Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
BENGHAZI HEARINGS
Jodi Arias (NAP) testifies at Benghazi hearings as a ratings stunt
— A fairly amusing concept of having Jodi Arias testify at the Benghazi hearings.
— Wait, what the hell? Why are the names that are displayed for the representatives on their respective desk nameplates completely different from 1) the names that Bill refers to them as, and 2) the names that are displayed for them respectively on a chyron on the bottom of the screen?
— I got a pretty good laugh from the lack of an answer when Nasim’s Jodi Arias asks why they’re holding these Benghazi hearings if we already know who the culprit of the Benghazi attack was.
— Nasim-as-Arias’ “You and the jury” line was kinda funny, but I didn’t find it to be anywhere near as clever as SNL wanted me to.
— I remember some online SNL fans considering it ballsy for SNL to spoof Ariel Castro. Too bad what SNL does with it here is absolutely nothing to write home about.
— What the fuck?!? Why in the world does Bill refer to Bobby’s Ariel Castro as “Mr. Ramsey”?!? Man, what is HAPPENING to this cold opening?
— Overall, aside from a laugh here and there, this cold opening didn’t work, the various attempts at topical satire felt tepid, and things were way too sloppy with the aforementioned confusing gaffes. Felt like this was thrown together a half-hour before airtime or something.
STARS: **
MONOLOGUE
KRW goes backstage & sings “I’m So Excited” variant; Jonah Hill & MAR cameos
— I’ve said this about some other former cast members when reviewing their monologues, but it sure feels odd to see Kristen Wiig standing on that home base stage as the host. Perhaps one of the reasons this feels odd is because a full season hasn’t even passed since Kristen left the cast. Practically yesterday, I was still reviewing her as a cast member.
— Meh, didn’t care for the very random joke with a photo of David Spade being shown as a younger version of Kristen.
— Ugh, several cast members playing backup singers, a known pet peeve of mine regarding musical monologues.
— I know I said in previous reviews that I’m always a sucker for former cast members doing monologues where they go around the studio and backstage while singing, but damn, does it have to become a requirement for EVERY former cast member to do that in their monologue in these early 2010s years? In just a year-and-a-half, we’ve had that type of monologue from Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and now Kristen Wiig. The novelty has completely worn off by this Wiig episode, sad to say.
— Yeah, so far, I’m finding that this monologue is lacking the fun and exciting feel that former-cast-member-goes-around-the-studio-and-backstage-while-singing monologues typically have. Aside from maybe one or two things, I’m not all that crazy about anything that’s been going on in tonight’s monologue so far.
— Hmm, a rare instance of someone actually interacting with the Abraham Lincoln who’s traditionally seen in the background of SNL’s backstage pieces.
— Fred’s entrance as himself receives a big applause break from the audience, despite the fact that he’s, you know, STILL IN THE CAST.
— At least tonight’s Gilly appearance isn’t in a full-fledged sketch, even if I’ve surprisingly developed a modicum of tolerance towards Gilly in her last few appearances prior to this episode. (The actual final full-fledged Gilly sketch, from the preceding season’s Sofia Vergara episode, was actually perfect closure for that character.)
— I do at least like seeing the entire cast dancing together onstage at the end of this monologue (Taran in particular is doing some absolutely priceless dancing in the background), even though it’s a knock-off of the ending of Jimmy Fallon’s far-superior aforementioned monologue.
STARS: **
1-800-FLOWERS
1-800-Flowers mediates love-hate relationship between (KRW) & mom (KAM)
— Interesting pairing of Kristen and Kate, especially given the constant comparisons people made between them in Kate’s early days. Also interesting is seeing Kristen playing straight man to Kate.
— This commercial is showing how woefully underrated Kristen’s straight man skills are, and how much better she generally is at performing low-key stuff like this.
— Kate: “God, I wish I was a lesbian so I didn’t have to carry a purse.” An ironic line, given the performer who delivered it.
STARS: ***½
THE CALIFORNIANS
back-from-the-dead Karina (KRW) meets pregnant (MAR)
— (*groooooaaaaaaaan*) The first of what I’m sure will be various instances of me groaning at the return of a Wiig-involved terrible recurring sketch.
— Aaaaaand there goes the obligatory breaking, with Bill setting off a giggling fit for Kristen. Come to think of it, Kristen never could get through these Californians sketches without laughing her way through them, which I almost forgot until now, given the fact that Kristen previously only appeared in the first two installments of this sketch.
— Aaaaaaaaand we end with an extremely hammy, over-the-top, and unfunny mug-off between Maya Rudolph and Kristen. Ugh
— Overall, not a single redeeming factor to be found. Usually, I can find ONE very mild highlight in each Californians installment. No such luck here.
STARS: *
AW NUTS! MOM’S A GHOST!
Korean horror meets Disney Channel sitcom
— The basic style of this is a spot-on spoof of typical Disney Channel shows.
— The Korean water ghost thing is an interesting and unusual concept that I’m onboard for.
— Pretty funny how the very disturbing things Kristen’s Korean water ghost mom character is doing are being presented in such a lighthearted, corny-sitcom manner.
STARS: ***½
THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese goes after (JAS) on the beach
— (*groooooaaaaaaaan*)
— I think this is the latest slot in an episode that a Lawrence Welk Show sketch has ever aired. IIRC, all previous installments of this sketch were either the first post-monologue live sketch or the cold opening.
— Ugh, there goes the obligatory lame, juvenile finger joke from Fred’s Lawrence Welk.
— Yeah, as usual, I have absolutely NOTHING to say about the same-old same-old Dooneese portion of this sketch, except that it somehow feels even more tired than usual.
— The bit with Dooneese’s arm appearing on the opposite side of the screen feels like a knock-off of a gag used in a few Herb Welch sketches.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Diane Young”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Anthony Crispino raises his voice while propagating incorrect information
Garth & Kat offer characteristically-extemporaneous Mother’s Day songs
— Yikes, Seth’s voice sounding VERY hoarse tonight.
— I like the fun exchanges Bobby’s Anthony Crispino and Seth are having regarding Crispino always asking “Did you hear about this one?”
— Hmm, now they’ve begun using a vocal modulator on Crispino’s constant “I’m pretty sure”s, which would become a running gag in his subsequent Update commentaries. While I love the silliness of these Crispino commentaries in general, the vocal modulator gag may be a little TOO cartoonish for my likes.
— Tonight’s overall Crispino commentary was okay, but nowhere near as strong as usual. None of his false stories tonight stood out to me.
— Seth, when delivering a sincere Mother’s Day message towards his mother while looking into the straight-ahead camera: “Mom, I just wanted to let you know……..THAT GARTH AND KAT ARE HERE!!!” Oh, damn you, Seth. DAMN YOU. You might as well have introduced this Garth and Kat commentary by just saying, “Hey, happy Mother’s Day, mom, hope ya like crap!”
— Oh, and to continue the theme of this episode review of mine, let me greet tonight’s Garth and Kat commentary with a (*groooooaaaaaaaan*), with a side of (*Stooge grabs a blowtorch and burns the laptop he’s watching this on to ashes*)
STARS: **
TARGET
Target Lady takes pleasure in processing cash register transactions
— Yet another Wiig-involved recurring sketch tonight, but I won’t greet this particular one with a “(*groooooaaaaaaaan*)”, because, as I’ve previously disclosed, Target Lady has surprisingly grown on me towards the end of her original run, and, underneath her overly-broad and cartoonish voice, tics, and catchphrases, I’m finding a strangely endearing and human quality to her (which a lot of Kristen’s recurring characters lack big-time). But, damn, we’re more than halfway through this episode and Kristen has yet to do a single live sketch tonight where she plays an original character. The specific recurring characters this episode has been filled with are exactly some SNL fans’ worst nightmare on what a Kristen Wiig-hosted episode would look like.
— At least we get a change of pace at the beginning of this, regarding Target Lady starting her shift.
— No matter how much I come around on Target Lady, I’ll NEVER like that regular gag where she walks away from her cash register to get something while in the middle of ringing up a customer.
— Another change of pace in tonight’s Target Lady sketch, with her actually telling a customer, “Void” for once, instead of her usual “Approved!”
— Funny bit with Target Lady explaining why she cuts out the eyes from photos of models in issues of Sassy Magazine.
— Vanessa, when Kenan suggests they go to Kohl’s: “Kohl’s??? Who are you, Donald Trump???”
STARS: ***
ACUPUNCTURE
acupuncturists (KRW) & (AIB) cause blood to gush from (JAS)’s back
— Finally, a non-recurring live sketch tonight.
— Ah, a sketch in the tradition of SNL’s projectile bleeding sketches.
— Jason’s overly-calm, unaware reactions while bleeding profusely are very funny, as are Kristen, Aidy, and Kate’s various panicked reactions and resorts.
— I love Bobby’s off-camera yell of “Who’s blood is this?!?”, as well as Aidy passing it off to Jason as being cool street talk, “You know, like, ‘What’s up, blood?’”
— Absolutely hilarious how Kristen’s character is now desperately resorting to making Jason unwittingly drink a vase of his own blood to keep him from getting suspicious.
— I got a good laugh from how, when asked “Anything you’d like to contribute?” while he’s seeing the madness that Kristen and Aidy have created, Fred just grabs his hat & suitcase and casually dives out of the window.
— Another funny line from an off-camera Bobby: “Yo, man, who the hell this Chinese dude?!?”
— Aidy’s character attempting to deliver the term Shamwow in a fancy manner is very funny.
— Solid visual of a flesh bubble inflating out of Jason’s back, then exploding a spurt of blood. Man, this sketch is a riot.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
— Very nice and rare how the end of the preceding Acupuncture sketch carries over into this musical guest intro, with Kristen and Aidy still being in their wigs and blood-drenched costumes. It’s also a rarity to see a current cast member in a musical guest intro, not counting episodes where the musical guest is also that night’s host. Rather significant that the cast member in this particular musical guest intro is a first-year featured player. I remember some online SNL fans who, at the time, felt Aidy might end up a one-season wonder took her appearance in this musical guest intro as a sign that perhaps she might make it to a second season after all. As I mentioned in a previous episode review, those concerns some online SNL fans had at the time about Aidy supposedly not doing too well in her first season and having a chance of getting fired over the summer don’t hold up well, as I’m finding in my re-watch of this season that Aidy actually had a low-key impressive first season.
— This season’s been having some creative fun with a few of their musical guest intros, between Stefon introducing one of Bruno Mars’ performances, Justin Timberlake introducing one of his own performances, the Three Amigos introducing the other Timberlake performance that same night, and now this.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Unbelievers”
DOUBLE DATE
on a double date, (KRW) & (CES) flirt with sixth graders (BOM) & (TIR)
— Hmm, not too excited about this premise.
— Bobby and Tim are at least convincing and cute in their portrayal of little boys.
— A laugh from Kristen’s out-of-nowhere dickhead line about her husband.
— Cecily is really solid here.
— I’m starting to love the voice Tim’s using. Sadly, this ends up being the final lead role he would ever get as a cast member.
— After my iffiness towards this sketch in the first minute-and-a-half or so, this sketch has really been growing on me. There’s actually an interesting tone to this sketch. Almost slice-of-life-ish, in fact, though nowhere near as low-key as SNL’s slice-of-life sketches typically are. All the performances are adding to the refreshing realism of this sketch, Cecily’s performance in particular.
— Pretty funny exaggerated laughter from Taran’s character in reaction to a very mild anecdote from Bobby.
STARS: ***½
CLASSY SEXY ELEGNACE
CD features autotuned reality show housewives
— Another sketch this season with a whole bunch of unfortunate James Anderson-isms jumping out in your face right from the start. Kristen’s first musical number in this sketch even feels a little reminiscent of typical musical performances in Deep House Dish (complete with two model-looking men as backup dancers), a recurring sketch written by James Anderson. I swear I recall there also being another sketch Anderson wrote that had someone saying, as one of the lyrics of a song they’re singing, “Did I already say (insert word here that they already said)?”, like Kristen does here.
— Aidy’s performance is at least funny (which, once again, continues this quietly solid first season of hers), though the actual lines/lyrics she’s been given here aren’t funny in the slightest.
— Overall, way too much of this sketch went by without a single laugh from me. Aidy’s performance and delivery during her solo number provided the only amusement I got from this whole thing.
STARS: *½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— One of this season’s lesser episodes. As feared, quite a large chunk of this episode was filled with tired returning Kristen Wiig favorites (certainly not my favorites), most of them lousy as always. Some of the non-recurring stuff in the pre-Weekend Update half didn’t work, either, such as the cold opening and monologue. Thankfully, after this episode finally got all of the recurring stuff out of the way, there was a big upswing in quality towards the end of the show, with the funny and original Acupuncture and Double Date sketches, but that upswing in quality was short-lived, as things unfortunately bottomed-out again with the final sketch of the night.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Acupuncture
Double Date
1-800-Flowers
Aw Nuts! Mom’s A Ghost!
Target
Monologue
Weekend Update
Benghazi Hearings
Classy Sexy Elegnace
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Californians
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Zach Galifianakis)
a big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 38 comes to an end, with host Ben Affleck. It’s the final episode for veterans Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis, as well as the final episode that newbie Tim Robinson spends in the cast before moving to the writers’ room.