SNL Scorecard: Olivia Rodrigo
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
We're into May and thus also into the final stretch of Saturday Night Live's 51st season, with the show returning last week from a 3-week hiatus, its last break before the big summer one. This first show back was and is the only one in its final month to feature a first-time host, in Olivia Rodrigo. And yet, it felt inevitable that Rodrigo would grace the stage as host: she's one of the biggest Gen Z pop stars in the world, alongside the likes of Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter, both of whom have hosted before (the latter this season, in fact). What's more, Olivia herself had been a musical guest on the show twice over already, and in anticipation of the release of her third album-- and as a former Disney actress --was a logical choice to pull double duty.
It's been a funny old season for the 51st season, which much like the season for my beloved Liverpool FC (for those of you playing a drinking game at home, pour up!), has had its fair of valleys to go with a couple peaks in what can most generously be described as a "transitional season." Still, there has been a clear upward trajectory in the calendar year 2026, with most of the season's clear strongest episodes coming in this half of the season, especially in the run of shows starting in March. Between the momentum, such that it exists, the eager summer anticipation that May brings, and the bevy of huge names involved in these last few episodes, there was reason for optimism that this uneven season could finish on a very high note.
Alas, while that possibility still exists for the last two episodes at least, this outing instead felt like a reversion to the season mean. More specifically, an episode with plenty of fun, plenty of energy, a good performance by the host, but often weak and underdeveloped writing affecting the overall quality of the show. The good news is there were some very real highlights, with 2 or 3 sketches deserving of consideration among the season's best. The bad news is everything that wasn't in that tier was streets behind it, instantly lost to memory.
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 18th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
"Rasta Driver": 8.5/10
Wherein Andrew Dismukes gets possessed by the spirit of Dean Pelton from Community. What a star turn from him, and what a delightful gem at the tail-end of this otherwise pretty forgettable episode.
The Good
“My Room": 8/10
This is an example of the power of a weird and silly concept paired with strong writing. I was completely unprepared for the turn this song takes early on; that and Olivia’s interaction with James Austin Johnson later on were two of my biggest laughs on the whole night.
“My Ex": 7.5/10
Ashley Padilla Emmy when?
“Home Security Ad": 7.5/10
It’s not often an episode ends on a mock ad, and when it does, it’s usually not memorable and instead airs in that spot simply for time purposes. But this was great! Such a funny concept and sly commentary on the #times we’re in.
"Busted": 6.5/10
Okay, this one won me over eventually. I was so out on it because few things annoy me more than talk-singing (especially bad talk-singing), and I felt like maybe there was a parody I was missing, or something? But the more the ante got upped, the more and more I found myself enjoying the shenanigans. Shame the ending was so underwhelming, though; it felt like it was building up enough momentum that a really funny ending could have brought it home.
"ShopTV: Lava Cake": 6.5/10
This is pretty much the same thing every time, and they’ve done this sketch enough that it might be time to retire it for a little while, but it’s a funny enough concept that it’s at least enjoyable every time. I laughed out loud at the blurring bit.
"Monologue": 6/10
As not only a former child actress but also a two-time musical guest at SNL (the latter of which included a cameo in an underrated fave sketch of 2023), I figured Olivia Rodrigo would be more comfortable than most first-time hosts in the intimidating monologue format, and that very much proved to be the case. She outperformed the writing for this monologue, which was perfectly pleasant but not funny (and went way too easy on Jake Paul for my liking). The “drivers license” parody was a fun addition in the second half, though.
The... Less-Good
"Edge of Destiny": 5/10
What is going on this season with the first sketches post-monologue? I feel like almost every episode this year Lorne (or whoever makes that ultimate call) has chosen a really weird and/or underwhelming choice to get the ball rolling. This might have worked as the last sketch of the night, because I can at least appreciate how bonkers this was. But it wasn’t really humorous, apart from the inventive set design.
“Hegseth and PAtel Iran Press Briefing Cold Open": 5/10
The funniest part of this whole sketch was the “A-Span” gag at the top. Yeah, this was fine. High energy and not painfully unfunny, but not really funny either. It mostly just felt like an excuse to trot out Colin Jost to the crowd again, and to shoehorn an Aziz Ansari cameo into the show.
“Weekend Update": 4.5/10
Woof. This was the worst Update in some time, from my memory. The energy from the co-anchors wasn’t bad, but clearly seemed a little off, perhaps because they were fully aware that was the weakest, most tiresome set of punchlines from them in a while. I enjoyed how much Michael Che enjoyed his statue joke, though. Walk-ons from Kam Patterson, and the duo of Chloe Fineman and Veronika Slowikowska were both energetic at least, but ran dry pretty quickly.
Musical Performances
Olivia Rodrigo: 6.5/10
Olivia’s an interesting case for me, a resurgent fan of Pop music. I really like her a lot and I think her songwriting and musical inspirations are so interesting. I also have seen her put on absolutely electric performances, including on this very show; her 2023 set was one of the very best in recent memory. And yet? I find most of her music just okay. Or perhaps more accurately, I find myself disliking as many of her hits as I do like them. I’m also not convinced of her vocal ability, which might seem needlessly harsh given her still relatively young age, but in fairness, she’s a professional singer about to release her 3rd studio album.
Somewhat in that vein, I like but don’t love her new single “drop dead,” and the performance of it I found just okay. (Not okay? The fact that the studio crowd didn’t recognize Debbie Harry, who introduced Olivia’s first performance. So disrespectful, tbh.) Cool set design and fun energy, but her voice was a little all over the place. The second performance was exciting in that it was an SNL rarity: a world debut of an unreleased song! “begged” was a lovely, heartwrenching little tune, that Olivia performed very well. But more importantly, WEYES BLOOD SIGHTING BABYYYYYYY!! My outrage that she was relegated to mere backup singer was offset by my excitement at seeing her on national TV.
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