SNL's Continued Downward Spiral Thread

I thought An Anomolous Man was going in the Phil Hartman/Jan Hooks direction for a while. It didn't and it was super weird but I think I liked it? Not a great sign for this episode that such a weird bit was so early, though.

 

This whole episode is struggling.

 

When you need one-note Bowen Yang as a naked doll...yeesh.

 

How many weeks was the hiatus leading into this mess?

 

I know it's a matter of playing down to the host's skills, but after the blast that was the Gosling episode, this is a huge letdown.

 

At least update has been good. "Time's up, Che!"

 

At least they hit on the makeup/costuming tonight.

 

OK, I think we can check off Update as the segment of the night. Nice surprise with Jerry.

 

As he noted, it's too late for him to undo what he's done, but that was a good spot.

 

I laughed a couple times at the cold open, but it did seem awkwardly placed. Would have been a fine sketch in the middle of the episode. Seemed that Kenan didn't know he was supposed to do the "Live from New York!"

 

Dua Lipa strikes me as the opposite of Gosling - someone without a ton of acting experience or comedic presence that you REALLY need to write well for, because she's probably not going to give you a lot of notes. She's got stage presence obviously, but I think it's tougher to write multiple sketches around that vs. just her doing a walk-on.

 

I appreciated the cold opening, mainly because a lot of my thought regarding the protesters has been, is this what their parents paid Ivy League money for?