41x19 Brie Larson with Alicia Keys

I really enjoyed this one, which is a little surprising because for the most part, they didn't give Brie Larson much to do beyond radiate charm. She was certainly enjoyable, but never really going too far out of her comfort zone, and yet the writing was particularly sharp this week, and she pulled off her part in these sketches with aplomb.

In a very political week, the funniest sketch of the night had nothing to do with politics. The "Mom Cut" sketch was a wonderful combination of silly observational humor and a bizarre pod people premise, and practically the entire female cast walked the line between them to perfection.

But all of the political material was very sharp! The best of them was probably the "Quiz Whiz 2018" sketch, less because of the ripping on Ted Cruz, but more just because it was such a tightly written little gag-fest. The various "it's 2018" gags were subtle and dumb enough to be amusing, and the twist that Brie's character was Heidi Cruz was inspired, along with the Trump cheer. Speaking of Trump, Church Chat was a nice reprise, and even if the Cruz as Satan stuff got a little out there, it's a nice reminder of what a comedic treasure Dana Carvey is and how well he balances out the superior smarm of Church Lady and could completely roll with the punches based on the crowd reaction. He's quite a pro. Rounding out the political material was President Barbie, which frankly intrigued me, even though I wasn't sure I really got it completely. It had the tone of a "feminism means not having to vote for Hillary" theme, but I'm not sure that's entirely what they were going for. The complexity of it interested me, if nothing else.

To the same end, Weekend Update had another strong outing, and this time the correspondents really shined despite only one of them doing a real character piece. Again, Sasheer Zamata's piece was challenging but also funny and felt like the most natural and characterless they've allowed her to be on the show. It was nice to really get her comedic voice in a sketch and see it be so sharp. Similarly, Pete Davidson was basically just doing stand up out there, but his natural persona is so boyishly charming that it just works with how comfortable he is. Lastly, I will never tire of Vanessa Bayer's Laura Parsons routine, with another perfect mix between the sunshine-y nickelodeon kid persona and dark dark humor. The main part of the show was good too (the trespass joke got the right reaction from the crowd), even if a lot of the Trump stuff felt a little too easy.

As for the night's lowlights, I didn't care for Kate McKinnon's "I had a different alien abduction/angel experience" sketch when they did it with Ryan Gosling, and despite the amusing wordplay, I didn't really care for a reheated version of the sketch either. Kyle Mooney's schtick is what it is. It's the same every time more or less, you if you like it, it's there. I don't, so I didn't get much out of the latest version reformed as a kickstarter pitch, though it was one of the few sketches where Brie Larson played an actual character. Finally, the Game of Thrones riff on Jon Snow was pretty broad, easy stuff. It wasn't bad exactly, just kind of a shallow comedic commentary that was only saved by the performances. And the "Dead Bopz" sketch didn't really work for me since I'm in that weird middle spot where I barely recognized either the older performer impersonations or the newer songs, though Larson's bit was surprisingly catchy.

Otherwise, the monologue was fine; Alicia Keys was fine (great voice, forgettable songs, weird getup), and the general energy of the show good. There were some duds to be sure, but the hits really hit, and that went a long way to making it an enjoyable hour.