SNL Scorecard: David Harbour / Camila Cabello
Last weekend was the last of the annual three-week opening stretch of SNL. Often times when you get to the third consecutive week of live shows, it’s clear the energy of the cast and the quality of the writing are dipping. Fortunately for us viewers, that trend has been bucked this time, as spirits were high and humor was in deep supply in the third episode of the season. So much so, that for the 2nd out of 3 weeks, we have no "Less-Good" sketches on our rundown.
David Harbour plays a witty enough character in Stranger Things (and previously in the Hellboy franchise) that it wasn’t a stretch to see him being funny on Saturday Night Live. The question I and probably you had, though, was whether his everyman brand of funny would translate to the SNL stage. There’s 3 types of hosts on this show (well, really 4: SNL alums usually are in a league of their own): the star host who absolutely just dominate the show, the host who really is out of their element, and the host who is such a natural fit amongst the cast that the cast carries the episode more than any one individual. Harbour, as it turns out, was the third kind, not bossing the night the way Woody Harrelson and Phoebe Waller-Bridge had the weeks preceding him, but rather playing a consistently solid supporting role, which accentuated the cast and writer’s strengths.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 3rd episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“CNN Equality Town Hall Cold Open”: 8/10
This wasn’t just the best Cold Open of the year, it was the best in recent memory (and arguably the best sketch of the young season). There were celebrity political guest appearances again, but instead of having Baldwin’s Trump dominate airtime, we got to see the wonderful Billy Porter play himself, the quick return of Harrelson’s perfect Joe Biden, and the delightful debut of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Julian Castro. To the surprise of none of you readers, my favorite of the entire bunch was Kate McKinnon’s Warren, but there wasn’t a bad impression in the bunch, and the writing was sharp as a tack.
The Good
“SoulCycle": 7.5/10
The only thing that held this one back was the bizarre interplay between Ego Nwodim’s and Alex Moffat’s characters; it’s not that it was bad, it just felt unnecessary. Otherwise, the revolving door of SoulCycle Leaders was hysterical. Bowen Yang is a rising star, no doubt about it.
“Grouch": 7/10
If I’m not mistaken, that’s one Joker reference every episode thus far. I’m not sure what that’s about (considering it’s not a particularly acclaimed film), but this take was pulled off extremely well. I kind of need to see a dark realistic Sesame Street film now.
"Peter, Paula & Murray": 7/10
Perhaps because I’m unfamiliar with Peter Paul and Mary’s music, I wasn’t entirely sure where this was going at first. Once it was clear what the joke was going to be, man, it got funny and got funny fast. Great deliveries by Harbour in particular.
“Weekend Update": 7/10
For the first time this season, the Weekend Update anchors thoroughly outshone their guests. Pete Davidson’s return was a sight for sore eyes, but this might have been his weakest Update bit yet. And as much as I love Heidi Gardner, Bailey Gismert might be my least-favorite character of hers. The good news is, Che and Jost some of their sharpest and edgiest material of the year. They came out throwing flames about the arrested Soviet associates of Trump, and never looked back.
“Little Miss Teacher's Friend": 6.5/10
I sort of wonder if whoever wrote this sketch is a parent who sees this dynamic at their young kids’ school. Whatever the motivation was, it was fun. It was a strange choice for the first post-monologue sketch, and it seemed to not know how to finish, but there were some gems in here. Namely, Aidy Bryant’s entire performance.
“Father-Son Podcasting Microphone": 6/10
The joke was pretty simple, but if not memorable, certainly accurate. Side note: this is already the 2nd sketch of the season in which Kyle Mooney plays a character struggling to connect to his dad. Sometimes I worry about him.
“Court Show”: 5.5/10
It won’t make any year-end favorite lists, but this was yet another successful 10-to-1 sketch in a season that has had a great run of them so far. Zany, energetic, and enjoyable.
“Sauce”: 5.5/10
Sure, it was sort of a mess, but man McKinnon and Harbour sold this well. Tremendous physical acting by the former in particular. It was pretty surprising to see this before the 10-to-1 time slot.
“Monologue”: 5/10
It’s always fun to see creative ideas for monologues, but this was one was a little too obvious and didn’t really go anywhere. It wasn’t a total loss; Lorne Michaels appearances are always enjoyable, and this was a clever way to re-introduce Davidson to the show (shoutout to my friend who, while watching live with me, said at the beginning of the Stranger Things sequence “I bet this is where Pete shows back up”).
Musical Performances
Camila Cabello: 6/10
Somehow, despite the immense popularity of the young star herself and her former group Fifth Harmony, this was Camila Cabello’s first SNL appearance. Unlike the previous two musical guests, Billie Eilish (whose music I couldn’t get enough of) and Taylor Swift (whose music I couldn’t get away from), I was fairly unfamiliar with both Cabello’s music and her live style, so I came in with a pretty blank expectation slate.
It was an interesting set from the musical guest, with two songs wildly different from each other. The first, “Cry For Me,” is an immensely catchy track, which has been stuck in my head ever since her performance. The Lady Gaga-esque stage design was enthralling, even if Cabello’s vocals weren’t always up for the same theatrical standard. The 2nd song “Easy” was a bit more stripped-down and forgettable, but overall, it was a decent outing from Camila, who will surely be back in the future.
OVERALL SCORE: 6.44 (Comedy Only score: 6.5)
Heading into our first break of Season 45, here's how the episodes stand:
1. Phoebe Waller-Bridge/Taylor Swift - 6.6
2. Woody Harrelson/Billie Eilish - 6.45
3. David Harbour/Camila Cabello - 6.44