SNL Scorecard: Zoë Kravitz / Rosalía
Saturday Night Live is about to head into another break after their third consecutive episode, and considering the form they were in with the last few episodes, a lot was riding on this show as they head into the break. Coming off arguably the funniest three episodes of the season-- stretching back to the pre-Olympics episode hosted by Willem Dafoe --SNL would either go into the bye week with a loss of momentum, or with a reassurance to its fans that the season had really hit its stride.
For this, it was probably a good thing the show would be helmed by not only another first-time host, but a particularly buzzy one. The multihyphenate Zoë Kravitz has already amassed a legion of fans, as had her musical guest companion Rosalía, but is particularly in the limelight at this moment, portraying Catwoman in the just-released Batman film. Even if the show were to tank, the women serving as host and musical guest were bound to inspire an excited, energetic audience. And fortunately, the show did not tank; far from it, in fact. Though it probably failed to match the terrific heights of the last two episodes, some more delightfully zany writing and acting brought out the best in the cast and the host alike, solidifying yet another episode that seemed to grow into itself the more it went on, and ensuring the uptick in quality in the second half of Season 47 is a real thing.
Here's the sketch-by-sketch breakdown of the 15th episode of the season:
Sketch of the Night
"Maid Of Honor": 7.5/10
SNL have definitely gone to the well of ‘awkward wedding speeches’ often, and this one lost a little bit of magic once the joke became apparent. But still, this was some great writing. It was chock full of jokes from start to finish, and Zoë, Cecily Strong, and Kyle Mooney all acted their parts so well. Also, fun to see Martin Herlihy make an appearance! I wonder if that hints at the possibility of Please Don’t Destroy guys being featured players next year…
The Good
“Weekend Update": 8/10
There is no doubt about it, Che and Jost are officially back in terrific form. Not every joke was a winner in this segment, but the good ones were GREAT. Michael Che’s “International Women’s Day” joke was the hardest I’ve laughed at an Update joke in maybe years. Kyle’s send-up of Dan Bilzerian didn’t really work as well I was hoping it would, but Alex Moffatt’s Terry Fink is a favorite of mine, and was yet another reminder that Alex is drastically underused on this show.
“Don't Stop Believin' (Marching Band)": 7.5/10
Say it with me: we love a crazy 10-to-1 sketch! The idea of someone freaking out about a marching band cover song the way one would over a new pop song is already funny, but wouldn’t have been able to sustain the sketch by itself. Thankfully, Bowen Yang’s unbridled energy and everything being slightly off (“Don’t Stop Belevin’,” the Windows phone, Bowen’s memory of the lyrics) made it so enjoyable to the very end. Also, this wasn’t really the point of the bit, but does anyone do a quizzical “You’re being ridiculous” reaction better than Ego Nwodim?
"Amazon Go": 7.5/10
Something about SNL and Amazon ads…it always seems to be a winning combo. This one is another winner, making obvious the narrow line between “convenient!” and “sketchy…” depending on who is involved.
"Word Crunch": 7.5/10
I don’t know what it says about this program that they had two insanely talented up-and-coming women helming their show, and spent the night leaning so hard into juvenile genitalia humor. But I really don’t know what it says about me that I loved it so much. I thought this was one would kind of just fizzle out and be one overly long “momhole” joke, but the unveiling of the additional puzzles really kicked it up a notch; the very last puzzle literally caused me to choke on my water. Also, even in her very limited camera time, Sarah Sherman stole the show; she’s a future star, no doubt.
“Princess & The Frog": 7/10
This sketch featured Zoë’s best acting of the night, in my opinion. The premise here was pretty juvenile, maybe, but hers and Chris Redd’s commitment to their characters sold it, and had me rolling. There were some great lines in there, but the Disney- and Google jokes were under-appreciated. This would have rated higher on the night, but the hard pivot at the very end with Andrew Dismukes’ cameo ended it on an unnecessarily weird note.
"Porch Scene": 7/10
This was a sequel to a sketch that Kate and Aidy first debuted with Carey Mulligan around this time last year,, and it was every bit as delightful as last time. I didn’t necessarily foresee this being a recurring character, but it’s one of the few sketches that feel right for a recurring bit, as Kate and Aidy’s nervous middle school boys are so good and play off each other so well. I don’t know that these will ever necessarily be a ‘classic,’ but there’s nothing wrong with a recurring bit that’s just a solid 7 to 8/10 every time.
“Old Home Movies": 6.5/10
This was another one where once the premise was revealed, the sketch lost its luster somewhat. However, this too had some pretty great punchlines, especially the erectile dysfunction ones (man, Chris Redd’s hypothetical penis was taking a beating in this episode, pun extremely intended). Also, just a star turn through and through from Kenan— the ‘fast forward’ bits were terrific acting.
“White House TikTok Meeting Cold Open": 6.5/10
As soon as it was revealed this would be a TikTok-oriented sketch, I figured it was either going to be hilarious or remarkably cringy, as most ‘SNL parodies the youths’ sketches tend to be. Surprisingly, it landed somewhere in between; it was actually a pretty good send-up of TikTok stars, and funny performances were had by all, but it was short on really memorable lines. I will say though, this was headed for a rating in the 5.5 range before Kenan and Bowen stole the show and ended this on a very high note. (One final note: I get she was playing the cringey CW actress, and she did great at that, but I was very bummed we finally got a Jen Psaki and it was Kate McKinnon and not Chloe Fineman.)
“We Got Her A Cat": 6/10
Please Don’t Destroy are always a welcome sight, and always bring a good amount of energy to the show. This was probably their weakest sketch they’ve done thus far, though. “A cat for Catwoman” was already done in the monologue, and it just didn’t have that much mileage as a running joke, imo. I did enjoy the Paul Dano cameo and the multiple instances of Zöe mistaking Ben for the cat, however. It certainly wasn’t a bad sketch.
“Monologue": 6/10
Zöe Kravitz, the world’s most stunning woman— er, I mean Catwoman in The Batman didn’t make a cameo in the Cold Open, so this was our first glimpse of her She was a little more wooden than I expected onstage, but the monologue would be daunting for most, and it also seemed like she was having a great time. The joke of having multiple ‘Catwoman’ walk-ons was fairly obvious, but also enjoyable. Aidy’s Cat Lady was a particular delight. This was not the most memorable monologue, especially after having two such great ones in preceding weeks, but set up a solid start to the show regardless.
Musical Performances
Rosalía: 7.5/10
I don’t know much by Rosalía, but I have heard enough to know the artist from Catalonia is a wonderful multitalented star. Case in point: I knew her to be a singer and Flamenco dancer, but in her first performance, “Chicken Teriyaki, ”she flexed some serious reggaeton and rapping muscles as well. The minimalist lighting and her enviable flow made this feel like a vintage hip-hop music video, and I was very impressed (and also mumbling “Chicken teriyaki!!!” to myself throughout the rest of the episode)
Her second song, “La Fama” was much more in line with the style I had heard from her before; a slower, heartfelt song to a grooving percussive beat. It took her a little while to find her vocals, but once she did, this was another really good performance. Also, she was absolutely serving this #lewk. Did I use that right?
OVERALL SCORE: 7.05 ('Comedy Only' score: 7.00)
As we enter another break, here is where the Season 47 episodes stand thus far-- keep in mind the episode's overall score factors in the musical performance, so what I considered the funniest isn't necessarily the top-rated overall, etc.:
John Mulaney/LCD Soundsystem - 7.17
Oscar Isaac/Charli XCX - 7.06
Zoë Kravitz/Rosalía - 7.05
Rami Malek/Young Thug - 6.95
Billie Eilish - 6.95 (tiebreaker goes to the Rami Malek episode for having a higher 'Comedy Only' score)
Willem Dafoe/Katy Perry - 6.88
Simu Liu/Saweetie - 6.83
Jason Sudeikis/Brandi Carlile - 6.83 (tiebreaker goes to the Simu Liu episode for having a higher 'Comedy Only' score)
Owen Wilson/Kacey Musgraves - 6.64
Kim Kardashian West/Halsey - 6.63
Will Forte / Måneskin - 6.50
Paul Rudd (COVID Christmas) - 6.50 (tiebreaker goes to the Will Forte episode for having a higher 'Comedy Only' score)
Kieran Culkin/Ed Sheeran - 6.25
Jonathan Majors/Taylor Swift - 5.88
Ariana DeBose/Bleachers - 5.68
Comments