SNL Scorecard: Matt Damon / Noah Kahan
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
We're down to the last week of Saturday Night Live's Season 51, and the historic show is bringing out the big guns for the last couple episodes, perhaps in an attempt to end the up-and-down season on a clear high... or perhaps even to celebrate and send Lorne Michaels into the sunset? The penultimate episode this past weekend was an all-New England affair, pairing returning musical guest and current indie-folk sensation Noah Kahan with host Matt Damon. Damon is no stranger to the limelight, but somewhat shockingly, is a bit of a stranger to the SNL stage: despite being a Hollywood A-lister for the better part of the last 30 years, Saturday marked just his 3rd time hosting this show, a surprising fact that made for a funny punchline as part of his affable monologue.
Anyways, in the off-chance you were wondering what would win out between "veteran actor and naturally funny guy" and "relative SNL inexperience," I can tell you it's the former in a landslide. Matt Damon's last hosting gig, the Christmas episode in 2018, lives in my memory as one of my favorite episodes not only from that season, but really the whole 'post-Trump' era of SNL. The cast, writing room, and state of the world may have changed a whole lot in the 7.5 years since that show, but Damon proved he hasn't lost any zip from his fastball, once again leading a very strong episode with aplomb as he disappeared into every starring and supporting role he was given on the night. Last week, I bemoaned the fact that SNL was running out of chances to give us a truly memorable Season 51 episode, but mentioned the last two weeks still provided great potential for it. I'm not always particularly prescient, but I'm happy that my optimistic caveat proved right: in the penultimate Saturday of the season, we got what was likely the year's best episode yet, and set the stage for what could be an all-timer finale next weekend with two legends coming back.
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 19th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
"Auctioneers": 9/10
Whether you loved it or hated it (and I have seen both reactions online in bunches, trust me), no question this was the buzziest sketch of the night. Count me in the “loved it” camp! Even if it wasn’t funny, I would have appreciated the throwback live stage nature of it, how cleverly written it was, and how inch-perfect Damon’s and Sarah Sherman’s execution was. But as it happens, I did find it extremely funny as well. What a ballsy idea to try on live TV, and what a great sketch to end a great episode!
The Good
“Tidy Care Crystals": 9/10
It’s getting to the point where I genuinely think Ashley Padilla might follow in Bowen Yang’s footsteps and become just the second ever SNL member to earn an Emmy nomination as a featured player. I mean, she is going toe-to-toe in this sketch acting-wise, with Matt Damon of all people! The energy between them two was incredible, and god, James Austin Johnson’s smarmy voiceover man just kept cutting in at the perfect time. I loved this.
“Godzilla Movie": 7.5/10
Just last week, I harped on the “first post-monologue sketch” choices for this year, and this one… well, okay, this one wasn’t any less odd of a choice for that slot. But at least this one was hilarious, which should be an important determining factor in sketch order, methinks. What I appreciate most of all is that this could have gotten old so quickly, but they found a way to subvert the expectation of what was coming and make it funny every time. It reminded me of my favorite part of one of my favorite episodes of one of my favorite shows in that way.
“Weekend Update": 7.5/10
I wish Michael Che didn’t get such a kick out of taking digs at women’s basketball; not only are his jokes in poor taste, they’re just not even funny. But apart from that, this was a lot better from the co-anchors than last week’s bad outing. Add in the welcome returns of Jeremy Culhane’s Tucker Carlson, Mikey Day and Marcello Hernández’s chaotic duo (this time as “kamikaze dolphins”), and Jane Wickline with an original song, and this was a thoroughly fun segment.
"Susbtitute Teacher's Goodbye": 7/10
Something about this— maybe the pacing? maybe simply the fact that it wasn’t the last sketch of the night? maybe Chloe Fineman breaking through the entire sketch even though she had zero lines? — made it not quite land as memorably as it had the potential to. But this was so fun, and a total one-man show by Matt Damon, on a night full of great comedic acting performances by him.
"Mom Movie Trailer": 7/10
A simple gag, but a funny (and kinda sweet!) one. Let’s make this movie happen! This is the least we could do for our mothers on Mother's Day!
"Monologue": 6.5/10
Nothing too special here, but (surprise surprise!) Matt Damon was masterfully at ease with the format, and proved a perfectly amiable host in introducing the show. I liked the repeated nod to how far in advance his promotion of The Odyssey is starting. Shout out to Marcello’s mom, the definite MVP of this episode.
"Kavanaugh Hegseth Patel Bar Cold Open": 6/10
The good news: this was at least a more clever premise for a political cold open than we’ve seen in a long time, a couple of the punchlines were great, and Matt Damon’s Brett Kavanaugh is as funny as it was when it was part of one of the best sketches of 2018! The bad news: Colin Jost’s Pete Hegseth has officially become way overused, Aziz Ansari’s second straight Kash Patel cameo is giving me flashbacks to the nonstop cycle of non-cast cameos from the first Trump admin, and the return of “Brett Kavanaugh” mostly just made me depressed that we’re here again, all these years later.
“Tough Guys": 6/10
No lie, I was about to write “this is fun enough, but there’s no real turn here,” and then Marcello’s character took a BIG ol’ turn. Still just okay, on a night full of more memorable sketches, but at least it ended on a strong note.
Musical Performances
Noah Kahan: 5.5/10
I’m not a Noah Kahan fan, I’ll just come out and say it. I’m not a hardcore hater by any means— and in fact, he seems like a totally chill guy, so I wish I liked his music more than I did. I just find his voice and whole vibe a little much and his songwriting and music unremarkable, and in comparison to the breathless way people have spoken about him in his meteoric rise, it makes me sound like a hater.
That said, I will say, I was begrudgingly impressed by his musical guest appearance a couple years back with Emma Stone, even as he performed a couple songs I couldn’t stand, so my personal feelings aside, I was prepared to objectively appreciate this set. Interestingly enough, though, it was almost of the inverse of his first appearance in 2023: having never heard either song before, I did like the sound of these a good deal more than his obnoxious breakout hit “Stick Season” (a friend who is a definite hater was also watching live and texted me “this is fine I guess…it seems like he’s going more ‘normie-core’”). And yet, I thought this couple of performances was far worse than his last outing. Good energy still, especially on the second song “Doors,” but he was struggling mightily with the vocals, and the sound mixing in general seemed to swallow up any melody on either track.
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