SNL Scorecard: Nick Jonas

When Saturday Night Live opened Season 46 with six consecutive episodes, spanning the weeks of the first Presidential Debate to the very weekend the Election was called for President Biden, I assumed this was an ambitious decision pulled off only for the sake of staying up to date with the madness of the political times, and wouldn't be repeated. Yet, to my surprise, they've opened 2021 with a near-similar feat, with last night's episode marking the fifth consecutive episode without interruption. Unlike the stretch to open the season, these last several weeks have consisted of all good-to-great episodes, some among the best of the year. Like that first 6 weeks, though, the last episode of the run, while good, hinted at the need for a break.

Nick Jonas was an interesting choice to pull double duty. He is one of the more noticeable pop figures out there right now, even more so with his introduction as the newest coach on The Voice, but he doesn't have any particularly hot songs out the moment, the huge Jonas Brothers renaissance was two years ago already (a fact that's scarcely believable), and his acting credits are fairly limited. Still, Justin Timberlake though he's not, the host did a more than serviceable job in both comedy and musical performance, and played a significant part in capping off yet another good episode of Saturday Night Live. That said, after the highs of the terrific Regé-Jean Page episode just last week, the writing and acting this time around all felt just a touch more tired, perhaps cluing us in to the fact that the upcoming month layoff until the next new episode is coming at a perfectly opportune time.

Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 14th episode of the season:

Sketch of the Night

“Bachelor Party”: 7.5/10

One of two musical taped sketches on the night, this felt a little more daring than its counterpart, and as a result the payoff was unexpected but hilarious. I have long been weirded out by various wedding and especially bachelor party traditions, and this song perfectly breaks down exactly why they never made sense to me. Also, lost in all the humor is that this was genuinely an evocative, stump-stirring tune!

The Good

“Weekend Update": 7.5/10

True to form with the episode at large, this was not the most memorable installment of Weekend Update this season, but it was really solid! Interestingly enough, Che and Jost’s material got better once they moved out of the political stuff (I laughed way harder than the audience did at the Green M&M joke). This also was the best couple of Update guests in a while, as we saw the welcome return of Kenan’s hilarious Lavar Ball, and a sadly note-perfect Marjorie Taylor Green impression from Cecily Strong.

“Mirror Workout": 7/10

I could be wrong about this, but it feels like it’s been forever since we had a weird Kate character command a sketch’s focus. I loved Shannon Delgado. This felt like it just went on a little too long, and a little too far in the Azuzle direction, otherwise it could have been an all-time classic in the vein of David S. Pumpkins.

"Murder Show": 7/10

In comparison to “Bachelor Party,” this song was a little more on-the-nose. But I appreciated the sheer dead-on accuracy, and of course the musical talent of the ladies involved!

"Cinderella's Slipper": 6.5/10

Well this sketch did not go the direction I thought it was going at ALL! I appreciated that just about every time you thought you knew what direction the humor was going in, the punchline shifted. I almost made it the sketch of the night because there were so many memorable individual moments, but I think it was just a bit too scattered to really flourish as a cohesive sketch.

“Post-COVID Dating": 6.5/10

This was everything a 10-to-1 sketch should be: a totally random array of off-the-wall one liners. I laughed harder than I should have at “Guy Piano.” If this had a stronger finish to it, it could have been higher up on my list for the night, I think.

“Monologue": 6.5/10

Nick Jonas, despite being the chief talent of the trio, is unequivocally the worst Jonas Brother, a topic I’ve cared passionately about since circa Spring 2019. That said, he’s the chief talent for a reason, and he acquitted himself well in this brief, creative monologue; I actually like his Broadway voice much better than his pop music singing voice. We also had a fun cameo from his brother Kevin, the 2nd-best Jonas Brother. Ironically, because I tend to appreciate sketches that don’t get dragged out too long, I wish this would have gone on longer. I was just getting into their fake Broadway song when it ended.

“Dionne Warwick Talk Show": 6/10

I thought this was terrific when they debuted it during Timotheé Chalamet’s episode— as did Miss Dionne Warwick herself —but given the late time slot it aired, I kind of wondered if this would be a weaker installment, and it was. Ego Nwodim was delightful once again, and I enjoyed her interplay with the various celebrities, as well as the live parrot. But by and large the writing was just okay this time around.

“Vaccine Game Show Cold Open”: 5.5/10

I always appreciate when they do something different from a tired news or political event retread for a cold open, and this was certainly different. That said, it felt a little lackluster overall. It’s difficult to explain why it wasn’t better, because the various impressions were terrific, but the writing just failed to impress. Still, on the whole, enjoyable; I loved Ego’s brief appearance, and appreciated that after Governor Whitmer gently called out Cecily for drinking a Canadian beer in her first impersonation, my queen made sure to be nursing an Oberon— which, trust me, is the official state beverage of Michigan —this time around.

The... Less-Good

“Amusement Park”: 3/10

This was the only true dud of the night, and really, of the calendar year so far. I’m not really sure what they were going for with this one. Of course I thought the image of the guy from Soul straddling Kyle was funny, as was Kyle trying not to break. But that was about all it had going for it.

Musical Performances

Nick Jonas: 7/10

Anyone holding out hope Nick would just decide to belt out old JoBros classics, or even some of his past solo career bangers ("Jealous," anyone?), would have been quickly disappointed, as he instead opted for two new singles, the latter of which is still unreleased. Overall, Jonas' musical set went about the same way the episode did in general: not particularly noteworthy, but certainly good.

I think I already mentioned I don't exactly love his singing voice, and on the first song "Spaceman," his vocals got off to a fairly shaky start. But over the course of the song he righted the ship, and though it's a bit puffy lyrically, it's undeniably a catchy tune. Jonas' second song on the night, "This Is Heaven," was another song about his wife’s love taking him to celestial heights, but this one was tonally completely different, and I was digging its energy. It was pointed out to me by my housemate that the backup singer on his far left, the one that absolutely slayed her vocal riffs, was a contestant on The Voice.

OVERALL SCORE: 6.34 ('Comedy Only' score: 6.3)

As we enter the one month layoff, here are how the episodes of Season 46 stand-- keep in mind the episode's overall score factors in the musical performance, so the funniest isn't necessarily the top-rated overall, etc.:

John Mulaney/The Strokes - 6.85
Bill Burr/Jack White - 6.72
Regé-Jean Page/Bad Bunny - 6.65
Dan Levy/Phoebe Bridgers - 6.64
Kristen Wiig/Dua Lipa - 6.55
John Krasinski/Machine Gun Kelly - 6.50 (tiebreaker: Krasinski's episode had the higher Comedy score than Chappelle's)
Dave Chappelle/Foo Fighters - 6.50
Jason Bateman/Morgan Wallen - 6.41
Nick Jonas - 6.34
Timothée Chalamet/Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - 6.32
Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff - 6.09
Chris Rock/Megan Thee Stallion - 5.90
Issa Rae/Justin Bieber - 5.82
Adele/H.E.R. - 5.67