“Big, beautiful boobs and buildings”
Cold Open: Trump National Golf Club
4 Stars
So this is where we get into what we'll call "Season 42.2". I don't think anyone anticipated Trump would win the election, so where to go with the character? Do we stick with the racist fearmonger angle or do we pivot hard into big dummy in The White House? Hey, it worked for George W. Bush. At least it will be a funny 4 years, right? I'm gonna do my best to stay apolitical and just watch the show for comedy value, even though that may get harder as satire starts to feel like docudrama from this point on. This was funny. Trump is asked for his plans to stop ISIS as well as how to bring back all the coal mining jobs and he's obviously in way over his head. Trump typing "What is ISIS" into Google was great and we get a Jason Sudeikis cameo as Mitt Romney when the two share an awkward, silent handshake.
Kristen Wiig Monologue
5 Stars
Kristen sings a song about the first thanksgiving which involved Ben Franklin, Vikings, Napoleon, and aliens. We also get a cameo from Steve Martin (who gets almost too much applause) and Will Forte (who gets less applause which is pointed out). All very funny and absurd, ending with a guy in the audience's head exploding.
The Bubble
Commercial for a place where liberals can live after the Trump election. They will only get the news and opinions they agree with. Nice to see the show hitting both sides, wonder how long that will last.
Secret Word
1 Star
I apologize, I have a bit of selective memory, have I missed Secret Word? I don't think I did. I seem to recall Bill Hader being the best part of these sketches but he's been replaced with Kenan now so that's a loss. I also remember sometimes getting enjoyment from the other celebrity guest (usually played by the host) but that part goes to Cecily here who just does the same shtick as Kristen just with an Italian accent, so that's also a loss. Now that I'm remembering things, I haven't missed this sketch at all. Wait a minute! Did anyone want to see this again?
Anderson Cooper 360
News anchors keep repeating the same lines as they talk about the Trump election. Turns out they're all robots and this is really a commercial for Westworld. Good performances, good twist, and the sketch is over before you can quibble with it.
Target
If you're stressed out over the Thanksgiving weekend you can come to Target and just sit in a big, empty parking lot to unwind. As the guy who always volunteers to run errands during family gatherings just to get out of the house for a bit (and take my sweet time doing so) I identified with this. It was weird to come in this episode. Did nobody put together that Kristen played The Target Lady a lot on SNL? She could have showed up in the background or they could have saved this and re-worked it for the Christmas episode or they could have made it Wal-Mart instead of Target. I can't believe you actually have me suggesting that Target Lady should make her 30th appearance in this episode but it's almost distracting that she's nowhere to be seen.
QVC Auditions
So are we doing a passing of the torch to Cecily here? She copies Kristen's bit in Secret Word and then we have this sketch where you have Cecily and Kristen basically doing the same thing together. We see Cecily's audition for QVC, then Kristen's, then Cecily's again, then Kristen's again, then Cecily interrupts Kristen's with a gun. The performances are fine but the sketch kinda meanders. Did not care for the ending at all. We cut to QVC where they are now both hosts but they're still fighting. I thought they were showing clips of their horrible auditions to show how far they've come but the joke is just that they got the job but are still angry at each other. Felt like a waste of time when we got to the end.
The xx
"On Hold"
Weekend Update
Lots of Trump jokes then Pete Davidson shows up to talk about something that makes me zone out for a couple minutes.
Thanksgiving Parade
A family gathers by their big window to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The balloons start creeping closer including Bobby as the new Pennywise balloon. The balloons start humping, Kristen's balloon murders a performer, fun stuff and it was something I haven't seen before which was refreshing.
Whiskers R' We
3 Stars
Barbara DeDrew joins the 5-Timers Club and is joined by Kristen to show off some cats for adoption. Not crazy about it just because I've seen it so many times but can't complain too much. One of the cats being a master of psychological manipulation was funny and you get bonus points for adding Bobby as a performer from the musical Cats.
The xx return with "I Dare You"
Surprise
Ok, I may have forgotten where I landed on Secret Word but I’m for damn sure I never wanted to see Surprise Sue again. It's her 5th appearance and it's the same as always. You got one crazy lady next to a bunch of straight men who keep telling her to stop being crazy.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Average
3.1 Stars
MVP
Bobby Moynihan
Trump National Golf Club, Monologue, Secret Word, QVC Auditions, Thanksgiving Parade, Whiskers R’ We, Surprise, Stealing the whole episode with one scary clown face
Best Sketch
Thanksgiving Parade
Worst Sketch
Secret Word
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
The cold open, monologue, and The Bubble were good. I'm thinking this episode is on the right track. Then Secret Word shows up and...aw, shit. It was hard to steer it back and ending with Surprise felt kind of insulting. Maybe start with Thanksgiving Parade and move Secret Word to after Update. I know that leaves absolutely nothing in the back half, but is that terrible? Just have The xx make an announcement that the rest of the show is all repeat shit and we can go to bed early.
Host Analysis
The monologue was great, everything else was meh. Can't say I was happy to see her back and I can't say I was longing for the good old days when you're bringing back Secret Word and Surprise. That feels like something you do for a 5-Timer's episode. This is your 2nd time back and we're trotting out these old standards?
Final Thoughts
I do miss Kristen as a sketch player and we only got that in brief flashes. This episode felt like a "isn't it great to have Kristen Wiig back so she can do all her old characters?" but I haven't missed any of these characters. She got to play with Kate in Whiskers R' We but we've seen many people do that same role. I mentioned it earlier but this had a weird "Cecily is the new Kristen" feel which could have just been random due to what sketches were picked this week. Aside from the cold open and monologue this show wasn't anything special. A look back on an era I'm glad to be out of in all honesty.
Up Next
We start our run of Christmas episodes with Emma Stone and Shawn Mendes
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