October 5, 2019 – Phoebe Waller-Bridge / Taylor Swift (S45 E2) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

Cold Open – Impeachment Strategy

• Ugh, Kate’s Giuliani and Aidy’s Barr are two things I don’t want to see front and center at the start of the cold open.
• As usual, I enjoy Beck’s low-key Mike Pence.
• Ugh at that Central Park Zoo line from Kate.
• Even though it’s just a thankless role, I’m enjoying Chloe’s performance here. Only two episodes in, and her delivery is coming off solid.
• Oh joy, an unnecessary Matthew Broderick cameo. And hoo boy, does he have a look on his face that says “I’d rather be anywhere but here”.
• Oh God, now this turns into a Ferris Bueller parody? Really, SNL?! THAT’s the best you could come up with for a cold open with a cameo from Matthew Broderick?!
• Man, Matthew just looks sad to be in this open, and so far, I can’t say I blame him.
• Matthew seems somewhat stumbly in his delivery.
• Ah, thank God Kenan is here to hopefully add something to this dire open.
• Kenan’s scene was too brief.
• WHAT THE FUCK is this open’s aim other than to spout off current events without anything funny or clever aside from Ferris Bueller references?!
• Kate’s dialogue is just way too pathetic.
• Alex’s Finnish accent is amusing me.
• What was the point of repeating the joke with Beck asking a departing person if they’ll be back if it didn’t work the first time?
• What’s with this bit with Beck talking to a snake? It’s going nowhere and is unfunny.
• Not even the visual of Kate wearing Joker makeup could get a smirk from me.
• An overall awful way to open tonight’s episode.

Rating: *

Monologue

• Phoebe seems slightly nervous during her monologue, reminding me of some of the problems I had with Carey Mulligan’s hosting stint in Season 46.
• So far, Phoebe’s lines are only mildly funny at best.
• Some okay bits throughout this monologue.
• Boy, Phoebe’s talking at a rather fast pace. It’s kinda making it hard for me to catch everything she’s saying.
• An overall average monologue.

Rating: ***

What’s Wrong With This Picture

• Mixed feelings on this being the lead-off sketch of the night, another comparison to the Carey Mulligan episode.
• Didn’t care for the gag with Aidy saying “I Gina”.
• Phoebe’s American accent needs some work.
• Mixed feelings on all the incorrect guesses so far.
• As much as I hate to admit it, I did get a chuckle from Phoebe’s line “You look at it (his ball) if you like it so much”.
• Another chuckle, this time from Kenan’s delivery of “Who are you people?”.
• Kyle’s delivery is also providing some chuckles.
• Kenan continues to provide my biggest laughs, as I got a good one from his delivery of “There’s a saw in the fridge”.
• Blah, didn’t care for that “I’d like to solve the puzzle” gag.
• Another blah, this time from the predictable ending.

Rating: **½

Love Island

• Cecily’s British accent is giving me unwanted flashbacks to those Gemma sketches.
• Alex’s testimonial is cracking me up.
• Solid Irish accent from Chloe.
• Some okay laughs from everyone in this reality show having hard-to-interpret accents.
• What’s the point of having Beck in this sketch if he’s also doing voiceover?
• Chloe’s facial expressions are making me laugh.

Rating: ***

7 WANU Mid-Day

• Another comparison to the Carey Mulligan episode, as that episode also had a sketch centered around a news team. I would say that they even use the same set, but they don’t.
• Already off to a good start with Kenan and Ego’s exchange after Phoebe mentions the suspect being a white male.
• Actually, now that I think about it, that’s ANOTHER comparison to the Mulligan episode, as the news sketch in that episode had a similar premise.
• I love Ego’s delivery of “That’s one of y’all for sure”.
• Ego’s ad-libs are making me laugh so much.
• Alex’s smug delivery is cracking me up.
• Great hurricane bit with Chris.
• I love the “White Folks/us” tally chart from Chris.
• Ha, I love how Alex and Phoebe are now doing the same thing Kenan and Ego are doing after hearing the term “Air Jordans”.
• Man, this sketch is just getting better as it progresses.
• I love the whole “bison mauling” bit.
• Great ending.
• An overall hidden gem, and the first sketch all night worth writing home about.

Rating: ****½

The War In Words

• Keeping up with tonight’s connections to the Carey Mulligan episode, we now get The War In Words.
• A small part of me wonders why Mikey plays someone different in each installment, but another part of me realizes that it wouldn’t make any sense that way, as that’d mean that he has multiple wives.
• Mixed feelings on Phoebe’s delivery. She’s not as good in this role as Carey Mulligan was.
• A big laugh with Phoebe having shaved off nearly her entire hair and sent it to Mikey.
• A hilarious cutaway to Phoebe with a punk haircut.
• What the hell did Phoebe just say after “So the French bitch…”? Sounded like complete gibberish.
• Good bit with Phoebe’s movie.
• Phoebe’s delivery is getting better as this sketch progresses.
• Good ending with the five-year old child.
• As usual for this recurring sketch, this was very solid, even if it’s not my favorite of the three.

Rating: ****

Musical Performance – “Lover”

• Already off to a good start with the stage consisting of nothing but green, including Taylor’s shirt and earrings.
• Taylor’s in very fine voice so far.
• Taylor looks like she’s about to tear up during this performance.
• I love how the chorus just builds and builds, and then ends on “lover”.
• I like the various music sheets scattered around the stage.
• The bridge sounds absolutely fantastic right now.

Rating: ****

Weekend Update

• Solid opening joke from Colin as usual.
• I’m enjoying Colin and Michael’s “quid pro quo” jokes.
• Great Trump rants from Colin and Michael as usual.
• Ha, I love Michael’s follow-up after Colin mentions an anti-Biden Nickelback meme posted by Trump: “See? He’s strong”.
• So far, I can’t find much to say about this Elizabeth Warren commentary, but Kate’s performing it well. Besides, when it comes to these commentaries, she’ll never be able to top her Ann Romney commentary from Season 38.
• Okay, I did get a chuckle from the bit with Kate giving a phone call to Michael.
• DAMN at that R. Kelly joke. Great audience reaction too.
• Only two episodes in, and Bowen ALREADY gets his first Update commentary. I’d say it’s a record, but it’s not.
• Bowen’s faux Chinese is very spot-on.
• As usual, a great performance from Bowen in this commentary.
• Despite what I just said, I can’t find much to say here. I believe I had the same problem the last two times I covered a Chen Biao commentary.
• Ha, I love that Pete joke Colin just made. This reminds me: he’s absent for the first two episodes of the season. He’s off filming something, I think it was The Suicide Squad?
• I liked Michael’s carjacking joke.
• Great old man voice from Mikey.
• Good reveal of Mikey’s first news story being an obituary.
• After the first reveal, I’m not sure what to make of where the rest of this commentary is going.
• Overall, tonight’s Update featured very strong jokes that’ll probably make it to my end-of-season best-of picks, but I wasn’t too crazy about the guest commentaries.

Rating: ***½

Royal Romance

• Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
• Solid delivery from Phoebe.
• Okay, looks like we might be going somewhere good with the reveal of Kenan’s character.
• Funny titles of the movies Kenan was in.
• Kenan’s “karate” made me laugh.
• As usual, a solid British accent from Chloe.
• I’m getting mild laughs from the various vintage clips of Kenan.
• I love Kenan’s delivery after Phoebe mentions he cheated on her.

Rating: ***

Musical Performance – “False God”

• Ah, nice to see Lenny Pickett get involved in a musical performance.
• Cool staging.
• Once again, Taylor’s vocals sound great.
• It’s a little too soon for a saxophone solo.
• A nice chorus, if nothing special.
• I had barely anything to say there.

Rating: ***

State Line Bar

• The fact that the three main women we see front and center are Aidy, Kate, and Cecily irks me.
• Not caring for Aidy and Cecily’s deliveries.
• Why does Phoebe seem like she’s about to crack up during her spiel?
• I’m finding myself having mixed feelings on the direction this sketch has been taking so far.
• Beck’s delivery is amusing me.
• The moments where all the girls are hitting on Beck are kinda funny, but eh, nothing special.
• Ugh, cue the breaking from Aidy.
• I like Beck’s uncomfortable facial expressions.
• Oh God, now Cecily starts to laugh.

Rating: **½

Goodnights

• Watching these goodnights just made me realize that Melissa didn’t appear AT ALL tonight. Oof.

Cut For Time: New Play

• I got a good laugh from Kenan’s reaction to Kyle’s speech.
• Why exactly does Cecily have a British accent? It’s kinda unnecessary.
• Uh-oh. Judging from Cecily’s over-exaggerated acting, I don’t think I’m gonna care for this. And to add insult to injury, apparently, according to r/LiveFromNewYork, this sketch was written by Anderlette. So…yeah, this might be a bust. We’ll see.
• Ugh, Phoebe’s isn’t any better.
• Not caring for the reveal that Phoebe and Cecily are trying to attempt a Nebraska accent.
• Ugh, this sketch is starting to make me lose my mind.
• Not caring for the reveal that Phoebe and Cecily confused Nebraska and Alaska.
• Kenan’s explanation to Kyle is the closest thing I’ve gotten to a laugh at this point.
• Was that ending even an ending?

Rating: *

Cut For Time: Tampax Secrets

• A good reveal of the product.
• Poor Melissa. Her only appearance of the night was in a pre-tape and it got cut.
• I will say that Melissa’s delivery made me laugh as usual.
• I love the brief bit with Chris and Beck.
• Good ending.

Rating: ***½

Final Thoughts

• Certainly an improvement over the premiere, but I’m not too crazy about this episode. While the cold open was the only segment that I gave a weak rating, and we got a standout sketch in 7 WANU Mid-Day, barely anything stood out, and there were a number of segments that I would just call average. Phoebe Waller-Bridge seemed happy to be on SNL, but she came off a little nervous, though it wasn’t as worrisome as Carey Mulligan’s was in the following season. Between this and the premiere, this season hasn’t been off to the best start. Fortunately, I already know from the next two episodes that it’s a fluke.

Rating: ***

Tomorrow:

Kristen Stewart. I’ll be honest: today, I was dismissed early from school due to a snowstorm, so who knows? Maybe I’ll find time later today to write the review. Again, just maybe.