1)
Fortnite Squad: (6.0)
A New Kyle (short): I'll get to this a bit in weekend update, but the big update over the summer was Pete Davidson's engagement to Ariana Grande. They addressed that here in this short with Kyle Mooney trying to recreate himself in Pete's image. Maybe its an unpopular opinion, but I think Kyle is vastly underrated on SNL. Never change Kyle. (7.5)
Coffee Shop: (6.4)
'80s Party: The conversations around Kavanaugh have brought light upon the culture in the 1980s. SNL took that angle with this short, a look at a 1980s fraternity party, and the consequences that could result from choices made. (8.3)
Weekend Update: Jost and Che took on Kavanugh during Update, with Che making a good point....this was a job interview. If you might have committed sexual assault, and yell and shout...you're probably not going to get the job. Che went on further, discussing that "might" angle a bit further.
Kate McKinnon returned as RBG, talking about Kavanaugh. Then Pete Davidson talked about his wild, news-making summer. (8.5)
Career Day: I was surprised to see a 10-to-1 style of sketch go right after Update. Adam Driver as "Abraham Parnassus" was quite something. He just took command of this role and ran with it. I frequently say that there are some roles that only a certain host can portray, and this is one of them. (9.0)
Neo-Confederate Meeting: (6.0)
This premiere was quite Kavanaugh-driven. Apart from those pieces, it felt a bit muted, with the material in between falling a bit flat. This was probably just because of the events of the past week, but the political cold open was stronger than usual. Throughout last season, cold opens featuring Alec Baldwin's Trump often fell flat, so we'll see if Baldwin returns, or if they finally move on to a new direction. (7.33)
Adam Driver: 7.33
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