'SNL' Recap: Amy Schumer Won't Back Down

Amy Schumer is on top of the world right now. She had a hit movie this summer, Inside Amy Schumer just won an Emmy, she’s best friends with Jennifer Lawrence… this girl cannot be stopped.

It was clear from her monologue that Schumer wasn’t going to hold back. Take her aside about the Kardashians: “a whole group of women who take the faces they were born with as, like, a light suggestion.” The rest of the evening produced equally sharp, hilarious moments. One area in which SNL hasn’t been great with lately is issues-based comedy — which is totally Schumer’s jam. Gun control was in the spotlight several times last night, and we can’t remember the last time SNL tackled a serious, weighty topic like that in such a wry, pointed, yet funny manner.

Best Sketch: Guns PSA

One thing SNL has succeeded at in the last few years is the digital short, and we have to thank Schumer for marrying this SNL tradition to the sadly topical issue of gun control. The short was brilliantly absurd, from a father giving his newborn a gun to a couple firing their guns at a shooting star on a first date.

Worst Sketch: Cold Open

It’s no surprise that the one topic sketch of the evening without Schumer gets this dubious prize. The recurring “Fox & Friends” sketch can often give us amusing moments (often in the scroll of errors at the end). But this one felt pretty dull — the Planned Parenthood videos scandal feels old by now, while the Speaker of the House race isn’t particularly captivating. And neither character by Pete Davidson or Kate McKinnon jumped out at us.

Best Use of Amy Schumer: Delta Flight

This was neck-and-neck with “Guns PSA” for best sketch of the night. It was more laugh-out-loud funny, with Schumer and Vanessa Bayer playing flight attendants who each get sucked out of a faulty plane door. As they try to finish their silly announcements song to (set to Spice Girls’ “Wannabe”), the pair gets increasingly frantic and freaked out — even while keeping the passengers calm. “You can see San Andreas for free!” Bayer nervously declares. This is the kind of goofy SNL skit that never gets old.

Episode MVP: Vanessa Bayer

Bayer deserved the award after that uproarious “Airplane” sketch, but she also participated in two other strong sketches — “Baby Shower” and “Hands-Free Selfie Stick.” She’s got that sweet but demented personality down cold.

Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.