February 6, 2021 – Dan Levy / Phoebe Bridgers (S46 E11)

by Matt and Carson

Carson: Hi everybody, everyone’s favorite reviewer daddy, Carson, here. Matt has done a wonderful job reviewing the Dan Levy episode and their insights will resound as you dig into the writing below. That said, as the only Canadian on the “staff” (and I mean real Canadian, not that Vancouver bullshit), I feel like I may have some unique perspectives on the work of a Canadian icon (OK, the son of a Canadian icon). So that’s why I’m here—to offer the Canuck perspective (I’m allowed to say it!!). Also, I just love piggybacking on other people’s reviews. Thanks to Matt for being such a gracious host.

Matt: Here’s a little throwaway fun fact for all of you: I wrote this review aaaall the way back in 2021. Hot damn! I feel the review’s a bit rocky in some places because I was still figuring out how all this review stuff worked at that point, but that’s also why I appreciate Carson coming into the equation and beefing things up with his own insights. I still maintain dominion of the final grades for every sketch, though! Hope you enjoy 🙂

SUPER BOWL LV
NFL roundtable discuss the big game and interview dueling coaches (AIB)

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— Matt: With the exception of the R. Kelly cold open from Idris Elba’s S44 hosting stint, this is the first non-political cold open since… I don’t even know, S43 at least? Maybe the Mother’s Day cold open from the Schumer episode? It feels like it’s been ages, though whether or not this is a truly rousing piece to break those patterns is up for debate.
— Right off the bat, there’s an embarrassing gaffe: when the camera is supposed to cut to Beck as Boomer Esiason (apropos of nothing, Wikipedia says this is really a real person’s name), the screen is instead taken up by the first frame of a football video to be played later in the sketch (second screencap). There’s also some continued sloppiness after that as they don’t flick to the right name on-time for Mikey’s character.
— I promise it’s not just that I know so little about football, but this sketch so far is just complete white noise. Cold opens these days tend to have a very similar issue where instead of sticking with one topic and trying to find an angle, they writhe around and try to make every possible joke in a way that leaves things feeling super over-extended. It’s impossible for me to describe a singular conceit to this sketch, or even multiple conceits; it just feels like it’s firing blindly at anything it can make a joke out of (Nickelodeon slime effect on injured players? The Super Bowl on Bravo?), but none of them are strong.
— The parade of fake ads in this sketch should be a good chance to send off some fun, rapid-fire jokes, but all of them fall pretty flat here.
— God, Mikey is really playing a Mikey role in this sketch.
— Aidy is in male drag yet again, playing the opposing coaches in the year’s Super Bowl. I actually kinda like the idea of doubling up the role, since a lot of people online pointed out that they looked eerily-similar at the time… but the fact that Aidy is doing this with the usual lack of commitment leaves it feeling indulgent and tacky.
— Chris playing around with how fast Aidy can perform a quick-change, I’ll admit, feels a bit more charming and natural than those sorts of “hee-hee, I hope something goes wrong!” moments usually do.
— Welp, it just goes to show you that even if it isn’t outright political, a seven minute-long modern SNL cold open is a seven minute-long modern SNL cold open.
— Carson: “Over-extended” is exactly the right word for what’s going on here. And even though I don’t find the individual parts as miserable as Matt (in fact, I was charmed by the Aidy segment, a far more interesting way of doing the tired gender-swap joke), you can’t simply try to make every joke. Or that should say, a million jokes won’t make up for an unclear premise. The writers throw everything at the wall here and it’s perfectly marginal and inoffensive, but all that joking can’t cover the fact that the sketch lacks a solid foundation. You can’t make a Frankensketch out of one-liners. Honestly, having Aidy play a million coaches would have been premise enough, especially if it was played loose and silly. Then the sketch has a common premise (NFL coaches are interchangeable—or interchangeably white if you want to get satirical about it) and a fun game (watch Aidy flop around with wardrobe changes). Cut the runtime in half and you’re almost golden. It’s actually NOT. THAT. HARD.
STARS: *½

MONOLOGUE
host takes a backstage tour of his COVID-era SNL production; Eugene Levy cameo

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— Matt: Dan’s center-stage portion of the monologue is about as written as most SNL monologues are (about half-written), but he’s helping to sell the sub-par material with his charisma and legitimate excitement—a big and unfortunate theme for the night, if memory serves.
— I will say, I really like the concept of a backstage tour at SNL under new COVID restrictions.
— Melissa gets her only role of the whole episode, being decontaminated at the NBC page desk. Her giggling at least put a smile on my face, though it’s the usual, thankless work.
— The backstage llama!
— Kenan’s bit, mishearing what Dan is shouting at him, is simple but good, sold on Kenan’s great, low-key delivery. I’ll take those sorts of cast interactions over this monologue’s repeated bit of Aidy’s safety officer hitting Dan with a pool noodle.
— Even more delightful: a Eugene Levy cameo! As with the rest of the monologue, he’s not given much, but it’s great to see the guy on SNL at long last, and I love that they put him in an Alan box.
— Ultimately, this monologue didn’t have much of value, despite the unique premise. I at least respect the ambition.
— Carson: This monologue would be my Exhibit A (along with maybe the first couple of standup monologues) in how the COVID-era audiences could torpedo a sketch, or at least the perception of a sketch (read John’s fabulous Issa Rae review for more on this phenomenon). What we have here is a fun, ambitious, throwback monologue that should hit reasonably well with the audience. I’ve honestly never seen a backstage monologue that bombed, but this one bombs and I really don’t know why. The piece has energy, a couple decent bits and a legitimately cool cameo and yet… nothing really takes off. Not with this audience, anyway. I’m not saying that every moment of this is an absolute hit—the timing between Levy and Aidy seems a bit off, for one. But damn, it feels like this audience was shipped in from the Jean Doumanian era. Modern SNL crowds are often generous to a fault and this fun piece would have been an absolute breath of fresh air if it even had a fraction of that generosity. I think a more experimental sketch can navigate around an icy audience reception, but a supposed crowd pleaser like this shouldn’t have to go up against absolute silence. This gets an “A” for effort and would probably earn a four star rating in a better environment.
STARS: **

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS TRAM TOUR
caffeinated (host) waxes inappropriately on his inaugural Universal Studios tram tour

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— Matt: This is a good premise to make use of Dan’s energy, but slotting this sort of character into a classic Seiday formula (with exasperated Mikey reactions aplomb!) feels like an uninspired approach that kneecaps its potential.
— Tonight’s relatively tough crowd is nicely stirred by Dan’s fan theory about Doc molesting Marty in Back to the Future. It’s fine, I guess, but the joke is more sold by Dan’s performance—the way he leans into his headset whenever he says the word “molest”—than the written material, which is pretty much just a straight recitation of something off the Internet.
— Even though she’s as baked into the formula as Mikey is, I do admittedly love Ego’s approval of the inappropriate things Dan’s talking about.
— Dan’s spiel about “softeners” is pretty fun, even if, again, it just feels like something culled from the Internet. Kenan’s very earnest response of his softener being “Dobby the Elf from Harry Potter… nasty!”, though, is priceless.
— I don’t think it’s intentional, but I’m amused by the green screen footage of the Universal Studios tram tour and how it drives into a tree at the exact moment that Ego looks away from the wheel.
— There were a few things here that worked, but for the most part, this was a pretty unremarkable lead-off sketch. 
— Carson: If the monologue was a piece that underperformed what it was setting out to do, I think that this sketch far outperforms what was established on paper. Yes, Kenan reacts. Yes, Mikey explains. And yet…and yet it all really works for me. From Levy’s performance, which transcends the limitations of the premise, to Ego’s interjections (“Goofy dudes don’t get it slick for me”), which are all hilarious, I am far more sold on what’s being presented here than Matt is. In a way it reminds me of the job interview sketch from Drew Barrymore’s 2007 episode, another soft premise sketch that largely relied on the liveliness of the host’s performance. That one, like this one, was also gently shrugged off by the reviewer, deemed a largely negligible mediocrity. But both these sketches give their host room to do the kind of work usually reserved for castmembers, unencumbered by too specific premises. Here, Levy gets helpful assists from the rest of the cast, but he also proves himself capable of corralling the energy needed to push this thing over the top. For me, this delivers.
STARS: **½

ZILLOW
adults in their late thirties choose Zillow to satiate their sexual appetites

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— Matt: I’ve always felt the reveal of this sketch was enjoyable enough, perhaps even clever, but I personally don’t get a ton of latitude out of the execution. This is another piece sold largely on presentation (the editing here is particularly stellar) and performance, so my mileage varies.
— Dan: “I’d never live in North Carolina, but if I did, I’d buy a big, gross mansion.” Hey, I gotta quote ‘em when they shout-out my homestate.
— A minor detail, but it feels nice to see a gay couple portrayed by two openly-gay performers on SNL in the form of Dan and Bowen.
— Dan: “The guest house has its own little kitchen!” Bowen: “Oh, FUCK!”
— I do really like the touch of Cecily playing a RE/MAX agent who you can call if you need an immediate softener (I’m learning new phrases!). Cecily’s always great at this sort of earnest character work when she’s given a shot at it, which feels increasingly rare these days.
— This piece was a bit more fun than I remembered, but I feel like it still could’ve worked better for me. It’s not that there are aspects I outright dislike; perhaps it’s just that the premise doesn’t really speak to me or progress. While I can pinpoint bits that I enjoy, for the most part it feels very repetitive for a bit which doesn’t have quite the depth to keep hitting the same beats without losing momentum.
— Carson: As of this writing, I am in my late 30s (though I’m guessing by the time it gets published I’ll be in my mid-50s). That’s my shorthand way of saying that this premise really speaks to me. OK, I actually don’t use Zillow, but I have definitely had bouts of house horniness (“Ooh, mid-century modern!” I blurted). In fact, my wife and I have been known to drive to other parts of town just to check out the real estate. Is that, like, swinging according to this sketch’s logic? Suffice to say, I’m feeling this one. Is the piece essentially one joke? Sure, but it’s one really good joke that feels simultaneously specific and relatable. You can hear it in the audience’s heightened response at the reveal. They’re getting it too. Maybe, like the much-vaunted Weezer sketch, you sort of had to be there, but I think the premise is golden and the execution does everything necessary.
STARS: ***

SUPER BOWL POD
(BEB)’s Super Bowl party has many red flags

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— Matt: Now that we’ve all but exited the fevered pitch of the pandemic (though maybe I shouldn’t jinx that), I do feel like there’s some interesting value in looking back on these very COVID-specific premises. This one has a very simple premise, but a functional one that feels like it should have promising escalation.
— I like the bit with Beck living with his extended family and an entire nursing home.
— Dan: “What about you, Shell? Single guy over there—you look lonely and depressed.” Kyle: “Absolutely.”
— Alright, even though the jokes are coming from everyone’s ignorance to how dangerous they’re being, the bit with Dan “taking the vaccine” as in taking a physical COVID vaccine everywhere he goes feels a bit too dumb for this sketch.
— Strong All That vibes from the gross chili gag, not that I’m against that.
— Oh god, I completely forgot about the ending with Kate as Fauci doing a PSA alongside Bowen as PSY. Would you believe that it doesn’t work even a little bit?
— Usually I’m a fan of ending sketches with everyone prancing off-set, but I can’t say using “Gangnam Style” as a button in 2021 is particularly effective.
— Carson: It’s like a tale of two sketches, isn’t it? A simple, but relatable COVID premise plays out nicely enough, but runs out of track in a hurry, leaving the writers to cobble together a sweaty conclusion that implies “Anything can happen,” but really only communicates “We had half a sketch written.” And don’t get me wrong, I don’t typically hate Hail Mary endings (SNL has pulled off more than its fair share of semi-successful text crawls), but this one was neither punchy enough, nor suitably offbeat enough to really justify itself. Like really, Psy? But to go back to the beginning, I like what’s happening for the meat of this sketch’s runtime. The premise is relatable and escalates at a reasonable pace, though the chili portion does have strong All That vibes and I am against it. I differ with Matt in that I actually didn’t mind Levy’s “take the vaccine” bit. I’d focus my nitpicky notes on Kyle, who once again makes character decisions that feel…forced? Incongruent? Distractingly specific? I don’t know, I’m a Kyle guy, but he has a tendency to add unnecessary spice to normie sketches. This is one such example, though it is really a minor issue. I’ll save my ire for the tacked on ending, which fits with this piece like a rejected skin graft. 
STARS: **½ (minus half a star for that ending)

LIFTING OUR VOICES
(KET) interviews white allies who straddle the line with their advocacy

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— Matt: Even though I know where this premise is gonna go right away, I dig the concept.
— Giving Aidy’s character the last name “Dinwiddie” feels rather on-the-nose. 
— With that being said, Aidy is always great at playing characters who don’t realize how wince-worthy they sound, and her delivery of “I rep my black she-roes, y’all!” was perfect.
— Dan is great as a white BLM activist who is grossly overstepping the line. I especially like the bit about how he threw a brick at a Wendy’s window, causing police to arrest his friend.
— Kyle is even more phenomenal with all of his skin-crawling comments about Ego, his “mahogany queen” with her “shea butter kisses.” Any time Kyle plays some creepy weirdo with a ponytail, he knocks it out of the fuckin’ park.
— Hahaha, Ego quietly breaking at all of Kyle’s horrifying monologues is great. I also wanna mention how miraculous it is that Kyle seemingly has great, sneaky chemistry with everyone in the cast. Combined with his appearance alongside Bowen last episode, this was a moment that made me realize just how solid of a team player he actually is, however niche his characterizations are.
— Wow, our first really solid sketch of the night! A fun idea with good, satirical bite anchored by excellent performances.
— Carson: NOT our first solid sketch of the night, but one of many (Matt’s going to drop a “Carson, you ignorant slut” retort at any moment). If there’s one satirical lane that SNL has improved upon in the modern era, it’s racial satire. Sure, the show can pander from time to time, but it is also more well-resourced for this kind of material. Taking aim at well-intentioned, but clueless white allies is a strong source for humor and this sketch capably heightens its premise with each segment. In fact, SNL is generally more able-footed when they tease the left. That’s likely because it’s easier to find the real humor in the areas you relate to. When SNL takes on right-wing politics, it’s just potshots and ghoulish caricatures. It’s understandable, but outright contempt for your target makes for a less thought-out portrayal. It’s like when the right takes shots at the left, it’s abysmal (currently trying to find an example of the right teasing itself…). Levy is terrific with his clueless character but it’s Kyle that steals the show. I just talked about how the specificity of Kyle’s character choices can be a distraction, but here, his character is so perfectly unctuous it will make your skin crawl (or in the case of Ego, lock into a rictus grin to prevent from breaking into a fit of laughter). Aidy and Levy are playing clueless, but Kyle can do douche chill-inducing oiliness like no one else since Will Forte. And the chemistry with Ego works too! Kyle may be a niche performer, but he can weave through the cast pretty effectively when he needs to. Anyway, it’s not an all-timer, but it’s a reasonably hearty piece of racial satire. 
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Kyoto”

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— Blue: While the indie world went nuts for Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher in 2020, I gotta say: I liked that album, but I didn’t love it. Still, it feels great to see that the buzz for the album led her all the way to SNL. 
— I love Phoebe and her band’s Halloween-esque attire. Skeletons are rad! The stage set is also really nice to look at, with a galaxy projection behind the band and matching blue lights on all the mic stands.
— What I remember most from the first time I saw this performance was how terrible the sound mixing was. It’s sad to see that I remembered this correctly. Phoebe’s vocals are way too low in the mix. 
— I can hardly hear Phoebe’s guitar, or the trumpets off to stage left. It’s a shame, because the horns add so much to the song.
— What made me first take notice of Phoebe Bridgers (although I’ve always been a casual enjoyer) was how personal and specific her lyrics were, and that quality is on full display with this song. Great stuff.
— I love whenever Phoebe cuts loose and adds some power to her voice, instead of utilizing the breathy, laid-back delivery that she relies on for most of her songs. We’ll get to more on that later…
— Phoebe’s bassist is having a blast towards the end, hopping up and down to the beat. Phoebe also appears to be having fun, if her smile is anything to go by. 
— To keep this review relatively unbiased—I don’t like Phoebe’s approach to the last couple lines (“who lies,” “I’m a liar”), where she paused in the middle of the last word, making it sound like she took a breath where she shouldn’t have.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE
(MID) and (HEG) cancel little kids for transgressive juvenility

Twinsthenewtrend (KET) (CRR) hear some iconic bops for the first time

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— Matt: This Update so far seems to be really relying on those jokes about how specific Republican politicians look before segueing into the relevant news stories, but I did get amusement out of Che’s description of Marjorie Taylor Green as someone who “looks like the mugshot of a former child star.”
— Love all the groans Che gets for the punchline of a joke being that Stevie Wonder is pretending to be blind.
— Colin: “Former social media influencer Donald Trump…” Ah, so this is when Twitter banned him. Good times.
— Alright, I could easily file another complaint of SNL having its cake and eating it too in regards to the Morgan Wallen joke, especially considering how much the show fed into his redemption arc… but it’s a really good one.
— Mikey and Heidi are always a reliable duo, but I can’t say I’m too sold on this premise. I feel like whenever Mikey is in a piece designed to spoof some part of modern culture (like, say, the upcoming Star Trek sketch in the Carey Mulligan episode), there’s a tendency for the result to feel thin or misguided.
— I like Heidi feebly attempting to get the crowd to applaud her and Mikey canceling a young child.
— The first fake cancel tweet was the best. All these others aren’t holding much of a candle to it or keeping the energy up.
— Interesting to see Kenan and Chris portraying the real-life YouTube duo TwinsthenewTrend as opposed to labeling them more parodically.
— The visual of Chris and Kenan gettin’ down to “Baby Shark” is fantastic, though it doesn’t quell my frustration enough that I had to hear that goddamn song again.
— Another funny minor detail in Chris expressing surprise not just at the song “Baby Shark,” but at the concept that sharks can be babies. (“I thought they were born full-grown sharks already.”)
— Kenan, after hearing the alphabet: “Yo, I have never heard letters lined up before.”
— Cute, meta bit to end with the SNL theme song. 
— I enjoyed this Update commentary more than I thought I would—it’s really simple stuff, but lots of fun and infectious energy between Chris and Kenan. (Also, if you’re curious, here’s how the real duo reacted to being spoofed on SNL!)
— Carson: It’s kind of amazing how the Jost-Che Update pairing remains enjoyable despite how predictable and formulaic their segment can be. It’s not just in the joke structure (“Pictured here…” or “Said [insert funny person to say something given the context]”) but it’s also in the trajectory of the typical Update. Che and Jost are perpetual slow starters. Never do these two seem as ambivalent as when they are having to hit the requisite political punchlines. Sometimes the momentum of the moment can mask the checked out delivery, but typically Update starts at a crawl and opens up to a full sprint once they can shake the political shackles off and just tell some damn jokes. I think that’s a bit of the case here. These guys really like jokes, but neither are inherently political animals, at least not in the macro way where you have to come up with jokes about Mitch McConnell. Once they open up their stride, the Jost-Che combo belongs with the all-timers. Too often, however, they are forced to play in the satirical slow lane. As for the commentaries, I like them! Heidi and Mikey’s bit is a great idea performed excellently (particularly Heidi), but it never really escalates in the way it needs to. Imagine if they had gone full Iraqi Pete and just bathed in the vocal antipathy from the crowd. That would have been special. SNL needs more bad guy characters. Like almost every other Kenan piece over the last two decades, the Kenan-Chris commentary is thin, throwaway fun. Nothing more, nothing less.
STARS: ***½

HOT DAMN
(host) and (CES) entertain bemused football fans with obscure “Hot Damn”

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— Matt: The most recent iteration of the “What is that song? Stop playing that song. We don’t know that song. Oh wait, we do know that song! Let’s sing that song!” series. I’ll admit that I sort of liked it on some earlier iterations, but by this point, I just don’t know why this is a well to keep pulling from.
— To this episode’s credit, Dan definitely feels like a more charismatic host for this sort of premise than some others in the past. He’s got solid chemistry with Cecily and he’s really, really trying to sell this.
— Kenan and Ego are doing a good job reacting to Dan and Cecily’s confusing act, even if it’s just another obligatory part of this sketch template. 
— Alright, I do like the very Broadway style of the song more than these sketch’s songs usually sound.
— The staging and choreography feels a bit more awkward than as joyously goofy as I feel the show is intending.
— A strange twist with Beck pointing out that the television at the start of the sketch (which spurred “Hot Damn”) was never plugged in, and then Cecily and Dan threatening to kill him.
— Hmm… while there are some parts of this that I was won over by in people’s performances, and while it’s arguably the most elaborate of these sketches, it’s still hard to be all that excited about the fifth (?) iteration of this idea.
— Carson: It’s tricky because I think this is pretty definitively the best of these types of sketches, but, yeah, five iterations in, it might be too little too late. It’s always been a slightly confusing premise, but I can also see why this would have been a joy to conceive in the writer’s room. There are some fun jokes here and some really really silly lyrics that will make you chuckle if you can strain your ears to hear them. But unfortunately, the difference between a recurring character and a recurring premise is the same as the difference between talking to the same person over and over again and having the same conversation over and over again. This is modern SNL’s curse. Some fun details in the margins here, though: check Alex pulling out his phone to look at some porn and Beck’s extremely goofy trumpet dance at the end of the piece. 
STARS: **

WEDDING FRIENDS
(KAM) and (host) refuse to weigh in on groom (MID)

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— Matt: I get the specific characterizations that Kate and Dan are playing here, and they’re playing them well, but man… what is the point of this sketch? What is the real comedic thrust of it? Their half-answers about whether or not they’re objecting to the wedding are, sure, perhaps well-observed caricatures, but they’re not fed into this sketch in a way that progresses to an interesting place, or any place at all.
— Punkie’s involvement as the mother of the bride is… just sort of rehashing the same bit, which debatably constitutes as escalation. It’s at least nice to see her getting material that she can actually chew on a bit.
— Kate mugs a lot, especially by this point in her tenure, but some of her mugging here feels almost jarringly off-brand. I mean… look at some of those faces she’s making.
— Dan and Kate being turned on by Mikey’s groom telling them off is, uh, a choice. Even Dan’s enthusiasm couldn’t buoy this one—there’s a stark difference between being frustrating in a way that speaks to the audience comedically, and just being plain frustrating.
— Carson: There are reasons to hate this sketch—Kate’s mugging is preposterous, especially when isolated in a screengrab, and there is little in the way of real momentum occurring here (including a couple of dead spots to boot), and the oft-comatose audience delivers accordingly. But while it’s not a great sketch, it’s not really a bad sketch either. The premise actually feels somewhat relatable despite the fact that I’ve never actually been witness to a real live “Or forever hold your peace” spiel at a wedding. There are choices that I like here too, especially Mikey actually playing his character in a grounded way, which provides a nice contrast to Kate and Levy’s bug-eyed overperformances. Also, whatever, Mikey’s serious defense of himself followed by Levy purring “Ok, rail me daddy” is a turn I more than enjoyed. I’m not saying this is an unheralded classic, but there is too much working here for this to be discarded on the trash heap.
— Matt: Carson, you ignorant slut.
STARS: *

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Know The End”

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— Blue: I love how Phoebe hasn’t entirely lost her skeleton outfit, trading it out for several strings of pearls arranged in the shape of a ribcage.
— That guitar that Phoebe’s using has an awfully long neck. (The better too… oops, spoilers.)
— I didn’t hear any backing vocals on the first song, but these vocalists are blending well with Phoebe’s lead.
— Oof, the initial entrance of the violin was flat.
— As the tempo picks up and Phoebe’s strumming gets faster, the guitar’s tone starts sounding worse. Of course, that’s not going to matter in a couple minutes.
— Love the texture that the violinist is adding to the song. I’m glad at least this instrument is prominent in the mix.
— Love the entrance of the trumpets. They remind me of Illinoise-era Sufjan Stevens.
— Phoebe is smiling up a storm as the song reaches its intense outro. We love to see it!
— Now Phoebe is kneeling at the feet of her guitarist and beaming as he rocks a distorted solo. I’m loving this.
— And there it is: the guitar-smash that set indie music Twitter aflame for a weekend. Leaving aside how baffled I am that this is what counts as controversial nowadays, I’ll just say: I understand the intent and statement behind the gesture, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it as a theatrical presentation. It’s just a shame the guitar didn’t actually break, thus rendering the whole thing less impressive than it should have been. Still: what a performance! 
STARS: ****

IT GETS BETTER
a decade removed, the It Gets Better campaign hasn’t prepared its grown-up audience for their present lives

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— Matt: You know how I commented on how cool it was to see a male couple normalized in the “Zillow” sketch? This sketch does that one better: we have enough openly-gay performers on the show that we can do something like this. Beyond the low-key nature of the premise, there’s a wonderful naturalism and earnestness to the performances from Dan, Bowen, Kate, and Punkie, no doubt etched by their own life experiences. And that’s cool as shit! To think only a decade before we’d get shit like Fred or Taran doing mincing gay stereotypes—it’s wonderful to see how rapidly the show’s evolved over the past decade at a time like this.
— In regards to the sketch itself: it’s great! I’ve always had a soft spot for this sketch. Some bits are better than others, but every performance feels so rooted that it’s hard not to appreciate.
— I love getting to see the performers’ actual child photos, which is always a treat.
— Bowen runs away with the absolute best bit of this sketch, detailing how while he no longer gets bullied by straight people, he gets viciously tormented by gay people for his opinions about music.
— Although it’s less centered with the premise, I also really like Kate’s bit about how an iguana has taken over her life and effectively held her captive. This is the sort of Kate performance that I love to see—deadpan, and very poised—and which SNL so rarely shoves aside for her to get hammy or play dress-up.
— Bowen: “It’s scarier when gay people are mean because they’re so organized. I tweeted one vague opinion about Chromatica and I had to move. Not just apartments, like cities.”
— It doesn’t get much of an audience response, but I liked Punkie’s line about how if you wear basketball shorts, people think you’re the one that fights. Well-observed stuff, which I have to assume she had direct input on.
— Carson:  I’m a little conflicted with this one. It’s a very good piece, well-written and well-executed. I love the low-key absurdist bent that Kate’s character veers into and Matt is right with this being an ideal example of how to harness Kate’s energy. But I do find the piece slightly imbalanced. Not so much that I would quibble with the score, but it does seem like Kate’s portion takes up the lion’s share of the sketch. That’s not a total complaint—it is the segment that is the most silly and comedically buoyant, but a part of me feels like everything else (particularly Punkie’s portion) should have been afforded similar room to breathe. Don’t get me wrong, what’s there is very good, and I’m not mad that Kate’s very funny portion is given prominent positioning, but I do believe there was more to work with across the board. 
STARS: ****½

GOODNIGHTS

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CUT FOR TIME: MEN’S COSMETICS
Man Stain cosmetics’ machismo marketing belies feminine conceit

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— Matt: SNL rolling the dice again on this concept. This one notably has a writer’s credit from Dan, at least, though it’s his only known contribution to the episode.
— This sketch reminds me of the “Brolay” sketch I covered from last season’s JJ Watt episode, though this sketch is far more pointed. The joke is still simplistic, but it’s making more of a direct point of the veiled nature of the aggressively, stereotypically-masculine advertisement, and Dan is doing some fun deconstruction work. (Meanwhile, the closest we got to a satirical tinge with the last one was JJ assuring us that his product was “just gay enough” to be cool, which… yeah.)
— Pete makes an appearance here, which made me realize he was shut out of the live episode. Strange, but not particularly felt, however much I can enjoy Pete.
— A lot of enjoyable prop comedy here, between the beer can of base, rouge gun, and eyeshadow pizza box.
— There are still some jokes that ostensibly seem to just be “haha guys in make-up,” but with Dan as a writer on this sketch, I’m assuming good faith. 
— A cute touch of Dan quietly coaching Alex on how to apply mascara. It’s those sort of moments that are making this more tolerable than the usual, desperate efforts SNL has made with this same premise.
STARS: ***

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Matt: A weak episode. Dan does his absolute best, but it just makes me wish that he could reign over a better night than what he ultimately received. He was at least given chances to shine alongside the cast in select pieces (“Lifting Our Voices,” “It Gets Better”), but by and large this felt like a waste of his presence.
— Carson: I knew this one would be an uphill battle for me. At the time the episode came out, consensus seemed to poo-poo it. Maybe I was just in the right mood. But even the cold open, as flawed as it was, showed a more refreshing, playful kind of lousy that I found amiable enough. The monologue failed to connect with a sleepy crowd, but not for a lack of actually trying (unlike almost every other monologue in this era) and I could say that for a few other pieces too. But in the end, I think there were simply a couple pieces that connected with me far more than they connected with Matt (Universal Studios, Zillow) and that happens. Sometimes that’s simply a matter of point of reference, other times it might be me happily removing my critical eye and enjoying a piece for what it is. If anything, I felt this episode deserved a defense. I felt like it earned a second opinion or at the very least a sympathetic rewatch.

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

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RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
It Gets Better
Lifting Our Voices
Weekend Update
Zillow
(CFT: Men’s Cosmetics)
Universal Studios Tram Tour
Super Bowl Pod
Monologue
Hot Damn
Super Bowl LV
Wedding Friends

TOMORROW
John takes a look at Regina King’s hosting stint