This week, Saturday Night Live opens with a White House national security briefing. To address the growing prevalence of TikTok as a source of information for Ukrainians under attack from Russia, President Joe Biden (James Austin Johnson) and press secretary Jen Psaki (Kate McKinnon) are welcoming several prominent content creators from the platform. Biden desperately needs their help, admitting: “I understand Putin. I understand war. But there is one thing I don’t understand: the computer.”
Tik Tokers include The CW actor (Chloe Fineman), rapper/prankster (Andrew Dismux), singer/dancer Jason Derulo (Chris Redd), far-right child makeup artist (Eidy Bryant), “random middle-aged guy” named Charles F. D’Amelio (Kenan Thompson), mistook by the White House for powerful teenager Charlie D’Amelio, and a guy who does tricks with a plunger attached to his nipple (Bowen Young). Their advice on how to win the information war against Russia includes reciting terrible poetry, pushing Vladimir Putin down the stairs, and sending a roofer to kill him.
As bad as the show’s opening this season has been, this sketch is just as superficial and obnoxious as the social media personalities it’s trying to poke fun at. This is also another example of how SNL is scraping the bottom just by spewing out foreign (bad) material. It’s unclear if the show is trying to make the audience laugh or if it’s just clapping like trained SEALs because they recognize various references.
Zoe Kravitz leads for the first time. The actress, who currently plays Catwoman in Batman, is interrupted almost immediately by McKinnon, wearing the risqué latex costume Michelle Pfeiffer wore during her run as the iconic anti-hero. McKinnon brags about introducing The Cat Signal, which features a gallery of rogues with other cat-focused characters, including Eartha Kitt (Ego Nwodim) as campy Catwoman from the ’60s TV show Batman, mentally unbalanced New York. “cat lady” (Bryant) and obnoxious stand-up comedian Katt Williams (Redd). Kravitz plays straight for it all, ceding virtually all of his monologue to others.
This is followed by a wedding reception where Kravitz plays the lady-in-waiting. Her toast begins oddly with the casual mention that both she and the bride (Cecily Strong) saw her father naked before going even further as she recalls revealing the depths of her friend’s madness and depravity, which includes the story hate crimes (“She was something like Bridesilla, and not just because she attacked a lot of Japanese”), a string of dead boyfriends (“If my last nine boyfriends committed suicide, I would give up romance. But only not Tanya!”) and a sexual story with “the whole gang of Freaks”. The fast-paced jokes and escalating frenzy, combined with the puzzled reaction of doomed fiancé Kyle Mooney and the quick, funny appearance of Martin Herlihy, make it clear that this sketch was written by the guys from Please Don’t Destroy.
The Amazon Go ad attempts to sell the convenience of their pick-and-go model, but is met with skepticism from black shoppers who fear falling into the trap. Then bumbling high school nerd Josh (McKinnon) tries to woo the popular girl in his class with the help of his equally nerdy friend (Bryant). Despite his awkwardness and against all odds, he manages to close the deal. It’s not clear what the joke is supposed to be here – at times the sketch looks like a parody of footage from the NASA Mission Control movie, but it never fully relies on this idea.
In a scene from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Princess Kravitsa is ready to kiss Redd’s frog until he confesses that “frogs don’t have penises.” When she asks how his species has sex, he describes the process with some graphic metaphors: “Who needs a straw when I can just throw a milkshake right in your face?” There are a few decent lines all over the place, but they can’t save how random and dated the whole thing is. What’s the point of parodying a moderately popular children’s film from 13 years ago?
In the new Please Don’t Destroy video, the guys hope to surprise Kravitz by giving her a kitten (“We thought it would be fun to give Catwoman a catwoman!”). However, they quickly lose the animal in their office (a place not subject to the laws of space, time, or mind). Chaos is coming. Lately, PDD segments have suffered from too much celebrity involvement (along with Kravitz, her Batman co-star Paul Dano, who lives under the couch while researching an upcoming role in a movie “about three guys who suck”), joined the crew.) . Dynamics work best when it’s just Ben, John and Martin. However, this one is still pleasantly anarchic, overflowing with the cartoonish logic that makes these sketches so enjoyable. And to be honest, Dano’s weird energy makes him very suitable.
The mother and her children then watch their father’s old home movies, only to discover a secret tape he recorded in case of his death. In it, he admits that he went broke after spending “his money on JB Smoove’s new sports betting app”, that he has terrible health (“I haven’t had a glass of water since 2003”), and that he has a secret daughter from donations. sperm. It ends with him pitching his idea for a horror movie called Dallas City Dodgeball. It all goes on too long, but Thompson’s performance as the listless patriarch is worth it, especially when he has to act like he’s being fast-forwarded.
In the Weekend Update, Colin Yost talks about the direct American intervention in Ukraine, saying, “I really thought about going to the nearest military enlistment office and signing Che.” A little later, he invites film critic Terry Fink (Alex Moffat) to predict his Oscar. As in his previous appearances, the hilarious Fink struggles with films due to his copious hallucinogen intake (“LSD helps me LS-watch all those amazing movies!”). He gives crazy reviews for several nominees, including Dog Power (Benedict Cumberbatch rises as the titular Headhunter Dog), Encanto (Feels worse than on fire) and Belfast (Cook the as Johnny Knoxville and his gang of idiots hang around the city and torture each other with balls in this tear-jerking era of trouble”). Moffat’s insane performance – a particularly drawn-out existential breakdown that he sells solely on facial expressions – may be the best he’s ever given.
Michael Che then brings in influencer Dan Bulldozer — Mooney, dressed in a ridiculously bulky muscle suit and fake beard, his voice deepened with a modifier — who shows off his flamboyant lifestyle and promotes his forthcoming book (“It’s like Hemingway, but for guys”). Asked how he keeps his down to earth attitude, he tries to answer with a long-winded parable about a farmer and his three daughters, but loses the thread. It’s the same with the part, although it’s nice to see Muni in the spotlight as he’s been noticeably rare in the last couple of months.
Word Crunch is a game show where contestants have to find words hidden in a letter puzzle. Contestant Kravitz continues to guess the word “Mommy” before moving on to a full list of dirty guesses. It’s a joke sketch, but Dismukes is very good as a flustered host.
It all culminates in a skit about how Bowen Young is obsessed with the school band’s version of Don’t Stop Believing. He gets very emotional when he plays a song, sings, shouts, dances and shouts about Mario Kart. All of this is just as tiresome, annoying, and endless as “Don’t Stop Believing” itself.
Like last week’s episode, this walk had its ups and downs, although this time around there were more downs. Kravitz acted cautiously, mostly sticking to straight roles, giving the cast every opportunity to shine. Some of them – Moffatt, Thompson, Dismuks, the PDD guys – got the most out of it. Others – McKinnon and Young – not so much. The biggest takeaway remains SNL’s complete inability to extract anything even remotely funny from social media. They need to put a pin in this ASAP.