Saturday Night Live review: Donald Trump, Sean Spicer kiss in Melissa McCarthy show
The “when” was not in the start of the show, given that the show went in the direction of Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump again. He sat down for an interview with Michael Che’s Lester Holt, who was last there at the start of the season. This was a worthy reprisal! It was funny, controversial, and of course relevant given that James Comey was a subject of conversation. Beyond that, though, the show touched on something that is very sad but also very true: Trump can do anything and the Republican Party by and large still supports him.
The ending did fade slightly, mostly because the final “Tupac” jab didn’t quite land — also, maybe there was a part of it that got depressing just because this isn’t that far from reality.
Overall, this was a great start to the show despite the weak finish — it somehow ducked expectations, which is odd given how many times Baldwin’s started the season.
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Melissa McCarthy monologue – This was the annual Mother’s Day tribute, where the show honored moms. This time around, Melissa gave a “random” mother a tour of the studio. This wasn’t hilarious, but it certainly produced a few memorable moments, including a cameo from Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively backstage. There is always something fun when the show does take you backstage for a while.
Just Desserts – This was a game show inspired by Press Your Luck, with the main difference being that instead of Whammies, you got pies in the face. McCarthy’s character Marci found herself the repeated recipients of them, so this was a sketch based entirely on her suffering. Somehow, this got funnier and funnier as it went along.
Amazon Echo Silver – This was pretty perfect in terms of interpreting how old people react to such things as computerized personal assistants. Whoever wrote this sketch had a very clear understanding of how retired people probably react to this technology, including their refusal to call it by the right name.
Return of Sean Spicer – McCarthy brought back her White House Press Secretary impression, dispatching with Sarah Huckabee Sanders before diving into her fight with reporters. The majority of the sketch was paint-by-numbers until Spicer had an existential dilemma, wondered if Trump was really his friend at all, and embarked on a journey to New York in order to find Trump. The premise made utterly no sense other than that this was the only place the show could film, but just go with it.
As for the end of Spicer and Trump making out, this was just … weird. Let’s put it that way.
Weekend Update – This was another memorable series of jokes, but for the most part also expect. The show killed Donald Trump, brought in Pete Davidson for a funny bit on rehab, and all in all generated laughs. It fells almost forgettable, though, given that Sean Spicer sketch that came before it.
Debette Goldry – the iconic screen actress is back! This time around, Kate McKinnon was joined by McCarthy playing another screen actress who had her own share of funny stories. Plenty of laughs, even if this was basically the same thing as last time except with McCarthy playing the “Drunker Uncle” role.
Kyle Mooney and Leslie Jones return – The love story returned as a pre-tape after some time off. Apparently, since then Kyle and Leslie got married and there are some concerns that the two have in their relationship. they have a kid, and he doesn’t want them to split up. Also hilarious? The fact that the kid is named Lorne.
Credit to Kyle for being able to make fun of himself amidst Leslie’s higher profile on the show. This was some subtle for the most part, but then Kyle shot Colin Jost out of jealousy right in the middle of the studio. Apparently, both Lorne Sr. and Leslie seemed fine with this in the end.
Moms Get-Together – Probably the first miss of the night, mostly because “finding your inner animal” didn’t produce much other than some strange noises.
Lighthouse Pictures – Remember those goofy little production tags at the end of movies and TV shows. This was a very little sketch at the end of the show all about getting the right image for it.
Overall – A really fun show start to finish, provided of course that you love watching the Trump Administration get destroyed. Good use of cameos, mostly funny sketches, and a ton of entertainment throughout. Grade: A-.
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