Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
TRUMP’S PEOPLE
Donald Trump’s (Alec Baldwin) policies harm Kentuckians who voted for him
— Ugh.
— I’m currently three minutes into this cold opening, and I’ve yet to get ANY big laughs.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh just now from the very apt finger-in-chili analogy that Trumpwin makes to his own presidency.
— Overall, even for Trumpwin standards, this was mostly awful. Such a lousy way to open an episode. And I still have three more seasons of this crap to go through.
STARS: *½
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up on racist chickens & leveraging his white privilege
— Interesting how, unlike his previous monologues, where he dressed casually in a plain black shirt and (I think) jeans, Louis C.K. is dressed professionally in a suit in this monologue. That’s strangely fitting for what ends up being his final SNL episode, though he didn’t know it at the time.
— Hilarious beginning with the chicken-followed-by-a-black-guy joke, and Louis explaining how that’s not a racist joke.
— I got a big laugh from Louis’ “I’m not your soup yet, ya Jew!” line.
— Louis’ imitation of what giraffes must be thinking is hilarious.
— Lots of huge laughs from Louis riffing on cheap motels and his experience at fancy hotels.
— A priceless aside with Louis calling out how white people get preferential treatment, and how that’s “bad”. His asides like that towards the audience whenever he says something objectionable in this monologue is just one of the things that shows the appeal of his stand-up comedy in general.
STARS: ****½
LAWYER LASHES
prosecutor’s (host) distractingly gorgeous eyelashes upend murder trial
— A very solid sketch concept, and it’s being executed well.
— Hilarious delivery from Aidy when exclaiming “My gooodddd!” while being mesmerized by Louis’ eyelashes.
— Blah at that Maybelline ending. A poor way to end an otherwise great sketch.
STARS: ****
THANK YOU, SCOTT
armchair activist (host) does his part on social media
— A very good satire on social media activists.
— Love the bit with the hand clapping emojis.
— A really catchy chorus, especially when it goes up higher during the final round.
STARS: ****
SODA FOUNTAIN
soda jerk (host) & teen (CES) explore power dynamics during date fantasy
— A solid unsettling turn this sketch takes.
— When Vanessa says she’d go to the dance with Louis if he asked her, I got a big laugh from Louis responding, “Well, I didn’t ask ya, stupid, I asked Louise.”
— Louis: “The next time I kiss my wife will be at her funeral.”
— Sasheer’s worried delivery of “I don’t think he’s taking her to school” was great.
— Interesting seeing Pete do a cheesy 1950s voice.
— Another one of Leslie’s trademark awkward line flubs.
— Great ending with the jukebox-smashing/blood-on-hand gag.
STARS: ****
PEPSI COMMERCIAL
director (BEB) belatedly realizes folly of Kendall Jenner (CES) Pepsi ad
— I love Beck’s smile slowly fading when his sister over the phone responds to his description of the “great” Pepsi commercial he’s about to film.
— Hilarious how Beck’s second description of the Pespi commercial to a different person over the phone gets abruptly cut off by the person on the other line telling him all of the things wrong with his idea.
— A very funny touch with the brief cutaway to two dancers rehearsing while Beck continues to listen to the person on the other line.
— Beck’s performance in this is excellent, especially his conveying of how deflated his mood has gradually become when slowly realizing his commercial that’s about to be filmed is a huge, huge mistake.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Paris”
WEEKEND UPDATE
clip of Three Stooges’ mutual abuse reflects USA, Syria, Russia interplay
Cecilia Giminez (KAM) thinks the rictusy Cristiano Ronaldo bust is a masterpiece
— I think this is the first time in quite a while where Colin delivers the opening joke, which used to be a regular thing.
— If you know me (as commenter and apparent fellow Three Stooges fan Curly Joe evidently does, judging from something he said in the comments section of my last review), you’ll know that I love the fact that SNL uses a Three Stooges clip to represent the convoluted Trump/Syria situation. Even better, that clip is from the first-ever Three Stooges short made at Columbia Pictures.
— As always, Kate is very fun as Cecilia Giminez, and I’m getting good laughs from the details in her description of the Cristiano Ronaldo bust.
— Very strong jokes from Colin and Michael throughout this entire Update.
STARS: ****½
THE O’REILLY FACTOR
Bill O’Reilly’s (Alec Baldwin) sexual harassment woes chase sponsors
— Hmm, an Alec Baldwin-starring non-Trump sketch. Wish I could say I was excited to see this, but so many bad Trumpwin sketches this season have given me my fill of Alec Baldwin by this point of the season, plus this O’Reilly sketch is Alec taking further airtime away from the actual cast.
— Alec has Bill O’Reilly’s mannerisms down, at least, but certainly not the voice.
— Cecily having her face and voice distorted at the end of her interview is pretty funny.
— What was with that odd long pause from Alec when he was about to mention the new sponsors?
— The ridiculous new sponsors are all funny, especially Dog Cocaine.
— Now we have Alec talking to himself, as his O’Reilly interviews his pre-taped Trump via satellite. Blah. I will say, though, that this brings back memories of one of Chris Rock’s Nat X sketches where he as Nat X interviewed himself as a pre-taped Michael Jackson via satellite.
STARS: **
BIRTHDAY CLOWN
on his 53rd birthday, depressed (host) hires a children’s clown (BOM)
— I recall hearing that the people who wrote this short (the BriTaNick guys, I think, though I’m not sure if I got the spelling right) would later get called out on supposedly plagiarizing this short. I think I even heard that they would fess up to the plagiarism. A damn shame if this short was indeed stolen, because I recall absolutely loving it when it originally aired.
— Two priceless big reveals that Bobby’s character is shocked to realize: 1) that the “little birthday boy” is a full-grown man, and 2) that nobody else is coming to this birthday party.
— I absolutely love Louis’ very sullen, deadpan responses to Bobby’s jolly questions, establishing an excellent tone to this short.
— A particularly hilarious part with Bobby muttering “Jesus” to himself in shock when Louis reveals his age.
— Bobby, when Louis is confused over whether he should give Bobby his tip now or after his act is over: “Yeah, there’s no protocol for whatever this is.”
— I love Bobby continuing to pull the long paper coil out of his mouth when looking around confusedly after Louis has randomly walked off to take a pee break.
— A huge laugh from Bobby’s extremely blunt “You don’t want this” to the other birthday entertainers at the door.
— Readers, I need your help in the comments section of this review. Please let me know whether or not there’s been enough evidence that this short was indeed plagiarized. If so, I’m afraid I have to give this short a one-star rating, as I have to keep up consistency by following a “Zero-tolerance policy for plagiarized sketches” rule I set for myself in these reviews ever since season 40. It would be an absolute shame if I have to give this short a failing rating, because if this were an original piece, it would’ve earned an EASY five-star rating from me. Thanks in advance, readers, for your assistance in helping me figure out if it’s been officially proven that this short was plagiarized. [ADDENDUM (3/23/21): I’ve been given enough evidence that this short was plagiarized.]
STARS: * (for plagiarism)
SECTIONAL SOFA EMPORIUM
(host) shares his sectional couch obsession, but not the sofas themselves
— The extremely odd, absurdist tone of this commercial is right up my alley, and Louis is executing it wonderfully. His oddball deadpan delivery of his PARTICULARLY weird asides are pure perfection.
— The pre-taped footage of Aidy is adding to the hilarious, weird vibe of this sketch.
— Love the reveal at the end that this isn’t even a commercial, nor are these sectionals for sale.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Break Up Every Night”
TENEMENT MUSEUM
Tenement Museum actors (host) & (KAM) portray racist Polish immigrants
— Louis’ bizarre attempt at a Polish accent is absolutely priceless.
— I love how Louis’ accent has gotten to the point where it’s making Kate and himself crack up. One of the better instances of breaking in recent seasons.
— After Louis’ out-of-nowhere “filthy greasy Italians” line, we get a funny brief cutaway to Kenan’s smile quickly fading.
— Man, the more and more this sketch goes on, the more Louis’ increasingly exaggerated accent is absolutely SLAYING me. He has me practically on the floor by this point.
— Very funny how Louis and Kate’s lines within this play have just devolved into them doing anti-Italian jokes.
— Priceless bit regarding Louis giving Kenan the answer to the question he was about to ask.
— The increasing looseness of Louis’ performance is making this sketch so damn fun.
STARS: ****½
IN MEMORIAM
GOODNIGHTS
host marks Don Rickles’ passing
— Very nice words from Louis about Don Rickles.
— Ha, I absolutely LOVE how, after Louis’ aforementioned Rickles eulogy, Louis comically delivers his goodnights speech in the same goofy accent from the final sketch, which makes everyone onstage at these goodnights (especially Alec Baldwin) bust out laughing. One of my personal favorite goodnights moments ever.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— SNL does it once again with yet another fantastic Louis C.K. episode. Aside from an awful Trumpwin cold opening and another weak Alec Baldwin-involved sketch (The O’Reilly Factor), I felt very highly about EVERY segment in this episode, with none of those segments receiving a rating lower than four stars. [ADDENDUM (3/23/21): Even though it turns out that I had to give the Birthday Clown short a one-star rating for plagiarism, it still remains that I love everything in that short.] Since, as I said earlier, this ends up being Louis C.K.’s final hosting stint, he has gone down as having one of the best (if not THE best) track records that a recurring host has ever had. Every single one of his episodes was astoundingly strong.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: As usual for exceptionally strong episodes, since there are too many choices to pick for a “Best Of”, I’ll narrow it down to what I feel are the particularly best highlights)
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Sectional Sofa Emporium
Monologue
Pepsi Commercial
Weekend Update
Tenement Museum
Lawyer Lashes
Thank You, Scott
Soda Fountain
The O’Reilly Factor
Trump’s People
Birthday Clown
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Scarlett Johansson)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Jimmy Fallon hosts the first live coast-to-coast episode