SNL Scorecard: Phoebe Waller-Bridge / Taylor Swift
Last week, I mentioned how Woody Harrelson as the host of the season premiere of SNL didn't make that much sense. Well, the host of the 2nd episode of Saturday Night Live made almost too much sense. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been a well known creative voice, on stage and on screen, for some time in Britain, but exploded onto the worldwide scene this past year with her show Fleabag, which won just about every major Emmy for Comedy in its 2nd season. It's her year, to be sure, and watching her many interviews in the wake of Fleabag hype makes one wonder how she hasn't been tabbed for an SNL gig before.
The season premiere was a solid, if unspectacular start to Year 45. Waller-Bridge and the cast took the baton and kept running, ensuring that this season got even better in Week 2. Yes, it only took 2 weeks this time, but already we have an SNL Scorecard with no bad skit ratings to give out.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 2nd episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“Mid-Day News”: 8/10
Ego Nwodim has to have one of the best batting averages of the SNL cast. By that I mean, it feels like she doesn't play a major part in many sketches, but just about every sketch I can recall her having a major part in, I've loved. This one got to the punchline pretty quickly, but the jokes kept coming (such as Chris Redd's character subtly loosening his tie). And man, the first time Kenan Thompson and Ego celebrated, I LOST it. This felt like something out of The Chappelle Show.
The Good
“The War In Words: William and Lydia": 7.5/10
I'm usually very nervous the first time SNL rolls out a redux of a skit that was so hilarious the first time. The debut of this sketch in the Claire Foy episode was one of the funniest all year, and thus, as soon as it became clear what this was, I was apprehensive of how it would play with the audience in on the joke from the outset. Turns out, still hilarious. Waller-Bridge brings a different-- not better or worse, just different --energy to her character than Foy did before her.
“Weekend Update": 7/10
Another very good performance Che and Jost, exemplified by the former's take on Trump ("Are we sure it's okay to make fun of this guy?"). It's so far, so good for the Update crew this season. They must have heard other voices besides mine talking about how short last week's Update was, though, because this one was quite long, featuring a rare three guests. I am always down to see Kate McKinnon's Elizabeth Warren, and Mikey Day's Mort Felner-- with the "Supercentenarian Report" --was entertaining, but the real Update star this week was Bowen Yang. The newcomer burst onto the scene with a hilarious take on the Chinese trade representative.
"Love Island": 7/10
Okay, confession time. In the last year, I have gone from not knowing what the heck Love Island was to watching the entirety of the completed 4 seasons with my housemates. So when the narrator says "You think you won't [50 hours of this], but you will", that hits hard. Now that I've admitted my guilty fandom, I can attest that this is a startlingly good portrayal of the show. They were just missing someone shouting "Ah've goot a TEXT!!!" at the top of their lungs.
“Another What's Wrong With This Picture": 7/10
I know it’s a simple formula that SNL does a lot: a game show where all contestants are dumb. But that didn't stop me from laughing so much, even thought they technically did this just 2 episodes ago. I mean, just about every line is golden, even from Kenan's introduction as "Elliot Pants." The only downside is for the 2nd time running, they couldn't avoid a sloppy ending to this sketch.
“Monologue": 6.5/10
Phoebe Waller-Bridge is delightful, plain and simple. This monologue was far from the funniest we’ve seen her (though the “Hot Priest” joke killed), whether in her show or in her many press appearances, but still thoroughly enjoyable and with a sly political undertone.
“Kaylee, Crystal & Janetta": 6.5/10
This was weird, dumb and ridiculous, and I loved every second of it. Sounds like the perfect 10-to-1 sketch to me.
“Royal Romance”: 6/10
It was unfortunate to see the host relegated to essentially a narrator role, but I can't help but at least partially approve of any skit that lets Kenan go all sorts of crazy.
“Mike Pence Impeachment Strategy Cold Open”: 5.5/10
Much like the Cold Open last week, this was a decent political skit, albeit a non-memorable one. In lieu of Alec Baldwin's Trump, we got the latest in the celebrity guest appearance game, with Matthew Broderick appearing as Mike Pompeo. I was a bit confused why Broderick was the choice to get in on the act, but the Ferris Bueller references made his stay worthwhile.
Musical Performances
Taylor Swift: 5/10
Look, everyone who knows me knows at least two things about my music tastes: my undying love for Beyoncé, and my unyielding hate for Taylor Swift. I was a Swift hater before it became vogue to hate on her, and certainly before her grand PR recovery in 2019 made it uncool once again to be a hater. But, when you come into the Scorecard zone, helplessly biased Daniel does his best to become objective pundit Daniel. So I promised myself I would objectively analyze the musical performances in this episode.
That being said, objectively Taylor was not great. That comment is not borne out of dislike for her songwriting, because I'm capable of admitting that the few songs I've heard from Lover aren't all too bad. It's also not borne out of her ability to perform live, because I'm capable of acknowledging she can be a terrific entertainer. But, whether it was the emotion of the songs, the change of pace from her usual up-tempo pop, or just the infamous SNL soundstage striking again, she sounded pretty off this time around. It's okay, she'll be back.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.6 (Comedy Only score: 6.78)