‘Saturday Night Live’ Recap: One Last Dance For Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders

For as flat-out insane as this presidential campaign has been, Saturday Night Live could have picked no more appropriate cold open for the season finale than the one they chose last night – Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, played by a cast member and a guest who both made essential contributions to the season, having a simple, melancholic meeting filled with metaphor and pathos over drinks in a bar.

From the first minute, as Hillary wraps a nightcap and Kenan Thompson’s bartender tells Bernie it’s last call, the sketch encapsulated SNL’s relationship with the candidates, and allowed Kate McKinnon and Larry David one last go-round, since by the time the show returns in the fall, we’ll be just weeks away from the general election. (That’s right – even after the show’s long summer hiatus, we still won’t be done with this election. What gods have we displeased?)

Hillary and Bernie pile on the metaphor. When Bernie is asked to leave, since it’s last call, he rants about how, “it’s not over ’til I say it’s over,” and Hillary says, “I didn’t see you sitting behind me – so far behind me you can never catch up.” They trade insults – Hillary says Bernie’s suit looks old, Bernie says hers looks like she was just elected to the Galactic Counsel – and they mock the stupidity of Bernie’s “No one cares about your damn emails” screed. By sketch’s end, they share a dance through the studio, perhaps the greatest metaphor of all. (This was followed by the greatest glitch of all, as they had arranged for the entire cast, in tuxedos and gowns, to say, “Live from New York, It’s Saturday Night” in unison, only to have the sound cut out on the final two words. First time in the show’s history this happened?)

Portlandia star and former cast member Fred Armisen hosted, opening with his one-man show, a unique take on the monologue that supposedly told the story of how he wound up at SNL, but was really a parody of one man shows infused with old timey speech patterns and story rhythms.

For the first sketch, Armisen, Kyle Mooney, and Cecily Strong played actors performing an inappropriately sexual play about Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea for a class of schoolchildren. Armisen threw himself into the role of the self-involved actor playing Lewis, who talked of wanting to sleep with Strong’s Sacagawea, but was really making a play (in front of the kids) for Clark, including mounting him on a desk. Well-played awkwardness all around.

Then, we got a surprise – an official “SNL Digital Short” designation, providing a clue about our first former cast member guest spot of the night. Andy Samberg appeared in a music video as Conner4Real, his character in his upcoming film Popstar, for a song about a freaky girl (Vanessa Bayer) who wanted to fuck him (theme of the episode?) like our military fucked bin Laden. By the end, Bayer makes sure he “terrorizes that pussy” as Beck Bennett’s Uncle Sam slow dances with Armisen’s bin Laden. The return of the SNL Digital Short, even in service of movie promotion, was welcome, and the sketch reinforced what a killer, adventurous season Bayer had.

The next sketch saw Jason Sudeikis return with Armisen as his pretentious Regine character, here as Sudeikis’ new girlfriend at a house party. The two become wildly inappropriate, with Armisen driven to a gyrating orgasm whenever Sudeikis makes physical contact – which he does every few seconds to show off the madness of Regine’s physical ecstasies. (Remember that question I asked in the last paragraph about the episode’s theme? Yup.) Bayer couldn’t handle it and broke, with Bryant following, and it was understandable. Watching Armisen and Sudeikis’ physical comfort with each other reinforces how tight their cast had been, and how effectively they used their easy rapport for comedy. Can we imagine any two current cast members doing sketches with the level of physical intimacy we’re seeing tonight? I’m doubtful.

The “Farewell, Mr. Bunting” pre-tape was a Dead Poets Society parody, featuring Armisen as the Robin Williams character. It took its time and wound up being a one-joke bit, but man, that joke – so good I don’t want to give it away. If you haven’t see it yet, watch it now.

Then came the final Weekend Update of the season, and it must be said that for all the criticism they’ve faced—including a lot from me—Colin Jost and Michael Che found a rhythm this season. They haven’t become a great team by any means – their writing rhythms on dual bits can be way off – but it’s become harder to complain about the pair. Che especially came into his own this season, with a strong, consistent, and reliably smart and funny perspective on racial issues.

This week, following the usual Donald Trump jokes, saw an appearance by Maya Rudolph as Dilma Rousseff, the just-ousted president of Brazil. Brandishing a cigar and a large umbrella drink, the sketch was an effective excuse for Rudolph to play with a funny accents and unconventional pronunciations.

Given that it’s the finale, Jost and Che told several jokes that had been deemed too harsh earlier in the season, including one about a 70-year-old woman who gave birth, which doctors described as, “like pulling a penny out of a wad of gum.” Ouch.

They ended Update with Thompson’s Willie character, reminiscing about delightful summers spent held captive in the “Candy Van,” and mistaking old racism – including being sprayed by a hose – for carefree summertime fun. Thompson is rarely edgy, and therefore delights in seeing how far he can push Willie into complete degradation. Still, this one felt rushed, and was an underwhelming end to the Update season.

After a strong first hour, the final half hour was a come down. A sketch finding Bennett, Armisen, Strong and Taran Killam stranded on a doomed space station in 2050 – the escape pod hold’s just one, and Armisen’s trip out is held up by his needing to select his luxury options – was quick and largely inert.

Then, inexplicably, the pretentious student theater sketch reoccured. Students perform their version of a socially conscious performance piece, but its really preachy and obvious. Meanwhile, we watch parents suffer through it in the audience (and, tonight, on the stage). They’ve run this sketch several times before, and added little here.

The final sketch of the season, if we can call it that, found the entire cast and all of tonight’s guests, plus Armisen’s Portlandia collaborator Carrie Brownstein, dressed in seventies gear as a Southern rock band playing for a class that had no idea what their music was. Led by Armisen, with Sudeikis on drums, the sketch had no other joke, and found the assemblage singing a rock song about Fayetteville, Arkansas. I can’t begin to explain the rationale for this, other than that the cast and guests wanted to leave the season on a song. It was a kinda fun, brief, and somewhat baffling moment.

And that’s that. It’s been a pleasure recapping this season. Thanks for reading, and check back next week for Decider’s Top 20 SNL Sketches of 2015-2016.

[You can stream Saturday Night Live on Hulu]

Larry Getlen is the author of the book Conversations with Carlin. His greatest wish is to see Stefon enjoy a cheeseburger at John Belushi’s diner. Follow him on Twitter at @larrygetlen.