41x05 Elizabeth Banks with Disclosure

An odd number of sex offender jokes sprinkled in throughout, but despite (because of?) that, this was pretty damn funny episode, with only one real clunker of a sketch, and some of the best and most incisive humor of the season so far. Elizabeth Banks excelled as a host, showing off her comedy and performance chops, and disappearing into her sketches to where she felt like a part of the cast. On to the sketch-by-sketch reviews!

• Cecily' Strong's opening tribute to the tragedy in Paris was appropriate classy
• Banks directing her own monolgoue musical number was a weak premise but the bit was able to coast on Banks's natural charm
• Aron's List was a great, offputtingly comic bit with fun performnaces from all involved. It was a little uncomfortable, but it worked.
• Black Jeopardy was one of the funniest sketches from the showin a while. Kenan seemed so loose and relaxed out there, and it really helped the energy of the bit. The writing was really sharp, and Banks'as the well-meaning progressive out of her depth added a lot to the sketch. Great stuff.
• I loved the "First Got Horny to You" pretaped video, both as a parody of mid-90s boy band music videos, and just for the great premise of people on TV that spurred the first bout of "strange new feelings." Silly and well done.
• The "Awkward Student Theater" recurring sketch should stop being funny at some point, but it just tickles my funny bone so hard. Maybe you had to be a theater kid. They upped to amount of Kenan and Vanessa commenting to each other, and each line was a laugher. "This says the proceeds of the show go to Neil Patrick Harris. He doesn't need that." Lots of fun.
• Weekend update was good. The jokes weren't as strong as in prior weeks, but Jost and Che seemed more comfortable and their rapport seems to be building. As for the desk-bits from the cast members:
  • Pete Davidson's was the best, but also the easiest, with it largely being a stand up routine that works on his boyish charm.
  • Mooney's "Veteran New York Comic" character started as a lame attempt at anti-humor, and then took a left turn into something weirder and funnier with the asides about his girlfriend. Then it just went on a bit too long. The twist turned a one-joke premise into a two-joke premise, which was about right to subvert the joke of a hackneyed comedian character.
  • Kate McKinnon's recurring Olya the Russian Lady got a bit too broad for my tastes. McKinnon sells it as best she can, but the jokes are predictable and not particularly clever.
• The Ben Carson sketch was weird, and seemed like one of those sketches that doesn't really work if you're not familiar with what's being parodied.
• "The Bureau" sketch with Bobby Moynihan was hilarious. Sure, it's a fairly simple premise with easy (and again, weirdly sex offender specific) jokes, but they played it to the hilt and just kept running with it. Laughed a lot.
• "Uber for Jen" was pretty absurd, but had an amiable quality to its ridiculousness and surreal humor. The right kind of weird.
• The "Ghetto Sketch" was one that seemed like it would work better in principle than in execution, but it had enough mild laughs to keep from falling into "dud" territory.

All-in-all a solidly funny episode after the disaster of last week.