SNL Scorecard: Bad Bunny

Saturday Night Live returned for its 2nd episode last night, and went in a vastly different direction than its premiere episode last week. Another first-time host, yes, but the similarities between SNL alum and stand-up comedian Pete Davidson, and Puerto Rican singer, rapper and global superstar Bad Bunny pretty much stop there.

Bad Bunny, real name Benito Martínez Ocasio, was a surprise choice of host, but it was not actually his first time on SNL. Back in the still-COVID-affected days of Spring 2021, he appeared as musical guest to accompany host Rege-Jean Page, and even made a cameo in one of my favorite sketches from that night. But to host the show, while also pulling double duty as musical guest, was another ask altogether. Especially because not only did he have minimal acting experience and (as far as I can tell) no comedy experience, as Ocasio would remind the audience in his monologue, English was also not the host's first language.

Taking all of that into account, the singer deserves enormous respect for even agreeing to do this show, but even more so for being an amiable host and playing his part in what was a very enjoyable episode! Similarly to last week, it felt like the host played only bit parts throughout the episode, albeit for different reasons-- this week, likely due mostly to the language barrier, vs. last week where it was likely due to Pete Davidson's character acting barrier. The energy difference in this episode was palpable, though, as was the uptick in quality of writing, providing promise that cast and writers alike could gradually grow into a solid season 49.

One note in case you forgot- I know my rankings can seem a little arbitrary, and truthfully there have been times where even I will look back at scorecards and think "Now, why did I rate (x) an 8.5, if (x) from this other episode was only a 7...?". So, both to hopefully clear up my scoring system for any curious readers, but also really to help keep myself consistent, here is the rubric to reference:

10/10: Perfect, no notes

8-9.5/10: Very funny-to-hilarious, definite rewatch

6-7.5/10: Pretty funny-to-funny, but won't necessarily be a rewatch

4-5.5/10: Not BAD, but not particularly funny or memorable

1-3.5/10: Terrible/poor taste, to simply bad/unfunny

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 1st episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"The Age of Discovery": 8/10

This was a terrific use of the host, and also of Marcello Hernandez, who played off Bad Bunny so well all night. Just a funny concept that was executed extremely well; all played their parts, but Andrew Dismukes made me crack up with just one line. One of my only qualms from this- did Mikey Day need to be in this, too? He was in everything all night, and his unmistakable nasal Midwestern accent stuck out like a sore thumb.

The Good

“Subway Platform": 8/10

This followed the exact same formula as the terrific “Waffle House” sketch with Jenna Ortega in March, but this time with a Pursuit of Happyness twist. I don’t know that we needed another iteration of this kind of sketch so soon after the first one (sure, it's been over half a year, but only a handful of episodes), but still it was undeniably hilarious again.

“Please Don't Destroy - Bad Bunny Is Shrek": 7.5/10

This was definitely one of the more bizarre Please Don't Destroy sketches, but it was yet another hit from the trio, who very rarely miss. The idea of the host being obsessed with Shrek-- but the character, not the movie --to the extent that he wrote a fanfic movie (inexplicably starring Michael Jackson) is a sketch idea I couldn’t come up with in a year, let alone a week.

"Telenovela": 7.5/10

Has Bad Bunny ever been in a soap opera or telenovela? This was some terrific soap-level acting from the artist. Anyway, I loved the energy of this one and it was nice to see Punkie Johnson, whose character did make me laugh. But I don't know if it was just the joke getting old, or another somewhat sloppy ending on a night full of them, but for whatever reason I didn’t think it turned out quite as funny as I expected it to be. Also, why was Mick Jagger here?

"Protective Mom 2": 7/10

I wasn't surprised Pedro Pascal turned up in a sketch, considering he appeared in the monologue. I was mildly surprised this one was the one from his hosting turn they brought back. I said this when they first did this sketch when Pascal hosted, and it’s true again: "This was a lot of fun . . .the joke ran somewhat thin, but ended on a strong note, and it was a really enjoyable sketch on the whole." Like I said with the “Right Track” bit, I don’t know that we needed another iteration of this so soon after the first one, but still very fun (and I loved the "septum piercing" joke).

“Rap Battle": 6.5/10

I loved the idea of this 8 Mile parody, even if it was sort of obvious what the joke was going to be once Mikey Day's character's friends gave him their pep talk. The songwriting was clever, but I do wish they could have done a little more with Bad Bunny’s character. The ending in particular felt abrupt.

“Monologue": 6.5/10

Much like the cold open immediately before it, this kicked several notches up thanks to a walk-on from a welcome face, in this case Pedro Pascal. Before his interjection, it seemed like the ‘writing’ for the monologue was just “let Bad Bunny go out there and be charming” which was fun, but not funny. But Pedro Pascal’s comedic timing and repartee with the host helped, and set the energy level high going into the rest of the show.

"Jim Jordan Cold Open": 5.5/10

I sound like a broken record, but I don’t think I’ll ever tire of James Austin Johnson's Donald Trump - case in point, I actually had binged his 'Trump' videos as recently as earlier in the day Saturday. This was an unfortunately standard boring political cold open with subpar impressions, until he showed up and turned the last few minutes into must-watch TV.

The... Less-Good

“Enrique's Daughter": 5/10

This was made better by everybody gradually hamming it up more and more, and I laughed at the trio of Day, Bowen Yang, and Ego Nwodim barely folding it together. Still, this was more of a cute 10-to-1 than a traditionally funny, bizarro one.

“Weekend Update": 5/10

One week after lauding it as consistently one of the best features of SNL, we got one of the weakest Updates in a long time. Serves me right. It was enjoyable on the whole, and had more funny than unfunny. But most of the co-hosts’ jokes on the night were “Meh,” and as much as I love Ego, the only guest was a kind of mean-spirited appearance from her as Jada Pinkett Smith, which didn't boost the segment overall.

“Convent Meeting": 4/10

There were some good laughs in here, and I appreciated the twist that this wasn’t just a 'Bad Bunny sex appeal' referential sketch as it seemed it would be. But it was pretty weak overall, and I was again confused by the surprise guest. Also, for the second straight week I am screaming, WHY WAS THIS THE ONLY TIME WE SAW SARAH SHERMAN ALL NIGHT? GIVE ME MORE SARAH.

Musical Performances

Bad Bunny: 8/10

Bad Bunny was already a sensation the first time he appeared on Saturday Night Live two and a half years ago, and he's only grown in status since then. He has started break through onto the American scene, but in truth, we were just the final frontier; he's been the most-streamed and one of the most recognizable artists globally for some time now. Naturally, the audience which had seemed full of spirited fans throughout the night anyway, reached a delirious level when he took the stage for musical performances, not the least bit mollified by the fact that introducing him the first time was none other than Lady Gaga.

His set, I must say, was considerably better than his first SNL appearance, which I remember thinking was good not great. He killed his first performance, of "UN PREVIEW." I don’t know what the mall staple rocking horse was about, but I’m certainly intrigued, and otherwise juxtaposed against a completely void room, Benito’s vocals sounded terrific, even if the random crotch grabs and singing away from the mic were a bit bizarre. On his later performance of "MONACO," the set design and costuming was way cool, as was the beat and the live violins. Bunny had a little more trouble keeping up vocally in this one, but the energy was terrific.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.54 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.41)