SNL Scorecard: Issa Rae / Justin Bieber

As of last night, we are now three episodes into Saturday Night Live’s weird, different Season 46, and with every recap I’ve mentioned how the difficult environmental and precautionary context seems to be affecting the flow, and thus quality, of the show. The third time around, in an episode helmed by Issa Rae and Justin Bieber, that theory of mine seems to have somewhat disproven; despite a show that was by far the smoothest of the season, with little to no botched lines or stage directions, the result was a fairly disappointing episode of comedy.

The writing certainly did itself no favors, often failing to make good use of the delightfully talented host. That said, to me the main villain of this episode was the studio audience! I don’t know what it was about the live audience, but they just did not seem in the mood to laugh. Again, to be fair, we’re not talking about the funniest episode in recent history or anything. But there were plenty of instances where I found myself enjoying a skit way more than the audience seemed to. In fact, probably the hardest I laughed all night was when, after a Weekend Update joke that didn’t land, a clearly miffed Michael Che quipped, “I’m starting to think you guys don’t like anything.” It’s not like a tough crowd magically makes hilarious sketches unfunny, but it did seem as if the low energy affected the energy of the cast, and thus, the whole show.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 3rd episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

“Canadian News Show”: 7/10

This was the sketch wherein I first realized something was off with the audience, because I was dying laughing at a lot of it, and noticed the audience was disturbingly quiet. (Note: SNL appears to have uploaded the dress rehearsal version to YouTube; given that this one included a couple slip-ups that were corrected in the live version, I have to imagine their reasoning was because the dress rehearsal audience reacted way better to this sketch.) This was refreshingly original, and while it wasn’t consistently laugh-out-loud funny, it was at least consistently enjoyable, and one I would be happy to see again in the future. The “Drake Watch” in particular was hilarious.

The Good

“Weekend Update": 6.5/10

After such a strong showing last time out, Che and Colin Jost took a big step back this week. The punchlines were noticeably weaker, and they seemed especially thrown by the non-responsive audience. That said, Update got better as it went on, in no small part because of the co-hosts’ ability to laugh at themselves. Bits such as “Aidy in America” and Heidi Gardner’s new wacky character “Carla the 80s Cocaine Wife” were both great, even if they didn’t get the laughs they deserved.

“Dueling Town Halls Cold Open": 6.5/10

This was easily the best writing of a political sketch thus far this season, but if you’ve been following along, you already know I think that’s a low bar. Jim Carrey settled into Biden’s personality much better this time— and the Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross jokes were funny —but still is coming out way too hot; I really don’t know what the gun miming is all about. Besides, this is now the third episode in a row that had their political cold open see a needless injection of a political ‘celebrity guest appearance.’ I love Maya Rudolph’s Kamala, but just like in the 1st debate sketch, there was absolutely no reason to write her in, and it felt like it was done for cheap laughs. This time was especially a bummer because it killed the momentum of Ego Nwodim’s joke, impersonating the obvious Trump plant in the background. That said, all in all a solid cold open which is more than I can say for either of the previous ones.

"eBay": 6/10

In this fake ad, eBay rolls out a special service to return those items you ordered during pandemic isolation and never used. It’s a solid, if not particularly memorable, sketch.

“5-Hour Empathy": 6/10

This was a solid mock ad, satirizing white Americans’ discomfort with fully grappling with systemic racism. I do feel like it could have taken a stronger tone than it did, though. I think it would have been funnier, for instance, if Beck Bennett’s reticence to drink the beverage was because it “allowed him to experience being black in America” for 5 hours, vs. just giving him a full understanding of biases and injustice.

“First Date Exes": 5.5/10

This one also had a humorous premise that ended up being less funny than I thought it could have been. I was rolling early on at Kenan Thompson and Pete Davidson’s characters (and alternated between laughing and retching at the repeated phrase “titty meat”). But the humor faded out fairly quickly here; I thought Issa Rae’s job was going to be a bigger/funnier reveal than “Times Square Elsa,” and then the ending was weirdly rushed.

“Dancer": 5.5/10

I always love Kyle Mooney’s schtick, but I’ve got to wonder why this was one of the few pre-recorded Kyle sketches that made it to air. I still enjoyed it, especially the end when a hapless Kyle tries to avoid being ushered out due to his positive COVID test. But it was a pretty one-note sketch, and one that felt suspiciously like it was written at the 11th hour.

The...Less-Good

“Monologue”: 4.5/10

This mostly felt like Issa Rae just chatting with us, which makes sense because, as she discussed, she really had nothing specific to promote. And it really was pleasant! But, especially with the muted audience reactions, it just wasn’t high on laughs.

“Your Voice Chicago": 4.5/10

I feel bad rating this so low because ironically, this was Rae’s best performance of the night. Her delivery was so good each time that she almost singlehandedly savaged this sketch but ultimately, the writing was just too weak. It felt like a poor man’s version of the “How’s He Doing” skits from the Obama administration.

“Jack Flatts": 4/10

It’s weird, mocking problematic white guys is one of the things SNL has done in recent years that has made me laugh the hardest, and Beck is the king of that sort of content. But this one just didn’t work for me. The punchline of self-appointed ‘tough guys’ being sheepish about their grand plan doesn’t feel accurate considering there was, in fact, a very real plan to kidnap and do harm to multiple governors.

Musical Performances

Justin Bieber (featuring Chance The Rapper and Benny Blanco): 8/10

Justin Bieber had a pretty thankless task appearing on SNL this weekend. He already is one of the most divisive pop stars in recent history, and anyone was going to be a bit of a letdown after Jack White's remarkable set last week. Throw in the fact that he was tasked with performing amidst a relatively low-energy show, and it's a tall order to impress. But impress he did.

For the second time in 2020, Bieber performed a great set on the often unkind Studio H stage, solidifying the fact that, love him or hate him, the guy's a star for a reason. He started off a tiny bit shaky on both songs, but ultimately grew in confidence. His first song, a performance of his latest single "Holy," was a little corny for my liking, but both he and the always-welcome Chance the Rapper sounded great. And that second song...woof. I had never heard "Lonely" before last night, but it's easily the most vulnerable work I've ever heard Justin put out, and his performance was so earnest it legitimately had me in my feelings.

OVERALL SCORE: 5.82 ('Comedy Only' score: 5.60)