For the second straight week, Saturday Night Live featured a returning host as comedian Shane Gillis hosted his third episode of the series.
Once again, this led to mixed results. However, unlike the subdued style of three-time host and week two guest Dakota Johnson, Gillis’ everyman humor instead often came off as crass and out of place at multiple junctures.
This was apparent from the get-go, as Gillis’ standup monologue quickly turned from relatable humor about wanting to lose weight to awkward and unfiltered observations on female gym attire and his balding hair.
One of the few highlights involving Gillis included opening sketch “Cop Talk Show,” a parody of late-night shows featuring Gillis as the police officer hosting the show and Mikey Day as a fellow police officer and sidekick.
Along with some funny gags, such as his guests having to roll down a window between themselves and Gills, the best moment of the sketch came when Kam Patterson, playing a local comedian, refused to come on the show as a guest after seeing the previous interactions.
“Green Eggs and Ham” was a well-written play on the Dr. Seuss classic, though the sketches’ success came despite Gillis’ presence rather because of it. Gillis nearly derailed the sketch by dropping a four-letter expletive on live TV, prompting a pop of gasps from the in-studio audience and multiple apologies from Gillis throughout the remainder of the episode.
Day and Andrew Dismukes kept the sketch on track despite the hiccup, with Day improvising a joke later referring to the incident that ended up being one of the funniest moments of the sketch. Good character acting from Sarah Sherman as “Thing One” and Marcello Hernández as “The Cat in the Hat” also landed well.
The autotune-drenched “Father-Daughter Song” and “Upfront Heating & Air Conditioning” were proficient pretapes, though the latter could have benefitted from being a tad shorter.
Featured performer Grace Reiter was the star of the show, especially in the latter half of the episode.
Appearing as a Weekend Update guest for the first time, she joined veteran Ashley Padilla as a mother-daughter duo, with Padilla portraying “A Mother Whose Babysitter Cancelled.”
As the daughter, Reiter struck a perfect balance between seemingly innocent and ultimately conniving. Prompting multiple crash outs from Padilla as Reiter accused her of poor parenting, the pair played perfectly off each other.
After playing a small role as a dying mother in “Saying Goodbye,” delivering one of the highlights jokes of the sketch as she alludes to her son, Gillis, having two weeks to live, Reiter then played a central role in the final sketch of the episode, “Chess Tournament.”
Also playing to Gillis’ comedic strengths, the duo took on the roles of a divorced couple loudly supporting their son at a chess competition as if it were a high school football game. It was another big character performance from Reiter, as the couple goes from arguing to inappropriately flirting as Reiter ensures the show finishes on a high note.
James Austin Johnson was another standout for his impressions, especially his Weekend Update take on Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame. Johnson’s ability to fully embody whatever character he is acting out without overlap makes him a consistently valuable member of the cast.
Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía contributed two strong performances characterized by powerful vocals and striking visuals, including artificial rain pouring down in the second.
While Gillis’ presence often led to mixed results, a strong finish after Weekend Update gave the show a decent rating, in large part due to Reiter.
Rating: 2.7/5