SNL Scorecard: Maya Rudolph / Jack Harlow

The month layoff separating this weekend's Saturday Night Live and the last episode with Nick Jonas was certainly well-earned; the cast, crew, and writing staff had gone five straight weeks without a break. That said, it was always going to be a question of whether such a long time away from the show would be rejuvenating, or put a damper on any momentum they had going. Unfortunately, it ended up being more of the latter.

Last night's episode was still good on the whole, mind you; certainly more good than bad. Given her pedigree, Maya Rudolph would have folded into the cast perfectly anyway, but her consistent appearances this season, largely as Vice President Harris, had to have helped chemistry. The host was, unsurprisingly, quite good, as was the musical guest. But be it rust, weariness, or just general lack of creativity, the cast and writers felt a little off their game in a fairly low-energy episode that wasn't helped by a fairly low-energy studio audience.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 15th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

“Boomers Got The Vax”: 7.5/10

Speaking as someone who, over the years, has been sucked into the generational battles and thus is experiencing PEAK Millennial pride, I found this very satisfying. This song did a great job calling out an oft-protected generation without being too harsh on our elders, was funny as hell, and as has become commonplace, was also extremely catchy. Also, how good is Ego Nwodim? In a song featuring appearances by what seemed like the whole cast and Maya Rudolph, she gets the last verse and (at least from me) the loudest laugh.

The Good

“The Maya-ing": 7/10

For a show that seemed, all night, to have a sweet but sad undertone to it, this was a fitting ending. I wonder if the audience wasn’t aware of the Shining scene it was referencing, because there seemed to be few laughs of familiarity, but I enjoyed this bit that doubled as a trip down memory lane and an opportunity to see some legendary SNL comics of past and present.

“NFTs": 7/10

Another pre-taped song, another quality output. The bizarre finish and somewhat needless inclusion of Janet Yellen made this slightly less effective of a bit as the Vax Song. But still, Pete Davidson killed it with yet another Slim Shady reference, and Chris Redd was terrific as well— are we surprised? Musical guest Jack Harlow also deserves plaudits for an impressive cameo; he didn’t get the customary applause from the studio audience that a musical guest usually gets when they show up in a sketch, which makes me wonder if the audience just legitimately didn’t know that’s what he looked like.

"Choreographers": 7/10

This was definitely the most enjoyable live sketch of the night for me. Even if it wasn’t particularly witty, it was Kenan and Maya leaning into their weird selves, and that was a recipe I was hoping to see in a little more quantity this show.

"Hot Ones with Beyoncé": 6.5/10

I didn’t know the “Hot Ones” web series was mainstream enough to make an SNL sketch, but it was fun to see, and certainly the premise of having the famously private Beyoncé on the notably more personal talk show was funny. I thought this went on a little too long, and honestly (and this is a rarity for me) would have preferred some bodily humor vs. the agent “shutting everything down” in the end. It crawled to a finish when it could have otherwise been a truly memorable sketch.

“Weekend Update": 6.5/10

The first Weekend Update in a month had a whole of ground to cover, and Che and Jost did a serviceable, though not particularly incisive, job. Whether it was just a down week for everyone or the news seemed particularly heavy this time around, the anchors’ energy seemed to match the rest of the show, which is to say, it was low. The guest spots helped, though. Cecily Strong continued her 1.000 batting average with impersonating the more unhinged figures from Trump’s administration and legacy. And Bowen Yang…what a terrific, raw bit from him.

“Monologue": 6/10

I thought it was interesting that they chose to do the customary “welcome the new cast members” monologue so late into the season, but I suppose it fit with Maya the Mother Figure theme. Speaking of, it was sweet to see the host get a little teary about having her kids in the studio for the show. This wasn’t as memorable a monologue as I think the comedienne is capable of providing, but it was really nice, and the joke of supplanting her SNL memories with the plot of The Breakfast Club was fittingly weird and funny.

“Barfly Awards": 5.5/10

Keeping in theme with the night, the premise for this sketch was funnier than the end result. It felt like we got the joke pretty early on, and it ran out of steam down the stretch. That said, all the various impressions of drunk people were enjoyable, especially Cecily and Aidy’s.

The... Less-Good

“Kamala”: 4.5/10

Is it just me, or did Maya’s Kamala Harris impersonation get worse? I usually think it’s absolutely flawless, but for some reason, she just sounded like Maya Rudolph this time. As for this sketch, it was yet again, a funny premise that fell flat in execution. I think it was just trying to do too much, and as a result, though there were plenty of funny moments, no individual part ended up being particularly great. And though Martin Short is always a welcome sight, his equal parts cowardly and horny Douglas Emhoff was a little too unsettling.

“Snatched! Vaxed! or Waxed! Cold Open”: 4/10

I was confident we were going to see the rare “host in the cold open,” but I thought it was going to be because Maya was going to be playing Vice President Harris. So it was a nice surprise to instead see an apolitical sketch featuring Maya just playing a traditionally crazy character. That said, woof. This had so much potential (and I do love every opportunity to drag the idiots in Miami and other Florida beaches), but it just never panned out to be anything other than one long Florida joke with Maya’s accent being almost unrecognizable.

Musical Performances

Jack Harlow: 8/10

I haven’t heard a whole lot by rap upstart Jack Harlow. But I’ll confess, from what I’ve heard, I actually like a lot, despite my predisposition towards disdain for white rappers. The discography I’d heard was enough to make me excited to see his SNL debut, and he did not disappoint.

His 2nd song on the night, “Same Guy,” was fine; Harlow’s vocals themselves weren’t bad, and the song was catchy, although it was the exact hip-pop style that tends to get on my nerves, and I certainly could have done without a squawky cameo from Adam Levine. But the first performance, a medley of his two biggest songs “Tyler Herro” and “What’s Poppin’,” was absolutely electric. Both tracks are bangers anyway, but his rapping skills translated to the live stage remarkably well, and the energy from the backup band was fantastic. The applause after that first song was the loudest cheer I heard from the Studio 8H audience all night.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.25 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.06)