SNL Scorecard: Keegan Michael-Key / Olivia Rodrigo

As much as last week's socially awkward billionaire screamed "terrible idea for a host!" to the masses, with a new-wave comedy icon and a teen pop sensation on board, this week seemed to signal an absolute home run of a Saturday Night Live episode. And there's no denying host and musical guest both were every bit as game to play their part as the people would have expected.

But, for reasons not totally clear, the latest SNL episode came up disappointingly, and surprisingly, lackluster. Whether it be Elon Musk hysteria hangover, general fatigue as a bizarre season nears its end, or over-reliance on a proven comedic actor, the writing was just not up to snuff. And perhaps most frustratingly, Keegan-Michael Key rarely felt properly utilized; his famously bombastic presence felt muted throughout the night. Don't get me wrong, there were no bombs, no real clunkers on the night. It was just an aggressively fine episode, one that also had few memorable sketches.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 19th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

“No More Masks Cold Open: 7.5/10

I figured the show had to do something in reference to the latest CDC guidance, but I was worried it would go the Twitter cynic route of “WhY iS tHe CdC Is SaYiNg ThIs NoW,” so I was relieved that the message was much more consistent with the general feeling of “this is good news!” that most of America felt. This felt like the most joyous “Live from New York!” in quite some time. I loved the running gag of each skit going just a little too long and/or in the wrong direction, to Dr. Fauci’s horror. Also, special recognition goes to Bowen Yang’s pronunciation of “parachute.”

The Good

“Weekend Update": 7/10

This edition of Weekend Update had a bit of a slower start, but the co-anchors got better with the assistance of 3 great Update guests, both because of how funny the guests were, but also how well they interplayed with them. But seriously, the truly memorable moments from this Update were star turns from Kate McKinnon as Liz Cheney, Andrew Dismukes as himself, and Beck Bennett as Kentucky Derby trainer Bob Baffert.

“High School Graduation": 7/10

Fun fact: just last weekend I was at my brother’s college graduation, before which his school had apparently sent all RSVP’d attendees an email adamantly asking them to not make noise until all names were called and diplomas handed out. Our mom, apparently forgetting the usual proceedings of every graduation she’d attended, implored with us to behave which included ‘not’ setting off the airhorn my sister had purchased the very occasion. Naturally, every name that was called during the ceremony was met with loud shouting, hooting and bleacher-stomping. All of this to say, anyone who has been to a graduation knows how dead on, albeit silly, this sketch was. It was a fun, palette-cleansing 10-to-1 sketch to end the night.

"Prom Show": 7/10

I mean again, it’s the ACCURACY for me.

"The Muppet Show": 6.5/10

If not for somewhat of a sloppy ending, this might have been the most memorable sketch of the night. The Muppets show up on SNL a lot, and often times their innocent presence feels like it has the effect of making the humor a bit more juvenile. Not this time, though; the very adult reaction to the heckling old fogies killed me, as did the subtle addition of the black eyes on one of them.

“The Last Dance: Extended Scene": 6/10

Here’s the funny thing: this sort of thing doesn’t even seem all that absurd; Michael Jordan was that insanely obsessed with winning. This was a funny bit, although the joke got obvious pretty quickly. Shout out to Heidi Gardner, though, for giving it her absolute all.

"Monologue": 5.5/10

Keegan-Michael Key is an absolutely dynamic comic and performer, which is why this monologue felt a little empty, by the perhaps overly lofty standards I’d given him. His timing was surprisingly a little off, and the bit as a whole had big ‘written at the last minute’ energy. That said, it was still upbeat, entertaining, and had at least one big laugh with the audience member confusing his identity for his (arguably) more famous and successful collaborator and friend.

“Broadway Tribute": 5.5/10

NO VIDEO

This one was not uploaded to YouTube, I'm assuming because they couldn't secure song rights from the estate of George Gershwin? If you care to seek it out, I'm sure it's somewhere on the Internet, but it's far from a must-see. I could watch Cecily Strong and Kate McKinnon act out old New York ladies-- and Key do his closest approximation to Morty Jebsen --for hours, though, so there’s that.

“Gemma & DJ Balls": 5.5/10

This sketch took us in so many different directions, but I didn’t expect to see the return of Cecily Strong’s Gemma.. The bad news is this was one of the weakest installments of sketches featuring her hilarious British singer wannabe; it was just a little too chaotic. The good news is, between the chaos and Cecily’s interjections, there was enough humor for me to find this mostly enjoyable.

Musical Performances

Olivia Rodrigo: 6.5/10

18-year old Olivia Rodrigo has taken the music world by storm in late 2020-early 2021, not unlike Billie Eilish did the year before. Rodrigo's radio singles, but particularly her hit "drivers license" has gotten her eliciting comparisons to everyone from Eilish to Taylor Swift to Lorde.

I made reference to this after the hilarious sketch in the Regé-Jean Page episode, but I really don’t understand the hype around “drivers license.” It’s a pretty basic, melodramatic teen ballad— which is fine! I’m not hating on traditional pop! But I don’t really understand the amount of attention and promotion it’s gotten. All that being said, Olivia Rodrigo, for someone so young and with limited live performance experience, sang the hell out of it.

As for her second song, “good 4 u,” well…. between the very overt Avril Lavigne impression and the guitarist with the leather jacket and modified mullet, I felt like I was back in the early 2000s. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. But unlike her first performance, I was kind of ready for it to be over.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.40 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.39)