Was it just me, or was Maren Morris not actually playing the guitar in her first song?
I give this 9 just for the Breaking Bad joke.
6.8/10. Just barely passing. Cena was extremely game and did everything that was asked of him and more, but there were a few major clunkers here, and downright weird sketches, none of which got out of second gear. Still, everything was amiable enough, and some of the Trump stuff in particular was amusing so it's okay at worst.
The strongest material came during Weekend Update. Che comparing Pence and Trump to the wife checking her husband's Ikea furniture was great, and the desk pieces with the return of Kate McKinnon's Angela Merkel and Cecily Strong's Cathy Ann both went to amusingly out there places. The writing was the strongest here, with the faux-stand up bits from the hosts shining especially. Similarly, the "Trump Through His Own Eyes" pre-taped bit was probably the sketch of the night, just for the high concept inventiveness and great use of Jean Cena. A quiet but possibly instant classic.
Unfortunately, the opening sketch was a big waste of Bryan Cranston. "Trump's cabinet picks are like appointing Walter White as the head of the DEA" is a great line, but not a solid enough premise for a whole sketch. And Cranston seemed to be phoning it in, not really channeling the Walter White character, while just doing a greatest hits of crowd-pleasing lines about Breaking Bad without any real substance, humor, or commentary. You can do better, SNL/Cranston.
Otherwise there were one or two fun sketches, but nothing that really stood out as especially great. The highlight was probably the "Aidy Bryant dangles from a ledge while everyone just wants to save the tree" sketch. It's some dark, absurd humor, and Bryant solid it like a champ. On the same note, I can't believe she and McKinnon brought back "Dyke & Fats" which is such a specific, high concept parody to begin with, but I love the loony energy of it. And the "Hook a Hunk" had a similar left turn into weirdness vibe from the get go. It seems like the ten-to-one spirit was running throughout the whole show. (See also -- the not funny but going for broke romance novel sketch.)
Unfortunately, that led to a lot of undercooked sketches as well. The "How'd You Lose Your Money" was sunk by tepid impressions and mild jokes about rich guys wasting their bank accounts. The owl pooping sketch was just awful nonsense. And even the opening, with a bunch of wrestling-related gags felt lazy.
That just leaves the Alabama football sketch, which had its moments and makes a fun point, but wasn't especially sharp or cutting in its commentary of comedy.
Overall, Cena put himself out there like a champ, and kept an energy that made most of the sketches fun even when it seemed clear that he's a little too broad and stilted for live comedy or the writing wasn't quite up to the task. Not one that's going to make much of an impression (beyond the clever Trump pre-taped bit), but fine enough.
Shout by rafBlockedParent2022-05-26T08:21:29Z
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