SNL Scorecard: Jonah Hill/Maggie Rogers
Thanks to a long, full, out-of-town weekend of traveling (#longdistancerelationshipz), I wasn't able to fully watch the most recent Saturday Night Live episode until last night. So, much, belatedly, I offer my take on last week.
I completely understand why SNL's frequent hiatuses (hiatii?) are necessary; the amount of work that goes into making the show even happen each week has to be insane. Still, I hate the multi-week breaks they take. It makes my Saturday nights feel so cold and empty and joyless.
That being said, SNL returned with a much-needed jolt of energy to what has been a somewhat underwhelming season thus far. In the vein of the previous episode, this was one with no brilliant highs, but also no clunker sketches at all. And where that episode, hosted by Seth Meyers, by and large followed in the vein of its subdued host, this one went all in on the absolute weirdness, which is a risky game, but in this case was delightful.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 4th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“Benihana”: 8/10
It's not often a host who's not an SNL alum gets his own recurring sketch, but it's time for Jonah Hill's Adam Grossman to get entered into the pantheon of great SNL characters. It's been a long time since I've watched any of the previous versions, but this take felt like the sharpest writing of any of the "Benihana" skits to date. Plus, I'm partial to when people break character, particularly when it comes amidst a "6-year old" bellowing Bob Marley songs in a New Yawkah accent.
The Good
“Political Musical": 7/10
Skits like these make me wish that I lived in New York, just so I could visit these off-broadway theatres and see how dead-on SNL's take is of them.
"Weekend Update": 7/10
Staying true to form, Weekend Update answered their "meh" performance from last time out with a much better outing this time around. Pete Davidson made another star turn, appearing as himself for the 3rd time in 4 episodes, and if I'm not mistaken, he's made a reference to his relationship (or now, lack thereof) with Ariana Grande each time. This time, it was a classy, serious nod to his ex, which followed up some edgy, but, yes, hilarious takes on political candidates. I LAUGHED AT THE EYEPATCH JOKE, SUE ME. Also great, though, was Melissa Villaseñor's rendition of every teen girl on Law and Order: SVU. Uncanny how dead on that was.
“Teacher Fell Down": 6/10
This is what I mean by delightfully weird. Skits like these aren't for everyone, but man, Kate McKinnon sold this and I was eating it up. Of course, once again, I also love when they break, and Pete and Jonah's giggling had me in stitches as well.
“Midterm Ad": 6/10
When you think about it, this was a pretty risky skit, because who could have known how it would have played after Election Night? Speaking from the other side of last night now, its premise still rings pretty true, and would have been a fair assessment of the feelings of many regardless of how everything shook out.
“KCR News": 6/10
The ending to this was a bit muddled, but this one was also yes, bizarre, and yes, full of laughs. Jonah Hill's character somehow pulls off the worst marriage proposal ever to air on television.
“Dog Infomercial": 5.5/10
A simple concept: a company in a local ad wants you to buy their wigs for your dogs. Nothing too memorable, but I chuckled through the whole thing.
The…Less-Good
“Monologue": 5/10
I actually was just starting to wonder how many times Hill has hosted (because it seems like he does every season these days) when he mentioned it was his 5th time. The new take on the 5-Timers Club, being run by women in the #MeToo era, was clever, but went on a little long.
“Caravan Cold Open”: 5/10
This started as a really solid sketch, thanks to uproarious Fox News impressions-- I don't care enough about the real people to look up their names again --from McKinnon and Cecily Strong. Unfortunately, the skit needlessly lasted an eternity and ran out of steam in the latter half.
"America's Got Talent: Wait, They're Good?": 4.5/10
As a skit, there wasn't a whole lot here besides Kenan and Leslie's terrific rendition of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Still, as someone who is getting tired of America's Got Talent's formulaic 'shocking success' contestants, I'm glad this parody exists.
“HuckaPM”: 4.5/10
For the weakest skit of the night, still not a bad one. Sarah Huckabee Sanders having a medical explanation to the question "How do you sleep at night?" is a funny concept. At the end of the day, though, this is basically just Aidy Bryant falling through things.
Musical Performances
Maggie Rogers: 6.5/10
I was very intrigued to hear Maggie Rogers perform, as the first musical guest of the year whose music I was completely unfamiliar with. Her first performance, it must be said, was fairly shaky. Nerves almost surely played a part, and who can blame her? The music still sounded fine, even if her voice wasn't truly connecting. So imagine my surprise when she came out for the 2nd song like a whole new person: dancing like a cross between Florence + The Machine and the hunchback of Notre Dame, she absolutely belted her song "Fallingwater." It was a terrific performance, one that offset the shy, wobbly first one.
OVERALL SCORE: 5.86 (Comedy Only score: 5.8)