SNL Scorecard: Jake Gyllenhaal / Camila Cabello

I recognize this piece is coming much later in the week than it usually would. I’ll spare you the full extent of my bragging, but I’ve been on an island in the Caribbean the last week-plus, and though it may shock you, during my time there staying up-to-date on Saturday Night Live was not the highest on my priority list while I was there. But now I am back stateside! And it IS high on my priority list!

This last episode bucked the Season 47 trend of first-time hosts with Jake Gyllenhaal commanding proceedings, but it has been 15 years since the actor’s last time hosting the show. It may not have felt that long thanks to various cameos over the years— the most recent one coming in 2020 —and also being the topic of discussion after Taylor Swift’s SNL performance back in November of “All Too Well,” a song that is not-so-subtly about her past relationship with Gyllenhaal. I was excited about the choice of host if for no reason other than I recall Jake’s first hosting gig in 2007 being one of the very first episodes of the show that I ever watched, and more importantly, it was hilarious. This time around, while I'm less confident that it will be an episode that sticks with people for 15 years, the host was every bit as game for any and all crazy roles, and it was a very solid episode on the whole; certainly an improvement over last week's mediocre outing.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 17th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

"Chucky": 8/10

This had to originate from the mind of Sarah Sherman, who played the titular role so well. The concept of Chucky in an office setting was comedy gold, and Jake Gyllenhaal as the calm HR rep. was the perfect foil. One of the better sketches of the year.

The Good

“Weekend Update": 8.5/10

This was weird, because the audience didn’t seem to totally love this Update segment, but I thought this was one of the best overall Updates of the entire season. Che’s and Jost’s jokes had zero misses, and Aidy and Bowen’s trend prognosticators are my favorite new Update guests in a long time. I hate that they weren’t a thing before this season, because I cannot get enough of them.

"Dream Home Cousins": 7.5/10

Even though it became pretty clear what the sole joke was going to be here, I never got tired of seeing the various ways Kate McKinnon’s “Bea” infuriated Heidi Gardner, all while a spineless James Austin Johnson sat there quietly. This one got funnier the more it went on.

“Couples Counselor": 7/10

Man, it was really good to see a Punkie-centric sketch! I hope she cowrote this because, it was a hilarious concept. It honestly ended a little more abruptly than I would have gone for, but at least it didn’t make the common SNL mistake of running way too long. I especially loved the “don’t do the voice” bits.

"Truck Stop CD": 7/10

This was 10-to-1 perfection. Finishing the show with a compilation album of trucker songs, mostly about peeing in bottles? Yes please.

“Why'd You Like It": 7/10

I’m a sucker for any game show sketch that embarrasses its contestants, a well SNL has gone to successfully often. This one felt a *little* bit generationally outdated, like the show didn't really quite grasp the nature of social media. But the premise was still hilarious. Chris Redd deserves an Emmy for his delivery of “…pass.”

"Monologue": 7/10

I mentioned off the top that I fondly remembered Gyllenhaal’s episode from 2007, so naturally, I enjoyed how much of this monologue was his own trip down memory lane. I also enjoyed him once again belting out the diva vocals…this should definitely be a requirement each time he hosts, especially because he’s a better singer than his ex-girlfriend (I said what I said). Sandwiched in between, also, was a subtly profound take on the role and expectations of an actor.

“Spring Flowers": 6.5/10

I knew during the exposition that there was no way this would simply be an innocent, good-natured kid’s show sketch. I didn’t expect the reveal to be quite this twisted, though! I did feel like this lost a little steam the more it went on, but I was positively rolling during Bowen’s cameo as the bee.

“Tombstone": 6.5/10

A pretty obvious, juvenile joke, but I’ll confess I enjoyed it. If you think about it, this was sort of coming full-circle from Gyllenhaal’s comments in his monologue about method acting. Admittedly, though, the hardest I laughed was at Cecily’s closing comments.

“Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Confirmation Cold Open": 6/10

This won’t be a sketch remembered for years by any means, but by the, frankly, low bar for cold opens set by this show over the last several seasons, it was still a good one. It was a rare timely political sketch that was more optimistic than it was snarky, and had some nice performances by all involved.

“Cabaret Night": 5.5/10

I wanted to like this a lot more than I did; which is not to say I didn’t like it, because I did! I just thought it was okay, when “host + Cecily, Kate, and Bowen play a middle-aged cabaret earnestly singing about how they never really ‘made it’” seems like a recipe for an all-timer. They absolutely gave it their all, and it was enjoyable, it just didn’t really seem to catch with the audience until the very end. Maybe it would have been better as a 10-to-1?

Musical Performances

Camila Cabello (featuring WILLOW): 7.5/10

When her 2017 smash hit “Havana” came on a playlist, I was actually just mentioning to my friends on vacation (in Honduras, I went on vacation in Honduras, did I say this already?) that Camila Cabello has the strangest track record to me. Every radio single of hers I’ve either thought was a banger or absolutely despised, with no in-between. Thus I was more curious than excited to see how she did as musical guest, though I will say I thought fairly highly on her last appearance on the show a few years ago.

Her first song, a performance of new single “Bam Bam,” I must say, was terrific. I am fully on board with more Latin representation in the popular music scene in general, and this is a heartfelt, addicting tune and she sang and danced like an assured star. Cabello’s second performance of “Psychofreak” featuring Willow Smith, didn’t do quite as much for me, but I respect the stylistic versatility as well as the energy it brought.

OVERALL SCORE: 7.00 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.95)