Elordi is a far worse episode but I think they actually spotlighted him more and put more effort into placating his image. The issue was that it just became outright fawning. It didn't feel like they put much thought towards putting Mikey across at all, though her use was similarly protective.

I don't disagree, but like, regardless of the cynical casting aspect of it, the cast and writers are still responsible for legitimizing her time at the show as being "worthwhile." And they kinda failed at that here? But I hope she enjoyed it! I highly doubt she'll be back.

The good news is that we're moving onto two hosts in April who have a proven track record of brilliance as both comic performers and SNL hosts, because clearly SNL at this moment needs a strong anchor to build itself around. Mikey is talented, but she couldn't serve that role for them. C. (9/9)

These 3 issues, combined with Morgan Wallen's very off-putting presence (the fuck was with those goodnights?) all mix together into an episode that simply does not work for me. There are highlights—Ashley crushes on Update, and the cartoon somehow gets the hottest reception all night—but man. (8/9)

Why put the game show sketch at the very end of the episode? It has an accessible premise, easy hooks, and is the one thing in this episode that Mikey gets to actually carry. It's shocking that as is, it takes her until after Update to even *feel* like a host and not a doomed featured player. (7/9)

Big issue #3: this ep might have one of the worst rundowns I have ever seen. It takes an episode that is already not very much there and destroys any sense of pacing it could've used to gloss over its weakest points. (6/9)

It's a bad sign when Barry the Midwife #2 is one of the few that actually gives Mikey some room to do things, by which I mean, she gets to deliver an adequate amount of lines with inflections that lend themselves to... if not humor, setups for Bowen to vamp. (I don't like these much.) (5/9)

Big issue #2: why so many recurrers? And why ones that continue to, again, bury our host? She shouldn't play the same role Bad Bunny played in another window gag sketch, or that Charli XCX played in another Marcello acting coach sketch. These are roles designed to cover for lesser talents. (4/9)

In previous years, you could at least count on SNL to bank one really solid, robust pretape (or live sketch, if we're feeling spicy) that allows them to command the screen with the talent that brought them where they are, but here, Mikey is buried in the ensemble 90% of the time... a shame. (3/9)

Big issue #1: we got a clearly, very talented, Oscar-winning actress to host the show, and we had quite frankly no idea how to use her. Episodes like this have happened across the show's history but they will never stop confounding me. Was there some internal difficulty at the show? Nerves? (2/9)

I do hope that seeing sketches that feel like they COULD be something, even if they ultimately aren't, is part of the multi-step, trial & error process of the show learning how to conceive and write consistent sketch again. I've been so cynical about S50 and just need something to hold hope for lol

As for tonight's episode, I'm keeping expectations tempered. Mikey Madison is brilliantly funny in Anora, though not in ways that SNL at this point is particularly good at augmenting. But I'm open to surprises, of course! And I greatly look forward to the next two weeks, if they can pull it off.

It feels like the 2025 half of this season is actively trying harder than the 2024 half, if in largely subtle ways. (Chalamet was the only real winner, though others had highlights.) I hope they can continue on that road to improvement even if I think it'll be season-long process, or longer.

Much talk among hardcore fans surrounding the rideable luggage sketch suggests, to some extent, that a willingness to take big swings outweighs the need for writing to be so didactic, and while I did not really *laugh* at it, I hope it can be a lesson that ambition is worth having.

She was as great of a host as before, effortless and confident, but it's strange how much the show's writing has deteriorated. S39 wasn't even an amazing season! But things feel so much more mechanical and labored; a sketch as much of a conceptual winner as "Friendly's" ends up feeling overwrought.

Also, I'm not sure to what degree your dislike of the episode is steeped in a distaste for Shane, but... it's not like Norm is profoundly different from him. I'd argue he's even said worse ideological things to a wider audience. And they "were* buddies, somewhat lol

I don't disagree but seeing as you are a professional critic, I would take interest in hearing you express your sense of things in your own words, because I feel like you have unique insights of your own that you shouldn't feel a need to substantiate through others' mouths.