For the second week in a row, Saturday Night Live delivered a moderately funny episode. This time around, Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth — who was there to either promote The Avengers: Age of Ultron two months in advance, or Blackhat two months after its release — was the attractive host given the weak material with which to perform.
After a batch of strong episodes heading into the 40th anniversary break, SNL has stumbled a bit since its return last week. Of course, it has only been two episodes, but a similar pattern emerged last season when SNL totally flamed out after the February break. So far it hasn’t been as bad as last season, but here’s hoping the writers and cast will return to form over the final six episodes of the season.
Cold Open: A Message from Hillary Clinton
Since Amy Poehler left SNL in 2008, Vanessa Bayer had appeared as Hillary Clinton a handful of times, but as we near the 2016 election, it appears that Kate McKinnon has taken that position from Bayer. McKinnon’s portrayal of Hillary was slightly more unbalanced than Bayer’s with multiple uses of McKinnon’s “crazy eyes.”
McKinnon first appeared as Hillary during a Piers Morgan Live sketch last season about Clinton family biopics from various networks with McKinnon appearing during AMC’s “Breaking Rodham” as Heisenhower.
Best Sketch: Reality House
Kyle Mooney and Beck Bennett’s “Good Neighbor” sketches have been some of the best sketches SNL has produced the past two seasons. This time, they poke fun at almost every reality show on television under the guise of three dudes trying to decide between going out or staying in for dinner.
While not as weird as past “Good Neighbor” sketches, “Reality House” still has that quality that most likely turned some long-time fans off while endearing itself at the same time to a younger crowd.
Second Best Sketch: Empire
Fox currently airs two of the corniest new hit dramas of the season, Gotham and Empire. Both are over-the-top, kind of stupid, and pretty popular, but only one had Courtney Love as a guest star, and received the SNL treatment this season. Sorry, Gotham.
Bonus points to this sketch for getting Michael Che out from behind the “Weekend Update” desk, and for Kenan Thompson’s excellent Terrence Howard impression.
Weekend Update Moment: Colin Jost Reading One of Michael Che’s Jokes
A lot was written over the weekend about the takedown of Dr. Ben Carson by “Weekend Update,” but nothing topped Colin Jost wanting to read one of Michael Che’s jokes, and then COMPLETELY FLUBBING IT. Honestly though, that flub probably made the joke better. Both the Ben Carson and Jost reading Che jokes appear in the above video.
It has taken me a bit of time to warm up to Jost and Che — they mess up lines, laugh while the other one is talking, and make little quips that don’t appear scripted — but I have to admit I kind of like the almost free-form, maybe a little more socio-political nature of the current “Weekend Update.” At times it totally doesn’t work, but let’s hope Lorne Michaels gives Jost and Che at least another season to iron out the wrinkles.
Standout (By Not Appearing) Performer: Vanessa Bayer
Poor Vanessa Bayer. First, Kate McKinnon takes Hillary Clinton from you, and then you make it into one sketch during the entire episode. One! For the eighth time, Bayer and Cecily Strong appeared as two former porn stars who are attempting to receive free stuff by making a commercial, this time for Dolce & Gabbana perfume.
Between her declining screen time, and the moving of Hillary Clinton to Kate McKinnon, it appears that Bayer’s time at SNL may be coming to an end. She’s been eclipsed by McKinnon, and Cecily Strong as the go-to female cast member for sketches, and by losing Hillary she doesn’t really have an essential character anymore. After five seasons, it may be time to move on for both Bayer and SNL.
Other Notes:
Chris Cornell made an appearance during the Zac Brown Band’s performance of “Heavy is the Hand.” The last time Cornell appeared on SNL was in 1996 with Soundgarden.
Taran Killam’s Tony Stark was really channeling Norm Macdonald’s Burt Reynolds impression in The Avengers sketch.
Liam Hemsworth made his second appearance this season during his brother’s monologue. He showed up during Woody Harrelson’s monologue back in November with his Hunger Games co-stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.
Aidy Bryant was another cast member sparingly used, but she may have delivered one of the better lines of the night during the “Brother 2 Brother” sketch when she referred to Killam’s butt as, “Eh, I go to the bathroom out of this thing” when comparing it to Hemsworth’s.
Saturday Night Live returns March 28.
