February 8, 2020 – RuPaul / Justin Bieber (S45 E13) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

Cold Open – Democratic Debate

• (*sigh*) Oh God, here we go.
• The gag with Mikey cutting off his partners wasn’t as funny as SNL thought it was.
• Lame bit with them introducing the candidates in a “fun” way by having party lights and playing “Get Ready For This”.
• Well, at least the political impressions in this open are ones I tolerate, which is more than I can say for some of the other debate sketches this season.
• As usual, Jason’s Biden is hella fun, and he has plenty of funny lines. (*sigh*) I’m sure gonna miss this impression, as this ends up being the last appearance he makes, not counting Jason’s hosting stint two seasons from now.
• I got a chuckle from Colin’s blunt delivery of “Donald Trump”. That’s the kind of thing only Colin can make funny.
• Good old Larry David. He’s able to get laughs out of me simply by talking in that Bernie voice.
• I kinda like Bowen’s sarcastic delivery of “The issue in Iowa was math? I wonder who they could have called for that…”.
• Why does Kate’s Warren get a big audience reaction?
• As always, mixed feelings on Kate’s Warren.
• The audience applause seems very poorly-timed once Rachel’s bit begins.
• Lame “Shakira/JLo” line from Rachel.
• Didn’t care for Pete’s “tripping balls” line.
• Oh, COME ON! Not only is this the billionth fake sponsor in this era, but it’s even Fred Armisen as Mike Bloomberg. Totally unnecessary.
• While this debate sketch is a bit more tolerable than most debate sketches this season, this is starting to lose me a little bit, mainly due to the fact that a lot of the dialogue leaves me zoning the fuck out.
• A big laugh from Colin’s delivery of “Oh man”.
• Jason’s Biden about to launch in a rather long, boring story never fails to get a laugh out of me.
• Funny cutaway to Kenan.
• I love Larry’s Bernie mentioning he’s King of an army of Internet trolls.
• The trend of full-group LFNYs continues.
• Overall, this was better than most cold opens this season, but that’s not saying much.

Rating: **½

Monologue

• Not that I want to make too much a big deal out of it, but it’s such an interesting novelty seeing a drag queen host SNL as their natural self.
• Hmm, not too sure about RuPaul’s delivery. I’m certain that most drag queens speak in that type of voice, but I don’t watch those types of shows.
• So far, RuPaul’s lines are only mildly funny at best.
• I had next to nothing to say there, but it’s nice that the first three monologues of 2020 are host-only, though the only one that’s stood out to me as strong so far is Adam Driver. To this day, I still crack up whenever I think of him asking the band to change the music, only for him to ask them to change it back.

Rating: ***

Family Charades

• Wait, is RuPaul gonna use that same voice for the rest of the night? If so, then I don’t know if I’m gonna care too much for him as a host. We’ll see.
• So far, the laughs in this sketch are pretty mild.
• Okay, I actually did get a laugh from RuPaul’s “charade” being him pointing to Beck, and how everyone is IMMEDIATELY able to correctly guess 12 Years a Slave.
• Another laugh, this time from Kenan’s “Come on”. That’s the type of thing that only Kenan can make funny.
• Okay, the more this goes on, it’s starting to work for me with the increasingly odd charades that Kenan and co. are doing, and how they’re able to get them all right.
• The ending felt kinda abrupt.

Rating: ***½

The Queen

• This just turns into a Chad sketch without giving me enough time to come up with anything to say.
• Like the last two Chad sketches I reviewed, the laughs I’m getting are rather mild, not helped by the addition of RuPaul, whose constant usage of “bitch” and delivery are starting to get on my nerves.
• Not caring for the portion where RuPaul does a music video.
• The visual of Chad in drag wasn’t as funny as SNL wanted it to be.
• The constant focus on “drag queen” humor is too much, and is very unnecessary.
• Overall, for a Chad sketch, this was weaker than usual, but not to be outdone by the one with Elon Musk.

Rating: **

Check Splitting

• Chloe stuck in another thankless role in her first season.
• Uh-oh. Just from Cecily’s first line, I can tell that I’m in for a rough sketch.
• That voice Cecily’s using is basically just a variation of her Jeanine Pirro voice, serving as an unfortunate harbinger of what’s to come from her in the next two seasons.
• Not caring for RuPaul’s delivery. It sounds a little too reminiscent of that Starkisha character Finesse Mitchell used to play.
• Only a couple minutes into this sketch, and boy, what the FUCK am I watching?
• Okay, I did get a chuckle from the moment where Chloe responds to RuPaul’s request to lock the door with a confident “You got it”. That’s the kind of thing that Chloe can make funny, and it’s not the only time tonight we’ll be seeing her steal the show.
• This whole bit with Cecily and RuPaul chewing out Heidi is doing absolutely jack shit for me.
• This sketch feels like it’s going on FOREVER.
• Lame ending.
• Overall, despite the aforementioned chuckle, it was not enough to save this sketch. The fact that is far from the worst Cecily-led sketch we’ll be seeing throughout these next few seasons makes me shudder.

Rating: *

Boop-It

• Ah, finally, a silver lining.
• After having nothing but negative things to say about Cecily in the last sketch, I will say that she always does great voiceover work, and this sketch is no exception.
• Mikey, Chris, and Chloe are perfect as the typical cheesy kids in these types of commercials.
• Solid turn with Beck as the father starting to get depressed when he gets the Boop-It game wrong on first try.
• Beck’s great as the father.
• Great escalation to this sketch with Beck staying up all night until he gets the game right.
• I love the bit with Beck holding onto the toy when Mikey’s about to take it.
• Great tender bit with Beck and Heidi.
• Overall, a masterpiece.

Rating: *****

Reading

• Now we get a sketch with RuPaul as himself? Hmm, interesting. Not entirely good, but still.
• Already off to a good start with RuPaul’s insult to Kate’s daughter who’s learning how to read.
• Solid reactions from Kate and Aidy.
• What the hell was with the audience applause after RuPaul said “The library is open”? Is that similar to something RuPaul has said before?
• I’m having mixed feelings on RuPaul’s insults towards Eloise. On one hand, I can see them working. On the other hand, RuPaul’s delivering them a little too sassy for my tastes.
• Was RuPaul’s misreading of Ludwig Bemelmans intentional?
• I almost thought that Ego was Leslie, but then I remembered that Leslie is gone at this point. I think the shades are what threw me off.
• Meh, RuPaul’s insults are starting to lose their humor for me. Kind of a shame, as I was starting to enjoy where this sketch was going when it first started.
• Okay, this sketch is going on a little too long.
• The ending felt kinda abrupt.

Rating: **½

Musical Performance – “Yummy”

• (*sigh*) As if Luke Combs wasn’t bad enough, we now get Justin Bieber performing a song that he was heavily promoting at the time, and one of the worst songs I’ve heard these last few years. All I can say is thank GOD David Byrne is next episode.
• I’ll admit that the staging of this is very good, with Justin, a few cellists, and a guitarist confined in a tiny space. I just wish it wasn’t for this song.
• And there it goes: “You got that yummy-yum, that yummy-yum”. Just writing those lines makes my soul cringe. Like, what grown man says “yummy” in this context? And what on Earth made you, Justin Bieber, think that this was a good chorus?!
• Further adding to the lazy chorus, that’s then followed up with “Yeah babe, yeah babe, yeah babe”. How the hell did this song get an official release?
• Okay, turns out that this just turns into the song that I’m used to hearing. (*sigh*) Just when I thought they were doing something cool.
• Justin and his backup dancers are performing this well, but once again, I fail to understand who could possibly like this song and listen to it.
• Oh God, this chorus is still awful and irredeemable. Please make it stop.
• Finally, it’s over. Oof. Fuck this song, to say the least. This just further continues the downward spiral of this season’s musical guests.

Rating: **

Weekend Update

• Already off to a good start with Colin’s “cover-up” joke.
• I liked Colin’s joke about Trump saying he doesn’t “like people who use their faith as a justification for what they do”.
• A huge oh-so-wrong laugh from the supposed clip of Trump’s celebration actually being a clip of O.J. Simpson.
• I liked Colin’s Mad Libs joke.
• What’s with the huge applause after Colin says “Kansas has the only Manhattan where Trump is still welcome”?
• Colin’s whole “skank-tuary citizens” bit was pretty funny, and I liked his little ad-lib at the end: “It’s like Sean Connery”.
• Chloe Fineman gets her first Update commentary. As of 2022, she has only done a total of two commentaries, I shit you not (Addendum: Crap, I forgot about the Trump brothers commentary). However, I do recall finding this commentary to be pretty solid. Let’s see if that still rings true.
• It’s worth mentioning, by the way, that the premise for this commentary was previously done in a prior Update commentary with Jay Pharoah in 2016. I personally prefer that.
• Chloe’s first example of “steering wheel acting” is so damn hilarious and spot-on.
• Much like Melissa’s Lady Gaga commentary last season, hearing mentions of these movies makes this an interesting time capsule to when my family was preparing for that year’s Oscars.
• Chloe’s Judy Garland impression is surprisingly not bad. In fact, I vastly prefer it to Kate’s.
• Chloe’s pronunciation of Saoirse Ronan was a bit off.
• My God, Chloe’s Saoirse Ronan voice is close to being freakin’ UNCANNY.
• Chloe’s Timothée Chalamet alone is worth a laugh.
• Man, this commentary is a freakin’ riot.
• Holy shit, I completely forgot about this whole Scarlett Johansson bit. And her “Do you feel like you’re at home, Colin?” aside was especially hilarious.
• Overall, this commentary was just as solid, if not better, as I remember.
• A guilty laugh from Michael’s “Obama/Oreo shamrock” joke.
• The photo of Gritty blowing up the hospital made me laugh more than it should, made even better by it being a callback to the Gritty joke from this season’s Adam Driver episode.
• Mixed feelings on seeing Cathy Anne again.
• About a minute into this Cathy Anne commentary, and there’s nothing for me to say so far.

Rating: ****

Thirsty Cops

• Not too sure if it’s the best idea to do a reprise of this sketch without Leslie, but I’ll try to keep an open mind.
• (*sigh*) Yet ANOTHER sketch tonight where RuPaul uses the same delivery. At this point, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s his real voice. If it is, I wouldn’t be surprised.
• The moment with Ego and RuPaul hitting on Pete is only mildly funny at best. Ego’s performing it well, but RuPaul…eh, not so much.
• Not caring much for Pete digging Ego and RuPaul’s schtick for a brief moment.
• Kate’s walk-on isn’t doing much for me.

Rating: **½

The Old New York Show

• Uh-oh. A sketch with Aidy and Kate front and center? Well, THIS certainly spells doom. And yes, I know I’ve said that too many times, but honestly, is there any better way to put it?
• Already, I’m not caring for Aidy and Kate’s performances.
• Kate’s delivery of “Come back, Rudy” was a little too much, and felt like something she’s done to death at this point.
• What’s with this scene with Aidy and Kate singing about their diamonds? It’s going nowhere, and has no point whatsoever.
• RuPaul’s sassy delivery of “You look a million years over 30” wasn’t as funny as I wanted it to be. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent the entire review having to put up with it, and it’s really taking its toll on me.
• This sketch is doing nothing for me so far.
• What exactly is the point of this sketch? This feels like it’s going on a little too long, and is going nowhere.
• An overall awful way to end tonight’s subpar episode (not counting Justin Bieber’s second performance or the cut-for-time pieces).

Rating: *

Musical Performance – “Intentions” ft. Quavo

• Cool staging, but I can already tell from the way Bieber’s hyping this up that I’m not gonna care for this song.
• Weak chorus.
• “Heart full of equity”? Hey, Bieber, has anyone ever told you you make good music now? Because they’d be wrong. So I’m just gonna have my Tame Impala album on standby so I can wash my ears out after listening to this.
• Once again, Bieber and co. are performing this well, but this song kinda sucks, though not as much as the last song.
• And now we have Quavo.
• Oof, already, I don’t like how heavily auto-tuned Quavo’s voice is.
• This song is so boring to me, that I could just fall asleep right now, and nothing new would happen.

Rating: **

Cut For Time: Coal Miners Face-Off

• Uh-oh. I don’t think I’m gonna care for this sketch.
• Sadly, this is possibly the only time in tonight’s episode where RuPaul’s delivery isn’t too sassy, and even then, that’s not saying much.
• Chris: “It’s like putting a gator and a grizzly in the same zoo display.”
• What exactly am I watching here? This feels like it’s going nowhere, and while Bowen is performing this well, I’m not caring for the material.
• This sketch feels like it’s going on too long, and I don’t like the constant dramatic turns, which keep repeating themselves a lot.
• Lame ending.
• An overall awful cut-for-time piece, keeping up with the blah theme of tonight’s episode.

Rating: *

Cut For Time: Baby Doctor

• Finally, a role where RuPaul really isn’t acting all sassy.
• So far, the laughs are only mildly funny at best.
• I kinda got a chuckle from Beck’s delivery of “His penis is already bigger than mine”.
• Kenan’s scene involving a briefcase is worth a good laugh.

Rating: ***

Final Thoughts

• (*sigh*) Well, folks, it had to happen sooner: an average Season 45 episode. This is actually the first episode this season I found subpar since the JLo episode back in December. There were some bright spots here and there, but aside from the fantastic Boop-It pretape and an underrated Chloe Fineman showcase on Weekend Update, nothing was worth writing home about, and there were quite a number of segments I disliked, including two sketches I gave the lowest-of-low one-star rating. It also didn’t help that tonight’s episode displayed some of the warning signs of the troubled season that followed it. Further contributing to the blah feel of tonight’s episode was RuPaul, who used the same sassy delivery in nearly every sketch he was in, to the degree where I honestly started to wonder if he truly was faking it, but I don’t give enough shits to actually look it up. Not a particularly awful episode, but definitely mediocre for this season’s standards.

Rating: **½

Tomorrow:

Our annual John Mulaney episode