With our powers combined: earth, wind, fire, water, heart!
Week 4 of SNL46, commence!
Its Saturday night, so as always welcome, my dearest Coneheads, toSNLin Review.
Credit: NBC
Were back with tonights host,Adele, who previously appeared as the musical guest in 2008 and 2015.
This is her first hosting gig but curiously H.E.R.
will feature as tonights musical act.
(This in itself is fun, as H.E.R.
appeared onAll Thatlast fallopposite Kel Mitchell.
Time is a flat circle.)
Adele has previously been impersonated twice onSNL, by Aidy Bryant.
I had no idea what she sounded like so I gave it a wild Tennessee Williams spin.
She ended up being in three episodes, says Dillon.
Generally, the press and presidents children used to be off-limits.
I gave Amy an absurd comic spin as she was just a kid.
Adult children of Showboat-aholics like Trumps sons are a comedy meal.
Alex Moffat and Mikey Day are terrific… Love [the] Trump sons.
Would like some more Ivanka.
Will they surprise us?!
Lets jump right in!
Cold Open
Its the presidential debate with Kristen Welker (Maya Rudolph)!
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) and Joe Biden (Carrey) enter the arena.
I only wish she could have a solo as Kamala and sing and dance.
Fire Marshal Biden is Eastwooding.
Maybe we need anSNLpolitical cold open bingo card!
She is the only actual cast member to appear in this sketch.
By the end of this 11-minute, mostly laugh-free affair, Rudolphs Welker is drunk!
I watched the first debate.
I felt like Id been run over by a truck.
Trumps rudeness is mind-numbing, Dillon adds, summing up the feelings of millions of Americans.
This debate feels its lacking any true comedic hook.
Monologue
Adele shouts out her original appearance in 2008 whenTina Feyfirst played Sarah Palin.
She credits that spot for starting her career, and thanks Palin.
This is blunt and self-deprecating.
She seems enthusiastic and happy to be here, which is a good sign for a host!
Kenan Thompson is on top of Adeles curse jar twice the size of him.
I think Adele is a genius.
One of the greatest soulful singers in memory.
Truly a gift, says Dillon.
The year is 2019!
So this leads to lots of winking jokes about her dark, absurd visions about the hellscape of 2020.
Cryptic transmissions that only make sense to the audience.
Do we cry for all of 2020?!
Yangs friends are furious with him when he eats at a restaurant.
The final vision: Gardners father Jeffrey Toobin is on Zoom when he accidentally exposes himself.
The sketch ends with a good slap atJ.K.
Rowling: Stick to the books!
Chad in a Haunted Manor
Okay.
Chad (Pete Davidson) is driving and runs out of gas.
Going inside a spooky country manor, a ghost (Adele) appears to him.
As always he is apathetic he accidentally lights the ghosts letter on fire.
Chad was the closest thing he had to a recurring character.
This is Chadsseventh appearance(his first sinceFebruary with RuPaul), and his second Halloween-themed short.
The Bachelor
Ah,SNLreturns to riffing onThe Bachelor.
Typically, this doubles as a nice showcase for the shows female cast members.
Tonight we get Adele singing, which is, of course, a treat!
Hello, Someone Like You, Rolling in the Deep and When We Were Young are modern classics.
And the crowd seems into it!
Adele finishes the sketch in the audience, singing.
This upstages H.E.R a bit no?!
You cant top Adele, as this sketch implicitly sees.
Election Ad
The cast worries, without Trump, what will people talk about?
My entire personality is hating Donald Trump, confesses Melissa Villasenor.
What is the news even going to be about now?
There could be a trial!
He could run again in 2024!
The hook is Trump addicts secretly maybe possibly dont want to see Trump beaten by Biden.
Hes way too controversial and engrossing and maybe hilarious?!
He took away many New Yorkers' view of the Hudson River with his high-rises.
He owned the Plaza for a minute and brought that down, just like his casinos in Atlantic City.
Trumps appeal to people is certainly complicated, in some cases.
How could you vote for such a bad actor!
Its vulnerable, raw, and sexy, and H.E.Rs croon is powerful.
Themusic videofor Damage was released earlier this week.
Weekend Update
Colin Jostopens Updateby slamming Joe Bidens debate performance, which feels misplaced.
He also again returns to Bidens age.
Michael Che gets choked up over the coronavirus not taking the president.
Melissa Villasenor pops upto discuss being alone during the pandemic.
She taps her Little Rascal impression.
(Shout outBuck Wheat.)
She also impersonates Sia.
Glad to see her get some screen time!
Jost takes a dig at Che, who in turn slaps Nelly!
Its hilarious watching Kenan belt his heart out like its Whats Up With That and Bowen looks fantastic!
They want to shave Ivanka Trumps head.
Everything is legal if you sing it in a song!
Theyre furious at Trump, clearly.
Visiting Grandma
Maya Rudolph pops up in a second sketch for a second straight week!
She is a grandmother at a nursery home sequestered during quarantine.
Adele is her granddaughter, joined by her boyfriend (Pete Davidson).
Could Blanche become a new recurring character?!
I dont have a job!
Ego Nwodim has been dumped.
Okay, she says, content, in both instances.
Africa Tourism
Adele and Kate McKinnon are spaced-out spokeswomen for the sandy beaches of Africa.
The tall, tall tribesmen, the bamboo.
These two divorcees feel like they could have been an Aidy-Kate duo.
They are joined by Heidi Gardner, a passing of the torch.
Adele cannot handle the silliness here.
you’re free to feel it in your stomach, deadpans Gardner, as Adele howls with laughter.
For divorcees of a certain age, ends the ad.
Well leave the light on for you.
Adele was wonderfully funny in the sketches, says Dillon.
Couldnt keep my eyes off her.
Loved when she cracked up.
performs Hold On
The divine H.E.R performs her jaw-dropping, DAngelo-inspired latest single.
How do you get somewhere comfortable then leave?
Say something baby, she yearns.
This is deeply moving, and H.E.Rs guitar solo continuesSNLs strong track record with musical performances this season.
Ass Angel Jeans
Maya Rudolph is back for a three-peat!
Shes in a bizarre ’80s-themed musical commercial parody.
Beck Bennett howls the anthems, as Adele gives the perfunctory explanation.
This feels at least partly inspired by"San Junipero."
She got the ass of an angel!
Kyle Mooney without Kyle Mooney vibes.
Final thoughts
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