‘SNL’ Recap: Alec Baldwin Recreates Trump’s Shocking “Pussy” Comments (Plus, The Return Of Fey And Fallon!)

Saturday Night Live started this week’s cold open at the recent vice-presidential debate and, thankfully, did not stay there. Mikey Day and Beck Bennett facing off as Tim Kaine and Mike Pence was about as exciting as the real thing, when it was interrupted for the Breaking News – and really, the news that had to be in the cold open if SNL could make any claim to being a timely topical comedy show – that the tapes of Donald Trump saying “grab her by the pussy” had been discovered.

This led to the return of Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump, talking to Cecily Strong’s CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin about the scandal. Baldwin, pushing his Trumpian pout as far as it would extend from his face, tries to apologize for his remarks, but is unfamiliar with the word “apologize,” pronouncing it APPLE-eh-gize. After Strong asks if he was trying to apologize, he says, “No, I would never do that,” then apologizes to those he offended but also those he might have turned on. He also notes how funny it is that the only Bush who matters in this election is Billy, an observation made by many hours earlier on the Internet.

Baldwin’s imitation of Trump has won over many on the internet, but I remain less than impressed. His distorted, exaggerated rictus feels overplayed to an almost clownish degree, and the content of his answers as Trump sheds no light on any aspect of the candidate that hasn’t been tackled many times before, such as when he praises Mike Pence to the skies until Strong informs him of Pence’s statement panning him, at which point he immediately calls Pence a loser. Ha ha. Insightful. (Though as he describes how he doesn’t just grab the pussy, but can “bop it, twist it, and pull it,” the look on Strong’s face as her Baldwin recoils in horror is priceless.)

Of course, then Trump is caught off-camera on a hot mic, talking about how he wished he was Hurricane Matthew so he can grab all the “Miami pussy.”

After, they switch to Hillary Clinton’s campaign headquarters, where the Clinton campaign is partying, dancing to “Celebration.” Kate McKinnon’s Clinton talks about how Trump’s comments about women left her “deeply saddened,” failing to hide her glee at the revelation that could be the final element in her White House victory. “It’s my reward, Brooke,” she says, “for every single thing I’ve been through in the last 30 years.”

The show received a huge jolt of energy with the introduction of host and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who rapped about his excitement at hosting SNL. Miranda explained to the crowd that his show was one of the biggest hits in Broadway history, meaning that most of the home audience doesn’t know who he is. But they’ll surely remember him after his spirited hosting job, bringing the same infectious energy to SNL that he did to Broadway.

With a musical actor’s flair, Miranda performed a rap to the tune of his Hamilton hit “My Shot,” complete with background dancers. He changed the lyrics to reflect his excitement at hosting, pay tribute to SNL‘s history, express his disdain for the current election season and, especially, take down Trump, who he called a “piece of shit” (he stopped just before the last word, but it was clear where he was headed) in front of Trump’s hosting headshot, which hangs in SNL‘s hallway. It was exactly the sort of excellent bit one would expect from Miranda, and the best monologue the show has seen in some time.

The first sketch found Miranda and Strong at a campfire with another couple, Vanessa Bayer and Kyle Mooney. After Miranda serenades them on guitar, they offer a campfire song of heir own – a shouted, off-key, oddly-accented version of “Footloose.” The couple are weird regular campers, and also, apparently, incestuous siblings. Bayer and Mooney reminded me a bit of Fred Armisen and Kristen Wiig’s charming weirdos Garth and Kat here in that their weirdness is the focus of the sketch, and ultimately goes nowhere.

Next came the female-focused SNL music video “Crucible Cast Party,” a take-off on high school theater troupe cast parties that will be funny to anyone who ever attended one, and most likely few else. Save for several late laughs from Miranda’s rapping high school musical star, this sketch is a far drop in quality from “Twin Bed,” the video that started off this all-female cast series. And while I realize that black cast members in “The Crucible” could be problematic from a historical perspective, there was something off-putting about a sketch clearly intended to highlight the show’s female cast, even including new cast member Melissa Villasenor, omitting both Leslie Jones and Sasheer Zamata (especially given the latter’s continued shortage of quality screen time this season).

The next sketch parodied the concept of hip teachers trying to reach students through art, as Miranda played a substitute whose students were three steps ahead of his every move. It was a short sketch that seemed stunted, like the writers hit on a funny concept then weren’t sure where to take it, but it was funny while it lasted.

McKinnon then brought back her Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, for a short film called “A Day Off with Kellyanne Conway.” It features Conway enjoying all manner of leisure activities when she’s interrupted by her phone, indicating that Donald Trump has tweeted something stupid, and she needs to go on CNN to explain. It’s a simple conceit, well-executed. At first, Conway is professional; as the day goes on and it keeps happening, she stops bothering to change into work clothes. By the sketch’s end, she’s talking to Bennett’s Jake Tapper in a towel, fresh from a romantic bath. Also, Trump’s fictional tweets get progressively weirder, until Trump tweets about holding up a cup of his own semen at a rally saying, “This becomes a person, no way!” and Conway finally admits the man’s a loon.

“Weekend Update” focused, naturally, on Trump’s “pussy” comments. Anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che bantered about it, with Jost throwing down one devastating line – “First, Trump tried to brush it off as just locker room talk. Which locker room – Penn State?”

Pete Davidson did a desk bit about no longer being the show’s resident young person because he’s going bald. It was an undeveloped quick hit about how re-growing your hair with Propecia is worth the side effect of being able to have less sex, but Davidson and Jost have so much fun chatting back and forth, it made the visit worth it.

Then, as undecided female voters from Philadelphia, we got a visit from old Update anchor team Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon. Chatting about the election, they took apart Trump for his degrading comments about Alicia Machado’s appearance, with Fey remarking, “Does this guy have mirrors in his house? He looks like someone opened a quesadilla to pick the chicken out.” Fey’s voter also had problems with how Hillary Clinton handled Bill’s cheating, not for how she treated the women in question, but for not “finishing the job” on Gennifer Flowers. Fey got some solid shots in at Trump and launched into a harsh monologue against Mike Pence’s attitude on gays and women, and Fallon butchered his lines and tried to hold in his laughter. All in all, a typical Fey/Fallon appearance.

The last half hour featured a Music Man parody featuring Miranda as Harold Hill, come to down from Wells Fargo bringing multiple bank accounts to the good people of River City. The poignant short film “Diego Calls His Mom” found the host calling his mother back home, describing America in Spanish and English and making life here sound alien but also a bit endearing. Next, Day and Alex Moffat played the Duffer Brothers, creators of Stranger Things, offering a clip from next season to show the family of the show’s black character.

Featuring Zamata as the kid and Jones and Kenan Thompson as his parents, the sketch plays off the concept that for black people, life is scary enough without having to believe in the Upside Down. When a police officer shows up, Jones and Thompson raise their hands in fear. “Ahhh, the monster!”

The final sketch features Davidson as a dying soldier in war facing his final moments, who asks his commander, Miranda, to tell his girlfriend that he loved her, then to sneak away to find and dispose of his butt plug and other embarrassing items before his girlfriend could find them.

[Watch Saturday Night Live on Hulu or Seeso]

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.