42x05 Benedict Cumberbatch with Solange

6.8/10. Solid episode of the show, but just barely. Cumberbatch seemed to give it his all, and definitely wasn't afraid to look silly, which helped, but overall the sketches were a real mixed bag.

The most dependable parts of the show remained that way. Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon have settled into a nice groove as Trump and Hillary, and the jabs at Trump literally kissing an FBI agent, Putin and Klansman, with the newsanchor only wanting to focus on Hillary's emails had a little bite to it. The pre-taped cutaway to them going out to Times Square and hugging people wasn't quite the joyous antidote to the muck of this election it was framed as, but it was still pretty fun.

The same goes for Weekend Update. Again, Jost and Che have a pretty dependable patter and commentary for the election, and it was enjoyable with a few laugh out loud one-liners to be sure. I'm almost always up for a cameo from Church Lady (and Dana Carvey had surprisingly great chemistry with Jost), and the mostly tame but cute enough walk-on from the Cubs and renowned Cubs fan and SNL alum Bill Murray was a treat too.

The sketches though, were less solid. The two highlights came early. "Why Is Benedict Cumberbatch Hot" was a great concept, and Beck Bennet absolutely sold the sketch. The self-referential nature of the riffs on Cumberbatch's cult of personality were amusing, and having everyone in the sketch play themselves made for a unique setup. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the "Grandmother's Bachelorette" was a cornucopia of dark, physical comedy. It's a great physical performance from the perpetually underrated Aidy Bryant, and while the other Cubs cameo stalled the momentum a bit, it was overally a great spate of comic lunacy.

Otherwise, the episode was only full of mild chuckles or yawns. There were uninspired repeats of sketches I didn't really love the first time. The pretaped "Office Hours" sketch didn't do much for me when it was the same basic shtick with Julia Louie-Dreyfus as a bored housewife, and the Obnoxious Couple with Cecily Strong's Jemma sketch was funnier when it involved The Rock. The monologue about Cumberbatch trying to brag was amusing enough, but felt a little too humblebraggy. And the last few sketches, particularly the one with the eagle statue, didn't really land.

Overall, there was some material here that made me crack up, mostly Weekend Update and those two great sketches, but the rest of the show weighed things down.