Cold Open — Dana Carvey is practically a cast member these days, opening the show as Church Lady, the SNL character of my youth. There’s some nostalgic affection for the character, even if the Church Lady doesn’t hold up as well these days. That said, Sarah Sherman’s Matt Gaetz was repulsively perfect, and it was nice to see David Spade as Hunter Biden. It’s special, but not that special. (Score: 6 out of 10)
Paul Mescal Monologue — He’s fine. He’s not my favorite among this generation of actors (that’s Austin Butler and John David), and something about him (and Bo Burnham) will always remind me of the pandemic (probably because Normal People aired a month into it). He’s reasonably charming, though he didn’t have much of note to say in the monologue. (Score: 5 out of 10)
Earring — Paul Mescal plays a son who comes home wearing an earring, with Heidi Gardner and Emil Wakim as parents having an existential meltdown over it. I’m not sure what they were trying to say here, but Gardner and Wakim make it work. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)
Gladiator Twosical — Inspired by the massive success of Wicked and Moana, they’ve re-released Gladiator II as a musical with songs composed by Lin Manuel-Miranda (and honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he actually did compose them). Well done—bravo! (Score: 8 out of 10)
Pasta Commercial — During the shoot for a pasta ad, a new actress delivers a funny ad-lib, prompting the other actor to unleash a stream of awful puns like “Pasta la vista, baby.” That’s pretty much the sketch in a nutshell. (Watch Here) (Score: 4.5 out of 10)
Please Don’t Destroy — Hey! The Please Don’t Destroy guys actually made it into the show this week with a moderately funny bit about Paul Mescal becoming their “Daddy”—and no, it’s not a sexual thing (but give it time). (Score: 6.5 out of 10)
All Male Revue — A bachelorette party thinks they’re attending a pirate strip show, but the strippers are deeply committed to their pirate roles, complete with peg legs and scurvy. Funnier in concept than execution. (Watch Here) (Score: 5 out of 10)
Weekend Update — It was one of those weeks where Jost and Che laughed at their jokes more than the audience did. Not that the jokes weren’t funny—it just seemed like they were having a little too much fun. Were they high? Heidi Gardner also appeared as the mom of a suddenly rich NFL player, which was decent. (Watch Here) (Score: 6 out of 10)
Brilliant Lawyer — Andrew Dismukes goes all out as a “brilliant lawyer” who tries (and fails) to pull off a series of lame stunts to get his client acquitted. It’s a bad sketch, but maybe it’s so bad it’s good? I’ll leave that for Mat to decide. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 or 6.5 out of 10)
Spotify Unwrapped — I have no idea who Tricia Paytas is, but she got a big ovation in this sketch with Bowen Yang, who plays an obscure musician and podcaster topping the Spotify Unwrapped list of Paul Mescal’s character. It’s a bit of a nothing sketch, seemingly created to give Paytas some airtime. (Watch Here) (Score: 2 out of 10)
A Complete Unknown Red Carpet — Mostly a chance for Chloe Fineman to show off her Timothée Chalamet impression and James Austin Johnson to channel his incoherent Dylan. Oh, and Paul Mescal plays Bono, because… he’s Irish?
Average Score: 5.25. Not a bad episode overall, though it fell apart after “Update.” Mescal was game to make fun of himself, and he has some decent comedy chops—not that I’m clamoring to see him in a comedy anytime soon although I would love to see him in one of those Netflix Christmas movies.