SNL Scorecard: Carey Mulligan / Kid Cudi
As we talked about last week, it's that time of year (at least belatedly) where the hosts and performer on Saturday Night Live tend to be names you're seeing a lot of in the awards circuit. As we circle closer to the 2021 Oscars, Carey Mulligan, a serious contender for her first-ever Best Actress award, scored her first-ever hosting gig on the show.
As with last week's host Daniel Kaluuya, the announcement of Mulligan as host elicited a lot of excitement, if not curiosity. We're not used to seeing her in a comedic context even, let alone role. But like her predecessor before her, the host performed these new (at least to us) duties quite well, and even more excitingly, the level of writing, acting and energy from the entire tea, this week led to one of, if not the best, episodes of Season 46.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 17th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
“Minnesota News Cold Open”: 7.5/10
This is perhaps the best cold open of the season thus far; if I’m not mistaken, it’s the first cold open to win Sketch of the Night in Season 45! This had shades of the brilliant “Mid-Day News” sketch last season, but with an added wrinkle of discussing real current events. I appreciated how delicately they poked fun at the different opinions of prejudice in the legal system, and how it just turned to unabashed humor when the other topics came up.
The Good
“Weekend Update": 8.5/10
Another week, another candidate for the best Weekend Update segment of the year. I had a feeling the anchors would be on their game this time; the show was going so well, the audience so engaged that I figured their energy levels would be high. They did not disappoint, with great punchline after great punchline. But once again, Update was only aided by some fantastic guest appearances. Chris Redd was a pretty solid Barack Obama, but good lord, Beck Bennett’s Bruce Springsteen killed me. Punkie Johnson was glowing as she made a great, long-awaited Update debut as one of Paul Pierce’s strippers. And Bowen Yang….what else can be said. I loved every single second of his appearance as The Iceberg, and the audience did too. This might be his best material yet.
“Monologue": 7.5/10
First off, I appreciated that the host’s pink suit seemed to be a not-so-subtle nod to her potentially award-winning turn in Promising Young Woman. I also felt seen by her remarks on people mistaking her for Michelle Williams. I talked about this last week with Daniel Kaluuya, but whenever you have someone who’s so renowned for dramatic roles making their first hosting appearance on SNL, the monologue is particularly anticipated, as its our first chance to see how they’ll handle the comedic setting. Carey Mulligan actually touched on this, in a funny aside about reading her kids increasingly gritty bedtime stories. Anyways, though I would say she was slightly more wooden than Kaluuya last week, this was a really terrific monologue, and her interplay with her husband at the end was the most I’ve ever enjoyed Mumford and Sons.
"Weird Little Flute": 7.5/10
I have a confession: I’m such a sucker for rap songs that use a flute sample; almost all of them are so irresistibly catchy (“Mask Off” being foremost among them, although “Big Shot” isn’t far behind.) Thus, I loved that while this song poked fun at that trend, it was in itself an absolute banger. Chris Redd— and perhaps Pete Davidson too —is seriously reaching Lonely Island levels with his consistently terrific, usually musical, pre-taped sketches.
"What's Wrong With This Picture 2021": 7/10
This is an example of a recurring sketch the show has employed perfectly: the absurd humor practically ensures that it’s funny every time (also funny every time? Kenan’s host being named Elliot Pants), and they’ve spaced it out enough that it doesn’t feel overdone. Carey Mulligan’s accent was a bit meandering, and I would have preferred a higher dose of the humor being Elliot Pants’ interacting with the contestants vs. the contestants’ insane answers, but this was still great. Everything Chris Redd said cracked me up.
“IBS Medicine Ad": 7/10
This mock ad was a simple, even juvenile joke. but am I above laughing at bathroom humor? Not in the least. This was (one of) Mulligan’s best performances of the night: with just two lines, she turned an okay sketch into a really funny one.
“Study Buddy": 7/10
The premise of Kate McKinnon and Aidy Bryant playing dorky middle school boys was of course inherently funny, but this took a little while to get going. What a great slow burn though; Mulligan and Bryant both barely holding it together while McKinnon’s Josh simultaneously confesses his love for both of them was such a hilarious conclusion.
“The War In Words: Bertie and Mary": 6.5/10
This sketch, unlike “What’s Wrong With This Picture,” is one I wish they wouldn’t repeat. It’s undoubtedly funny each time, but once you know the premise, you know it’s not going to match the delight of the original one with Claire Foy. That said, I did like the slightly different dimensions in this one: Mikey Day’s various alliterations in his signatures, and Carey Mulligan’s expertly-timed pauses before signing off.
“Star Trek Spinoff”: 6.5/10
This was yet another instance where I want to know how writers come up with this ideas: I never knew I needed to see how insufferable young white privileged kids would have behaved in a Star Trek universe, but I loved it. The joke was pretty one-note, but the three main antagonists, Mikey Day in particular, were so delightfully annoying that it rendered a really good sketch.
“L'Eggs”: 6/10
This was a great, and classic, bizarre 10-to-1 sketch. The reason it's rated on the lower end is because I felt like it had so much potential that it ultimately didn't reach. I mean, two middle-aged women infiltrate a high school freestyle club for hosiery guerrilla marketing? The potential is limitless. I think I wish they would have just kept returning to Bryant's and Mulligan's freestyles, which inevitably ended with "hosieerryyyyyy!!"
“Lesbian Period Drama”: 6/10
This was definitely funny, and (unsurprisingly) marvelously acted by Mulligan, as well as Heidi Gardner. But it felt a little too on-the-nose and perhaps overly snarky to be memorable.
Musical Performances
Kid Cudi: 7.5/10
Kid Cudi, the beloved alternative rapper and singer, made what I believe was his debut on SNL (at least as the sole musical guest; he hopped on to Kanye West's set as a featured artist in 2018). I am a casual fan of his; I've never heard a song of his I didn't like, but I don't tend to seek his music out. True to form, I didn't know either song he unveiled on the Studio 8H stage....but I liked them both!
Cudi really shone in his first song, “Tequila Shots.” He was a bit timid in vocals, but that really didn’t take away from a great performance in the least. The light show was really impressively pulled off, making such a small space seem larger in scale. And there was something really quietly poignant about him repeating the refrain “can’t stop this war on me” while wearing a shirt showing Chris Farley, whose inner demons contributed to his tragic early death. His second performance, “Sad People” was again a fairly straightforward performance: just Cudi singing with a couple backup musicians, and a light/smoke show to complement. I didn’t vibe with “Sad People” quite as much, but it was still a really solid song. And for someone who has been so open about his mental health struggles, seeing Cudi so earnestly happy at the end of his performance was really sweet.
OVERALL SCORE: 7.04 ('Comedy Only' score: 7.00)
As we enter yet another long layoff, here are how the episodes of Season 46 stand-- keep in mind the episode's overall score factors in the musical performance, so the funniest isn't necessarily the top-rated overall, etc.:
Carey Mulligan/Kid Cudi - 7.04
John Mulaney/The Strokes - 6.85
Bill Burr/Jack White - 6.72
Regé-Jean Page/Bad Bunny - 6.65
Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers - 6.64
Daniel Kaluuya/St. Vincent - 6.64
Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa - 6.55
John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly - 6.50
Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters - 6.50
Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen - 6.41
Nick Jonas - 6.34
Timothée Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - 6.32
Maya Rudolph/Jack Harlow - 6.25
Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff - 6.09
Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion - 5.90
Issa Rae/Justin Bieber - 5.82
Adele/H.E.R. - 5.67
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