We begin with a new installment of Oops, You Did It Again, a talk show in which Britney Spears (Chloe Fineman) judges whether social pariahs are “Innocent or Not That Innocent.”
Her first guest is rapper Lil Nas X (Chris Redd), who is attacked by ‘the rare combination of the Catholic Church and Nike’ for his ‘Satan Shoes’ and a video in which he gives the devil a lap dance. To balance things out, Britney brings on God so the rapper can work on his lap. Show conservative faux indignation on Sunday. He is followed by canceled Looney Toons star Pepe LePew (Kate McKinnon), cut from the Space Jam sequel for ‘promoting a culture of assault’. Since the show acknowledges the stupidity of the Lil Nas X controversy, you would think they would send the rage over a cartoon skunk. Instead, they lie in the supposedly problematic nature of the character.
Spears’ third and final guest is Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (Pete Davidson), who is apparently being investigated for allegations of sex trafficking. The young Republican star is nervous about his future amid such allegations – which the real Gaetz denies – even though he admits “strangely, in my district, they can help”.
It’s absolutely staggering that the show will make Davidson disappear in a bad wig to make a half-baked impression when Colin Jost – who looks like the congressman and the same air of frat-boy smarminess – is right there. Allow SNL to make the easiest setup in years.
Our host is Oscar-nominated actor Daniel Kaluuya, who, despite his accent, assures the audience that he is indeed black, saying: ‘I’m actually how scared the royal family was that the baby would look like.’ After explaining the difference between British racism and American racism (the first being ‘so bad that white people are gone’) and telling the technical problems his Golden Globes victory speech encountered, he tells an intimate story about how she first on stage was a play he wrote at the age of nine, based on Kenan Thompson’s Nickelodeon show, Kenan & Kel.
Will you take it? is a game show in which Kaluuya’s doctor host tries to convince his family to take the Covid-19 vaccine by offering $ 5,000. Despite the fact that everyone is high risk and needs money, they refuse. His aunt Shana refuses because Facebook told her that Christians cannot take the vaccine; his cousin Tasha blames America’s history of experimenting on black communities. Even the outraged host admits to his cousin, “OK, you’re not wrong.”
A popular YouTube duo go viral for their prank – including planting mouse bones in grain – only to give fame when their history is extinguished. In a series of increasingly ridiculous apology videos, they admit ‘that some of [their] previous videos can be considered problematic and / or crimes. “This is a solid broadcast of a trend, including the saga of the shrimp, but it can not match the real thing for absurdity or irony.
Next, McKinnon plays a suburban mother who, following her proposal of Rummikub for a game night after dinner, takes revenge through passive-aggressive noises and liquor Josh wine – “the official wine of Rummikub”. This is followed by another suburban sketch after dinner in which three couples are joined together by their sons from the colleagues. One couple, from Uganda, are horrified to hear that their son has changed his major from medicine to creative writing. When a white parent says that the world needs more poets, Kaluuya’s furious patriarch replies, “Yes, if there is one thing we have learned from the pandemic, it is that the world needs more poets!” There is a real specificity to the humor, which one has to assume due to Kaluuya’s experience.
St Vincent is the musical guest performing the glammy Pay Your Way in Pain. Weekend Update then begins with Jost putting on Gaetz, who he admits ‘looks like a cartoonist of mine’, making Davidson’s cast even worse. He points to the hypocrisy of right-wingers: ‘A sitting congressman is accused of trafficking in children, and the QAnon people are suddenly like,’ Eh, I need more evidence. ”
The first guests are Smetay Farms owners, Vaneta and Wylene Starkie (McKinnon and Aidy Bryant), who promise that their ‘grade A Easter meat’ comes from animals that deserve to be killed: a lamb that is a plantation attended a wedding, a hen that contributed to a toxic work environment, a veal that ‘pulled away by the subway’. They are followed by the narrow guy who just bought a boat (Alex Moffat) on hand to discuss post-pandemic appointments (“Goodbye Facetime – hello sit-on-my-face time!”), And a very mixed age couple, Heidi Gardner and Mikey Day.
After a pointless sketch about frat boys planning a Tahoe trip with their mothers, Kaluuya plays a dog owner who offends other owners with a silly impression of their mutations. This leads to a disagreement with Andrew Dismukes over the feelings of Ego Nwodim, only for her to strike out over both. There is a decent punchline, but it is dragged through an awkward setup. Using real dogs does not help.
St Vincent returns for The Melting of the Sun, before the final sketch finds another group of suburban friends gathering for wine. Things take a strange turn when the host’s half-brother (and ‘full Facebook friend’) and his soon-to-be ex-wife, Joleen (‘like the whore out of the song’) perform a free jazz. From the way Cecily Strong was dressed, it appears to be an extensive broadcast of a 2011 video showing Kim Cattrall showing off her skills. SNL with his finger on the wrist, as always.
Kaluuya was responsible for a few highlights, but most of the episode left much to be desired. The sheer laziness displayed – the refusal to take full advantage of the cast, too much confidence in a handful of tired lineups – currently underscores one of the biggest problems with SNL.