Saturday Night Live cold open: ‘Mike Pence & Roy Moore’ talk it out
For one, it is a rarity to have Alec Baldwin stop by in consecutive weeks as Donald Trump unless something genuinely noteworthy transpires. We suppose that for most Presidents the past week would be insane and on another level; yet, this is Trump. For him, this past week felt almost serene and completely normal despite everything he said about Russia and taunting North Korea. This is what this world has come to.
Is it also possible that SNL could have opened with something more serious, as a means of reflecting on the attack in Texas this past week? We thought so going in, given their history with Las Vegas and other horrible tragedies. The only reason they could opt not to is because so much time has transpired between now and when the tragedy happened. It’s been covered elsewhere, and in the end, the show decided not to go in that direction.
So what did the show settle with? Well, think along the lines of Roy Moore and Mike Pence. The show didn’t utilize Trump tonight, and instead chose to spoof the Alabama Senate candidate who is accused of sexual misconduct with minors. There was some funny moments to be had here — especially the Vladimir Putin line — but we do think that the show hasn’t really figured out the Pence character as of right now.
It wasn’t until the show brought out Kate McKinnon as Jeff Sessions when the sketch really started to get going. We’re not sure that McKinnon is actually doing an accurate impression of Sessions at all, but that almost doesn’t matter anymore. It’s such a bizarre, hilarious character who also introduced a new friend tonight — a stuffed possum creature who he talked to about sexual assault and how shocking the world is today. It was strange to watch unfold, but the show chose to spoof a difficult subject in the best way they knew how. They respected the victims, made it clear that those accused were in the wrong, and kept things fairly light. Basically, they tried to get a few light laughs with the tools that they had — without Trump and with characters who aren’t fully-formed as of yet.
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