So, funny story: I went into Gal Gadot’s episode of Saturday Night Live with slim hopes that it would actually be a memorable episode with a good host. Usually with first time SNL hosts, there is an aura of anxiety and nervousness that plagues the overall quality of the episode. As I am writing this, I think back to Octavia Spencer’s awful episode last season where you could literally sense the fear trapped inside of her. This, luckily, was not the case with Gadot. She was confident, funny, and seemed natural on stage. Granted, Gadot did suffer from the infamous “read off of the cue card without making eye contact with the characters” disorder, but that did not detract from the overall quality of the episode. Gadot’s episode was solid and, as you will see below, I ranked it higher than Ryan Gosling’s.

“SUPERSTAR!” (The Best Sketch of the Night)

“Weekend Update”: This is one of the very few times that Weekend Update will be in this category. In fact, last season, it was only the best “sketch” of the night once. Just to be clear, if I put Weekend Update here, it is because it was just exceptional and superseded the quality of every other sketch. This was the case for this weekend’s episode, which featured stellar writing, banter between Michael Che and Colin Jost, and the appearance of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Kate McKinnon) and  Pete Davidson. First, the writing for this episode’s segment was solid. It flowed really well and the jokes were on point. This, in turn, made the environment much more relaxed for Che and Jost as they poked fun at one another. But, the highlight of the segment was the return of McKinnon’s Ginsburg, or shall I say, Gins-burn, impression  I just cannot help but laugh whenever she lays out her Gins-burns and busts out a little famous Ginsburg dance move. Finally, Davidson’s testimony was actually funny (always a first time for anything, right!). So, Lorne Michaels, to cure Davidson’s depression, just give him more show time. Simple as that.

“I gotta have more cowbell!” (Solid Sketches)

“E! New Line Up”: What made this digital short work was the stellar impressions done by all of the cast members. I mean, the banter between Kendall Jenner and her “sisters” was cute. In addition to this, you have Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani singing at the dinner table and Kanye, who does not want to be on camera. I think that the creativity here was on point and it definitely is a unique sketch that one would not think of regularly.

“First Date”: I feel, as someone who tends to stay up to date on current events, that I should have gotten the punchline in this sketch much earlier. But, nonetheless, this sketch was solid. If I had one critique of it, it would be the plotline. It may have worked a tad better if Gadot (OJ’s girlfriend) discovered that OJ was in fact OJ Simpson, instead of literally everyone else around her knowing except her. But, even with this slight issue, it was very funny to see Kenan Thompson as OJ, especially when he said some jokes that only OJ would say.  The timing of this, of course, was impeccable.

“Jason Aldean Cold Open”: Not much to review here, since it was not a sketch, but kudos to SNL for reaching out to Aldean after a terrible tragedy last week in Las Vegas. And, with the unfortunate passing of Tom Petty, it was fitting for Aldean to do a cover of his song.

“Mirage”: I heard so many different opinions on this sketch. Some people really liked it, others disliked it. I did like this sketch. But, I will say that it was very superficial and had no purpose in the show besides its straight comedic aspect. This aspect though was very funny. The duality between Thompson’s mirage and Beck Bennett’s was hilarious. It was also nice to see Gadot branch out a little in this sketch. She also had the opportunity to look right into the camera in this sketch, so we all did not see that she was reading off her cue cards. Look at that, improvement!

“Themyscira”: This sketch was really, really, really good! I just loved the chemistry on screen. Everything worked. McKinnon and Aidy Bryant embodied their respective roles incredibly well and made the sketch feel quite natural.  And Gadot seeming uncomfortable on screen (as she was literally) actually worked because she genuinely did not understand what Bryant and McKinnon were asking.  As Twitter exploded on as well, Gadot and McKinnon did kiss, so take with that what you wish. It was probably the length of the kiss that made some people go wild, although maybe Gadot just really wanted to go all out with her role.

“Well, isn’t that special” (Hit or Miss Sketches)

“The Chosen One”: Basically the character that Davidson embodied is who Davidson is in real life. He is carefree, lives with abandon, and tends to just be self-focused. All of those traits came to light in this sketch.  There was some clever dialogue and plot lines with this sketch, but it fell flat. I felt like it also was quite repetitive, so that may have contributed to it feeling a little stale. But, it had its funny moments.

“Buh-bye” (Bad Sketches)

“Espionage”: I’m sorry, I fast-forwarded through this sketch. It was so pointless and awful and seemed like chaos just on the screen. I just could not watch it after the first 60 seconds.

“The Maiden and the Mice”: A word of advice: do not let mice create a dress for you. Oh, you already were not planning on hiring a clan of mice for that job. Good, well then we don’t need this sketch now, do we? This was painful to watch. Gadot hates the dress, mice. Get over it.

“The Naomi Show”: Do me a favor, if you find out the point of this sketch or understand its significance, give me a shout. Because, to me, it is just an angry mom, a girl with a liking for straws, and a dad who does not seem to biologically fit with two caucasian women. Not much substance for a sketch exists with these characters, yet the writers managed to make a terrible one out of it.

Gal Gadot’s first time hosting SNL was, shall I say, “memorable.” Next week, Kumail Nanjiani hosts, which I am so looking forward to.

Dylan’s Ranking of the Episodes [1 (lowest quality) – 5 (highest quality)]

1. Gal Gadot (★★★★)
2. Ryan Gosling (★★★)