COLD OPENING: Biden-Jinping Meeting

PREMISE: Panda given by the Chinese president (Bowen Yang) steals Joe Biden’s (Mikey Day) thunder at a press conference.

• Mikey continues to be a good Biden. I laughed hardest at his calling Jinping “President Roman Numeral Eleven.”
• The ‘Q&A’ with the press (Heidi Gardner, Ego Nwodim, Michael Longfellow, Andrew Dismukes, Molly Kearney, Marcelo Hernandez, James Austin Johnson) was very funny. I especially liked Ego’s “I have a question…you’re old” and Mikey doing the ‘fake elevator thing’ to escape from Longfellow’s question.
• Boy, the crowd is eating up Bowen as the panda. Unfortunately, this is a typical smug Bowen vamp piece that he’s been churning out like clockwork for some time. His puns are atrocious and delivered so coldly. I did not like his part at all. 
• Woof at that ‘panda express’ line.

RATING: ** ½ 

MONOLOGUE

• I’m still not sure Jason Momoa isn’t an AI creation.
• Some pretty fun, amusing lines from Jason, such as his one early on about his mother still recovering from giving birth to him. His enthusiasm was tremendous (much like every other aspect of him) and it’s nice to see a solo monologue from a host who’s truly excited to be there.

RATING: ***

SKETCH: Old-Timey Movie

PREMISE: Various pedestrians (Day, Momoa, Chloe Feinman, Kenan Thompson) ruin footage of L. Frank Baum (Michael Longfellow) with their mugging antics

• Not liking Bowen’s performance as the Baum expert at all.
• Good to see Michael Longfellow have a prominent part in a sketch.
• This was hardly the greatest premise in the world, but it was fun; Jason and Mikey had good chemistry and their various vulgar gestures towards the camera were funny.
• Bowen’s passive-aggressive responses to Heidi’s question really grated on me here.

RATING: ***

MUSIC VIDEO: Rome Song

PREMISE: Men (Momoa, Thompson, Day) rap about their obsession with the Roman empire.

• Chloe Troast has such a nice singing voice, which we are now seeing for the second week in a row. Also, Punkie, Chloe, and Ego is an interesting trio as the wives.
• I didn’t laugh once at this entire music video, aside from maybe Mikey’s “When they took a sh*t, they sat next to each other” line. This premise felt very much like the type of video Pete Davidson would do, and that’s…not a compliment.
• The Astrology twist was dumb.

RATING: *

SKETCH: Nightclub Line

PREMISE: Bouncer (Jason Momoa) insults club rejects.

• Marcelo looks like Dismukes with hair slicked back like that.
• What is Jason’s accent?
• I chuckled a few times at this, but overall I wasn’t a fan of the premise and couldn’t understand a good chunk of Jason’s dialogue.
• Kenan coming out as the boss, also with a Spanish accent, was not a good way to end this sketch.
• Sarah and Michael are not unattractive people.

RATING: * ½ 

SKETCH: Thanksgiving Week Airport Parade

PREMISE: Hosts (Bowen and Ego) interview stereotypical Thanksgiving travelers at Newark Airport.

• *sigh* Bowen again.
• A variation on the First Day of Spring fashion show from Ana De Armas.
• Once again, I don’t have much to say about this sketch. None of it made me laugh, and having Bowen as one of the leads didn’t help.

RATING: *

PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: Ramen Order

PREMISE: John constantly derails Martin and Ben ordering food by complaining about his breakup.

• Ah, PDD, please make me laugh.
• The usual funny PDD shorts, although this definitely didn’t live up to their other pieces so far this year. No jokes really stood out, but this still had the same fun, goofy energy I enjoy in all their shorts.

RATING: *** ½ 

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH COLIN JOST & MICHAEL CHE – with George Santos (Bowen Yang), Draymond Green (Devon Walker), Remember Lizards (James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes)

• Best Jokes: Biden / Israel, Rupert Murdoch, Fraud 
• Some really tired jokes from a really tired duo.
• Bowen’s George Santos commentary was exhausting. I could call every beat from a mile away, from his exaggerated cattiness with Colin to the Pitch Perfect reference. Another tired Bowen piece.
• Devon’s Draymond Green commentary was pretty funny. No lines really stood out, but his performance was fun and he made me chuckle throughout the piece. Devon is becoming a very consistent, fun and reliable performer who can elevate material that’s not particularly great.
• James and Andrew’s Imagine Dragons parody was dead-on and hilarious. They absolutely nailed everything I hate about Imagine Dragons, and their look was priceless, especially Andrew’s wig and his expressions while singing.

RATING: ** ½ 

SKETCH: Cast Away

PREMISE: Long lost fiance (Momoa) Laird awakens old feelings in Elaine (Chloe Feinman), to the chagrin of husband Dennis (Andrew Dismukes).

• A Cast Away parody in 2023? Let’s see where this goes.
• The expected hot host / thirst trap sketch. I can’t say I laughed much at this, but Dismukes’ straight man performance was great and his increasingly baffled reactions to Chloe’s obvious longing to be back with Jason amused me.
• The push-up contest gave me a good laugh.
• Chloe getting tossed around by Jason was a weak ending.

RATING: ** ½

FILMPED PIECE: Battle of the Sexes

PREMISE: Charna Lee Diamond (Sarah Sherman) tries to make strides in women’s tennis.

• I’m really loving the look to this piece. The clothes, the hair, and the visual quality are absolutely on point, as are the commentators played by Heidi and Ego.
• Even though I more or less guessed where this was going, the initial gag of the ball going through Sarah was absolutely hilarious, as was everyone’s reactions to it.
• Now this is getting even better with Sarah getting decapitated by Jason’s next serve.
• Overall, a great piece highlighting Sarah’s brand of twisted humor and also featuring excellent performances and cinematography. A really good piece all around.

RATING: ****

SKETCH: Cab Driver

• Feels like Kenan has been barely in the show tonight.
• This was a pretty funny sketch, mostly thanks to Jason. His dumb questions in response to Ego’s bizarre medical discoveries about him made me laugh, especially asking if ‘per night’ was a holiday for cats.
• Lame ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ ending.

RATING: ***

EPISODE MVP: Honestly, no one stood out tonight. It was such an average episode that no one was able to run away with a particular sketch or moment that really made me laugh out loud. I guess I should give it to Momoa, who had great enthusiasm and was very committed to his performances.

BOTTOM LINE: As average an SNL as they come. Only one piece rose to the level of great, and everything else ranged from average to entirely forgettable.