‘SNL’ Recap: Lin-Manuel Miranda Does Not Throw Away His Shot
For a moment there – right at the beginning – it looked like tonight’s Saturday Night Live wasn’t going to address Trump’s “grab them by the p—y” remark. It looked like the cold open was going to be about the Vice Presidential debate – which would have been Sistine Chapel of sketch comedy if they had managed to make that snore-fest funny.
But then, all of a sudden, there was Alec Baldwin, doing his demented o-face Trump and flapping his hands obscenely opposite Kate McKinnon’s sassy Hillary, and all was right with the world. None of us are going to miss the bitterness and rancor of this particular election season, but we may shed a tear that we won’t get to see the Kate and Alec duo anymore.
The cold open feels as solid as anything on the show, even though obviously it was written at the last minute. The only way you’d be able to tell is because “A Day Off,” a sketch that airs later in the episode, is essentially the same joke — forced apologies for offensive Trump statements.
Best Sketch: “Monologue”
It’s a bit of a cheat to give the win to the host’s monologue, but this one belongs among the show’s very best. Stage performers are the best prepared of any guest host to shine on SNL. Having Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of one of the all-time great Broadway smashes, Hamilton, is a guaranteed slam dunk. His parody of the Hamilton hit “My Shot” blew the doors off of 8H. There’s a reason the show doesn’t feature intricate, rapid-fire dialogue: Actors routinely flub the easy lines when they’re reading off of cue cards after only a day or so of rehearsal. The lyrics of this song are so dense, it requires multiple viewings — and every time, he nails it.
Runner Up: “Stranger Things”
Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson are the ultimate straight man team. As the no-nonsense parents of Stranger Things‘ Lucas, Jones’ anger counterbalances Thompson’s goofiness, and they zero in on the absurdity of whatever premise they’re presented with. Demogorgons? Telekinetic kids? Jones and Thompson know that the only real threat their child faces is the sheriff. “Baby, people who look like us already live in the Upside Down.”
Worst Sketch: “Campfire”
Every episode of SNL requires a sketch where the host plays the opposite of what they’re known for: Gorgeous actors play schlubs, gifted athletes play uncoordinated buffoons. Clearly, that’s the intent behind this sketch. What’s not to love about Lin-Manuel Miranda howling old ’80s movie theme songs off-key and with a weird accent? Well, when that’s the only joke in a four and a half minute sketch, quite a lot, actually.
Best Use of Lin-Manuel Miranda: “Diego Calls His Mom”
In the early days of SNL, when the format was looser, there were often short films. They weren’t slickly-produced 3-minute nuggets intended to go viral. Sometimes, they were like this: A sweet story of a Spanish-speaking transplant to North Dakota. There are no hard jokes here — just gentle observations of Midwestern charm from an outsider’s perspective, and Miranda is at his charismatic best.
WTF?: “Denise McDonough and Doreen Troilo”
“Hey! Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon said they could do Weekend Update! What should we write for them?” “Eh, put them in frumpy outfits and tell them to do accents.” “Fallon’s terrible with accents.” “Well, make the segment twice as long as it needs to be and maybe he’ll figure it out.”
Episode MVP: Kate McKinnon
It’s going to be a crushing blow for the show when she leaves to do movies exclusively. There is no close second Hillary Clinton impression in the cast and she does everything from the put-upon Kellyanne Conway in “A Day Off” to the teen doing choreographed dance routines at a party in “Crucible Cast Party”.
Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.
