Zsigray’s Take: SNL Review, Week 6

December 19, 2017

Hello fellow viewers of Saturday Night Live! It has been a while and I apologize for that. Unfortunately, reviewing SNL is just one of my many tasks that I juggle and sometimes it falls through the cracks. But, I look forward to getting back into the groove of things. I have highlighted the best and worst sketch from Chance the Rapper’s episode that aired a few weeks back as well right before I begin reviewing Saoirse Ronan’s episode from this past weekend. Overall, Ronan hosted a good episode of SNL. There was an ongoing comic motif of, shall we say, physical intimacy, woven throughout the episode, which grew a tad old. Other than that, Ronan appeared to be comfortable. She fully embraced her Irish heritage and took numerous risks throughout the episode and it paid off.

THROWBACK (Chance the Rapper’s Episode)

“Sports Announcer”: Best Sketch

“Come Back, Barack”: Runner-Up

“Pizza Delivery”: Worst Sketch

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

“Welcome to Hell”: This sketch was very impressive. Not only did SNL take time to comment on the recent events involving females in Hollywood and abroad, but they added a spin to it that illuminated the fact that what is happening is not new. Rather, it is just being reported more frequently. The sketch showed that women have been dealing with stuff like this for years and highlighted basically every instance, things that most of society views as mundane, where there are still elements of fear. Although the sketch was satirical in nature, I think it had some good point associated with it that are applicable to daily lives, especially when understanding how women feel.

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

“Aer Lingus”: They had a lot of pet dogs in this sketch which as a cute thing to see. Other than that, the chemistry between Ronan and Cecily Strong was superb and I wish that the both of them could be on all my flights in the future! There was a comical element to this sketch and it worked fine because it was the last sketch of the show. Everyone was a little goofy.

“American Girl Store”: The question of the day is: Did the gentleman in this sketch buy the American Girl doll for himself, or for a gift? This is a question that will probably live in infamy for many years and may never be answered. But clearly, he bought it for himself. I loved how even though there were so many characters present in this sketch, all of them played off the energy of one another. Mikey Day was stellar and every other secondary character acted beautifully. It was a very funny sketch to watch just because it was written so well.

“Bachelor Auction”: This sketch was so awkward but funny at the same time. In fact, Pete Davidson’s dancing is a new gif online. I liked the underlying euphemisms woven throughout this sketch that were hinted at but never explicitly stated. This duality made the sketch that much more enjoyable to view.

“Floribama Shore”: So, there was literally no point to this sketch but it was very funny in nature. The best line of the night, I think, came from this sketch, which is where Aidy Bryant’s character says, “It’s Quartney, with a Quart.” I laughed so hard at this and was so excited to see Bryant embrace her peculiar and flamboyant character. This sketch both embraced the superficiality associated with shows like Jersey Shore and added another dimension to it, which I thoroughly enjoyed seeing. I also loved how they continued to cut to Chris Redd, who was the only rational one in the entire room.

“Return Counter”: I think that this is every retail employee’s worst nightmare, especially during the holidays. People just have to learn to respect each store’s return policy! The highlight of this sketch was by far when Kate McKinnon’s character crashed into the counter on her motorized scooter and the airbag went off. That was such a nice touch.

“Weekend Update”: Weekend Update has been very consistent this year so it grows tiresome saying the same thing every week. Michael Che and Colin Jost are spectacular and that makes the segment that much better. I thoroughly enjoyed both McKinnon’s Theresa May this week (I have no clue how she is so good with parodying foreign leaders) and the banter between Leslie Jones and Day’s married couple.

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

“The Race”: I am still genuinely confused about this sketch, so if any of you understood what happened here besides a contest to see who could run faster, let me know. This sketch was blowing up on social media, so maybe I was just missing something blatant. Everyone was really into this digital short and it showed with the quality of it — I wouldn’t be surprised if Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney wrote this because they normally write really stellar buddy-comedies.

“White House Christmas Cold Open”: Well, it was fun while it lasted. Apparently we can only go one week without welcoming Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump back to the SNL stage. This sketch was not bad but it was not good either. It was just, “meh.” It just felt so forced and superficial partly due to the fact that it was basically just repeating what the public already knows from the news. The only spin the show took was bringing Hillary Clinton (McKinnon) into the room but that was short-lived. The show needs to get away from these Trump-centric Cold Opens for a longer period of time than one week. There is other stuff to write about, believe me.

“Buh-bye” (Bad Sketches)

“Late for Class”: There was literally no point to this class and I guarantee that Luke Null will be gone by the end of the season, as this is the first sketch that he has basically stared in (or had a majority role in) and it was awful. The show just is not the place for him.

Saoirse Ronan hosted a good episode of SNL. James Franco comes back to SNL next week, followed by Kevin Hart!

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