‘Saturday Night Live’ Recap: Dwayne Johnson and Tom Hanks Rock the Vote
A Dwayne Johnson/Tom Hanks ticket in 2020? It may sound far-fetched, but let’s not forget that few people thought that Donald Trump would ascend to the Oval Office when he hosted Saturday Night Live in November 2015. And Trump was only a first-time host; Johnson and Hanks are both members of SNL‘s super-exclusive Five Timers Club, which gives you an idea of their popularity both in and outside of 30 Rock. (Johnson is already leading Trump in some early polls.)
The duo used the Season 42 finale to preview their campaign platform, summed up by The Rock in one handy slogan: “We need more poise, and less noise.” And they’ll accomplish that goal by bringing together two of the nation’s most important demographics. Hanks has the senior vote locked up because “I fought in World War II in, like, 10 different movies,” while Johnson will secure the crucial minority vote due to the fact that “Everyone assumes I’m whatever they are.” Well, we’re convinced. One question: do we really have to wait for 2020 to vote for them?
SNL might also have to elect a new Trump impersonator over the summer; in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Alec Baldwin suggested he’s not going to be available every weekend in the fall to don that wig. The actor put a button on his season-long tenure by performing “Hallelujah” surrounded by his fake Trump family, including Kate McKinnon as Kellyanne Conway, Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka and the Grim Reaper a.k.a. Steve Bannon.
It was a mirror of McKinnon’s post-election performance of the tune in her since-retired Hillary Clinton pantsuit. This time around, though, it felt okay to laugh. Read on for the finale’s most memorable sketches, including farewells to departing cast members Bobby Moynihan and Vanessa Bayer.
Best Sketch: “Xentrex”
An in-faux-mercial par excellence, “Xentrex” illustrates why it’s dangerous to take any medication recommended by your television set or random guys at work. Warning: Watching this sketch might result in some minor gutbusting.
Worst Sketch: “RKO Movie Set”
As retirement presents go, being asked to play a flatulent ’40s starlet isn’t exactly a golden watch. Comic pro that she is, Vanessa Bayer gamely smiled her way through the prolonged bleats of the fart machine. But, if we were her, we’d request that this not be a clip they play at the Season 42 cast reunion.
Best Bayer: “Cartier Ad”
A 14-carat fidget spinner, on the other hand, did prove to be the perfect parting gift for the seven-season veteran. Bayer’s gauche party guest — who was prone to inappropriate, but hilarious outburst like, “There’s nobody good here” — seemed like a distant relative of her best characters: the luxury-loving ex-porn star.
Best Bobby: “Drunk Uncle”
We didn’t get another Guy Fieri or Snooki appearance, but at least fan favorite Drunk Uncle knocked back one last glass before Bobby Moynihan sobered up and left.
Best Use of Dwayne Johnson: “Scorpio”
The Rock is still waiting to take flight as Black Adam in a superhero movie, but he got to model a comic book look on SNL. Besides the strength and skin of a scorpion, Johnson’s vigilante also possesses a heroic eye for fashion, and showed off his suit’s tailoring even as the city around him went from bad to worse. It’s true what they say: With great power comes great clothes.
Best Callback: David S. Pumpkins
Hanks’s singularly weird pumpkin-suited creation crashed what was already an overcrowded rap track initially fronted by Kenan Thompson’s Big Chris and his two-person New Money crew. Forget the Johnson/Hanks ticket; in 2020, we’re gonna be writing in Pumpkins/Skiffle.
Adieu to You and You: “Senior Video”
For their final sketch ever, Bayer and Moynihan played–appropriately enough– graduating seniors bidding farewell to their alma mater via pop culture gags. Good luck out there in the real world, you crazy kids.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. on NBC. Watch clips and full episodes of SNL for free on Yahoo View.
