My secret theory about Saturday Night Live over the beginning of the 46th season is that it would get better after the election ended. Since Trump’s election, SNL has relied on tame and dated political humor. Now after an extended post-election break, we’re back with one of the best episodes of the season so far. While nothing was remarkable per say, there was a lighthearted charm here. Frustratingly, we had to start with a sketch about Rudy Giuliani’s attempts to overturn the election. If you haven’t seen his recent appearance before Michigan’s state senate, it’s one of the most exhausting, boggling things to happen all year. The SNL parody doesn’t seem to know what to do with an event on this level of insanity, so they mostly just recreate what actually happened while gesturing wildly at it and saying “Isn’t this crazy?” to the audience. Duh.
Still, this episode had a nice amount of solid (and even one or two great) sketches. The musical guest this week was Morgan Wallen, two months after he was booted off an episode for violating COVID protocols. The episode featured a sketch that mocked this mistake that featured Wallen back at the party he attended where multiple versions of him time travelled back to stop him from violating COVID protocols. One of those versions was played by Bateman and from there, things get a little odd, but still lighthearted. Another inspired sketch featured Kyle Mooney hanging out with his friends, but struggling to be funny. Eventually it blooms into a sad musical number about being the guy who “kills the bit.” Mooney is one of SNL’s best members, so I’m glad he got a headlining sketch this episode.
This episode also focused in on the upcoming holiday season with steadiness and funny competence. Bateman played Santa in two sketches, the best one being a parody of Eminem’s “Stan” about an obsessive Santa fan named Stu, played by Pete Davidson, who wants a PS5. They nailed the look of the “Stan” music video, and Davidson’s performance (“Dear Mr. Holly, Jolly, two-faced son of a bitch”) works better than anything else this episode. Bateman’s other Santa performance takes place at a mall’s socially-distanced Christmas setup, where Santa and Mrs. Claus are stuck in sealed bubbles. It eventually devolves into chaos, as Bateman’s Santa rolls around uncontrollably. The final holiday sketch was about letting your parents know that you won’t be coming home for Christmas, and how parents can react to that kind of news. “If you don’t love me, just say so,” responds the mother of Chloe Fineman’s character, played by Kate McKinnon, in a way that perfectly summarizes the sketch.
Both Weekend Update and the musical performances this week were relatively tame. Update had some solid moments, where Michael Che joked about being suspicious of the vaccine and took a few shots at his co-host, Colin Jost. Davidson appeared to comment on Staten Island COVID protests (“Even people in Boston are like, drink at home!”) and Heidi Gardner was teen movie critic Bailey Gismert, talking about watching old movies at home and how theaters are closed at this time. Morgan Wallen is one of the most boring country stars working today, further emphasized by his performance of “Still Going Down,” a song that sounds like a parody of Bo Burnham’s “Country Song.”
While much of this episode was forgettable–including Bateman’s job as host–there were many good moments bolstered by committed performances from the cast and fun writing. Editor’s note: Next week’s all new episode features guest host Timothée Chalamet alongside musical guest Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Find me on Twitter at @selfseriousness.
If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.
