December 8, 2018 – Jason Momoa / Mumford And Sons (S44 E8)

by Carson

MUELLER VISITS ERIC
Robert Mueller (Robert De Niro) visits Eric Trump (ALM) at bedtime

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— If you’re going to do a Trump family opening, best to run with the bit with the highest batting average. Though that being said, I tend to prefer the Update commentaries from the Trump brothers.
— I must say, the dynamic between Alex and Mikey is really strong in these pieces.
— The “Say ‘stop’ when you don’t understand a word” bit was pretty fun. Honestly, I would have extended it a lot longer, considering where this sketch is leading…
— Robert De Niro, ladies and gentlemen…and look, he brought his “I’m watching you” Meet The Fockers eye point schtick with him.
— Man, Alex almost seems to be trying to telepathically will the Oscar winner through this.
— Kind of a painful applause line before we get to the disconcertingly slow LFNY.
— Love how Alex mispronounces “live” (a small joke repeated from the prior season). That seems like a sincere error De Niro would make.
— The first half was pleasant enough, but unsurprisingly the Mueller staff was a terrible drag.
STARS: **

MONOLOGUE
funky KET, LEJ, CRR tell host “Aqua Boogie” should be Aquaman theme song

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— Jason Momoa is an absurd looking human.
— “I am so muscular to be hosting Saturday Night HUGE!”
— A bit of an absurdist bent to the beginning of this monologue. Not hilarious, but promising.
— OK, time for the cast walk-ons. First Aidy with the stock and trade “flirting with the host” routine.
— Second, we have Chris (in his first live appearance since the Seth Meyers episode), Leslie and Kenan insisting that Parliament’s “Aqua Boogie” be Aquaman’s theme song. That’s a nothing premise, but I welcome any and all P-Funk references.
— Yeah, this monologue was a mess, but the “Aqua Boogie” performance was pretty fun. I’ll be generous with my grading.
STARS: ***½

ELF ON THE SHELF
Elf On The Shelf (host) dislikes monitoring a masturbating 13 year-old

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— I don’t know what it says about me that I saw this reveal coming from a mile away. Possibly this is the downfall of watching too much damn sketch.
— Still, this is being executed decently. Jason’s voice sounds really funny all high pitched. It almost gives him a Walkenesque delivery.
— I liked Jason talking about the moral ambiguity of masturbation.
— “Oh Scrabby, you spelled ‘Flashlight’ wrong.”
— There’s an odd specificity to the way Jason talks about his 13-year-old’s frustration with his body.
— The premise may have been predictable, but Jason really did quite well with his performance, giving the piece a little bit more nuance than I would have expected.
STARS: ****

GE BIG BOY APPLIANCES
overengineered for macho house husbands

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— Another mild premise, though SNL’s film crew always does well to inject these with energy.
— Nice visual of a riding vacuum cleaner. I’m actually pretty tickled by such a silly concept.
— Not a lot to write home about, but the piece delivered well enough.
STARS: ***

KHAL DROGO’S GHOST DOJO
dead Game Of Thrones characters visit (host)

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— Shit, I’m in trouble now. I’ve never seen Game Of Thrones. Though I’m a firm believer that the best parodies don’t actually require a working knowledge of the source material. I don’t know how many SCTV sketches blew me away before I was even aware of what they were making fun of. It can be done. 
— A talk show format seems like a bad omen.
— Jason kills Kenan’s character and then Kenan just pops back to life, saying that he was saved by a witch. I would complain about the inanity of the writing, but I guess that’s directly a reference to the source material.
— Beck stumbles a bit when he sits down, which makes Kenan, who seems very loose here, giggle.
— Jason dumps molten gold on Pete’s head and I’m totally lost. I know it’s another reference, so that’s on me. 
— The anachronistic jokes are pretty lame.
— Some stumbly performances in this one. It’s just as well though, there’s basically nothing here to begin with.
— Bowen Yang spotting! 
— The fake ads are pretty mild too.
— Kate as King Joffrey, doing a “Catch me outside” bit as this thing suddenly turns into a Maury parody.
— Listen, maybe this thing was great and it’s simply a matter of me being the exact wrong audience. Or maybe it really was the mess it appeared to be. I’m thinking it’s the latter. In the immortal words of Nathan Thurm: “Is it me? It’s them, right?”
— I’ll give it one star with a half star hedge.
STARS: *½

THEM TRUMPS
black version of First Family is modeled on Empire

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— A silly, slightly hacky premise, but in the right hands, this could smash.
— The names (Darius Trump, Malika) are all pretty good.
— Love the cut to the Darius Trump Country Hams.
— Fabulous Katt Williamsesque characterization from Kenan.
— Ha, OK, it’s just a blackout.
— I like the premise that the true reality of Trump is that if he were black, things would play out far differently—though this is in spite of the fact that Trump would go on to be impeached twice.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Guiding Light”

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— Blue: Interesting to see Marcus Mumford playing so high up the fretboard on his guitar.
— Good restrained energy so far.
— Huh, I thought the chorus would sound more explosive than that. This is fairly dialed back for Mumford & Sons.
— Great percussion entrance, and I love the clicking sound of the drumsticks against the side of the drum.
— Wish the harmony vocals were louder in the mix.
— Speaking of things that could be mixed louder, I have never heard such a quiet banjo. I can’t tell if there’s an effect put on it or if that’s just what a banjo sounds like at low volume.
— I like the blinking overhead lights.
— Do they need to have so many musicians onstage? The guitarist in the back doesn’t even look like he’s playing.
— Leave it to a synth buildup of all things to introduce that anthemic Mumford & Sons sound to this song.
— Overall… it was a Mumford & Sons song, you know exactly what you’re getting when it comes to them. Doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE
7th grader Carrie Krum’s (AIB) personal experiences color her travel tips

bidet fan MIC endorses having ads for the bathroom devices in the subway

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— The opening “Trump: Endgame” joke is a total throwaway, but also an indication that Jost/Che are not above Fey/Poehler groaners.
— Oh my gosh, Jost’s stock market joke got nothing. A very palpable nothing.
— All this Mueller Report material is a whole lot of counting eggs before they hatch.
— The debut of Aidy’s Carrie Krum character, which I’ve always enjoyed. Aidy seems really well-connected to the spirit of this character’s specificity.
— Love the “Aunt Nancy’s bra was on the couch” bit. Some guy in the audience really dug it too.
— “Mumford and Sons gave me a bunch of Sierra Mist.”
— Whoa, Michael’s bit about the old man who refuses to quit smoking hit a brick wall. I wouldn’t say Che/Jost are having an off night, but they’ve left a couple jokes completely dangling.
— Nice recovery from Che with his bit about Kevin Hart’s Oscar controversy.
— Ha, Che hops to the other side of Jost for an Update feature about bidets.
— “Shut up, Colin! You white…guy. It’s better when Leslie does it.”
— Fun commentary by Che and a strong recovery from some wobbly moments.
STARS: ****

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
extra spirit (host) confuses Ebenezer Scrooge (MID) on Christmas Day

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— Very iffy premise here with Momoa being an “extra” Christmas spirit.
— Momoa’s weird “extra” dance at the beginning was pretty lame, but I have to admit that Mikey’s confused “Ooooookay” response made me chuckle.
— Also, once again, Jason Momoa has a…disconcerting look. Like, I don’t want to, uh, aesthetic-shame anyone, but he is a baffling sight.
— Momoa’s aimless comedic vamping is only matched by the “Mikey explains” of it all.
— Momoa’s dancing makes Tiny Tim walk. I guess that’s something.
— I understand the play on “extra” as a part of the modern vernacular, but this sketch was rail thin. A weird excuse for Momoa to sort of approximate sexy dancing without much of an overriding joke. This was a pretty flagrant miss.
STARS: *½

DAY OF THE DORKS
in a 1980s movie, (host)’s hatred of dorks is violently self-destructive

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— A Revenge of the Nerds parody. Timely.
— Momoa is shirtless again I see. Looks like we’re applying the Matthew McConaughey model to this episode.
— That said, Momoa looks pretty funny (intentionally this time) and he’s giving a fun performance.
— Momoa breaking stuff because of his anger at dorks is only so-so, but I kind of like the reveal that his character has been going to college for eight years and still can’t read.
— Fun performance from Mooney as the dork on the inside.
— Whoa, and it just ends. Feels like this sketch could have actually, you know, led up to something. Some individual pieces were OK, if insubstantial, but the rushed finish really undermined any potential this piece might have had.
STARS: **

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Delta”

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— Blue: You can tell this is a Serious Song because the stage is dark.
— Enjoying Marcus Mumford’s voice here. Past live recordings I’ve seen of him didn’t impress me, but here he sounds just like he does on the band’s studio recordings.
— Okay, don’t love his voice on the chorus—it sounds like the engineer put some effect on it that doesn’t jive with me.
— Ooh, this section with the driving drumbeat and the crisp guitar deserves to be a song all its own.
— Lots of passion from the band here on the repetition of the chorus. Winston Marshall and the keyboardist are especially getting into it.
— Marcus’ high notes hurt my throat to hear, even though that rasp is naturally part of his timbre—there’s nothing wrong with his technique.
— I respect how the band obviously enjoyed cutting loose here, but I dunno, this song didn’t do much for me. Like I said, it’s Mumford & Sons, you know what to expect. 
STARS: ***

SLEIGH RIDE
Gemma & her latest meathead boyfriend (host) shake up a sleigh ride

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— Funny opening business from Kenan and Leslie.
— Ah. Gemma. OK.
— “I’m Gemma. I’m British. I got a new vagina today.”
— I have my issues with these sketches and how they’re written, but I am always impressed by the specificity of Cecily’s performance.
— Funny how they keep assuming Kenan and Leslie are siblings, but between Gemma, Momoa’s brutish character, Kenan and Leslie’s dynamic and now Mikey’s asexuality, this sketch is full of too many spices. I guess it’s nice that everyone has something to work with, but it’s hard to figure out what the central premise is.
— A very weak ending to a very muddled sketch. 
STARS: **

FIRST IMPRESSION
(BEB) plays hide & seek with fiancee’s (MEV) parents

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— Nice to see Melissa get a sizable role.
— Momoa actually looks decent playing an older man.
— Love Beck’s playful baby voice.
— I love that Momoa is immediately buying into the Hide & Seek game. I am very into when characters completely buy into the absurdity of their situation.
— “Follow the little giggles hehehehe!”
— Ha, great gag with Beck’s pie-in-the-face booby trap not actually working.
— Great shift with Beck now greased up and stuck behind the TV.
— Haha, I love that Beck’s motivation in greasing himself up and hiding was because he wanted to look cool in front of Melissa’s parents.
— Beck: “I’m sorry I ruined your clothes with my pie trap.” Heidi: “You didn’t.” Beck: “Crap!”
— He’s had a couple strange performance choices tonight, but Momoa is terrific here.
— I love the turn with Momoa sizing up Beck’s near-naked body.
— So many wonderful absurdist turns here and I love how the sketch never really tips its hand in terms of tone. Lots to really love.
— It should be noted that this sketch was written by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin (Tim’s co-writer on I Think You Should Leave), which might go a ways in explaining why I enjoyed it so much.
STARS: *****

RUDOLPH’S BIG NIGHT
after his promotion by Santa (host), Rudolph (PED) bullies other reindeer

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— Pete with a wonderful pivot as he switches from sincere to menacing.
— I don’t find this hilarious, but I admire the, what is it, effort(?) that Pete is showing here.
— Pretty wild turn with Pete forcing Beck to suck his nose and then Santa shooting Beck.
— Pete covers his face either to giggle or to put his nose back in place.
— Far and away Pete’s best live performance up to this point in his tenure. A low hurdle, I know, but baby steps.
— I enjoyed the conceit, but I still think this could have been fleshed out a little more.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
—Really up and down episode—from the writing to the host. Momoa was either excellent or just kind of weird. But when the episode worked, it was a lot of fun. Kind of a wash, I guess.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

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RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
First Impression
Them Trumps
Weekend Update
Elf On The Shelf
Rudolph’s Big Night
Monologue
GE Big Boy Appliances
Day Of The Dorks
Sleigh Ride
Mueller Visits Eric
A Christmas Carol
Khal Drogo’s Ghost Dojo

TOMORROW
Anthony takes on Matt Damon/Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus, which includes one of my favorite sketches