‘SNL’ Recap: Phoebe Waller-Bridge Reminds Us That “Back In The Day, Horny Women Were To Be Feared … But Now They’re Given Emmys”

HOST: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
MUSICAL GUEST: Taylor Swift
EPISODE: SNL Season 45, Episode 2
DATE: October 5, 2019

BIG PICTURE: After last week’s laugh-free debacle of a season opener, Saturday Night Live began hitting its stride this week with several sketches that featured genuine laughs and even took some chances. Matthew Broderick appeared in the political cold open as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in a performance that could have been done by anyone but for his exit line to Beck Bennett as VP Mike Pence, “Impeachment moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around, you might miss it.” New cast member Bowen Yang had a breakthrough moment on Weekend Update as China’s lively trade ambassador, and Aidy Bryant broke in a sketch for the second week in a row, threatening to make it a habit.

MONOLOGUE/HOST: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, assured and at ease on the monologue stage, talked about how the two shows she’s famous for, Fleabag and Killing Eve, have made her unduly focused on horny psychopaths. Noting that psychopaths are “having a moment,” she said Fleabag was written just so she could get Andrew Scott to dress like a priest and tell her he loves her, and that the reason Scott’s Hot Priest character resonated so strongly with women was because “he was doing this one thing – listening.” She also noted how Fleabag’s success showed that times have changed. “Back in the day, horny women were to be feared,” she said. “Now they’re given Emmys.” Waller-Bridge came off strong in her sketches for the night, save for her American accent, which wasn’t nearly steady enough to conceal her natural British one. But overall, an impressive outing.

NOTABLE SKETCHES/PERFORMANCES: The obligatory political cold open featured Bennett’s Pence and Kate McKinnon’s Rudy Giuliani, among others, lamenting impeachment, as if they realize they’re about to go down and are scrambling for life boats. Given how removed this is from any reality we’re seeing – in real life, both men are very much doubling and tripling down on whatever they might have done before – it just reinforces how SNL‘s political sensibility has lost its power as it refuses to grapple with uncomfortable truths. That said, there were a few funny exchanges. Giuliani: “We need to close ranks, like the mafia. Pompeo: “Except the mafia was, like, smart. They didn’t go on Fox News and tell people the crimes before they did them.” And after a comment is made about their need to keep their stories straight, Pence responded, “Yes, because even if they’re not straight now, they can still be converted to straight, right?”

The Royal Romance sketch allowed Kenan Thompson to cut loose as “comedian, street poet and blaxploitation actor” Jimmy Jay Johnson, known as Thunderstick, recalling his mismatch relationship with Waller-Bridge as a British duchess. Thunderstick was too much for the monarchy, like the time he demonstrated his sexual technique on the royal ottoman.

One Waller-Bridge highlight was the return of Mikey Day’s sketch as a WWII pilot writing to his wife and receiving oblique and worrisome answers in return, as when she matter-of-factly indicates his father might have died, or sends pictures of herself palling around with Hitler.

The best sketch of the night and the new season so far was a newscast featuring Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Waller-Bridge and Alex Moffat as news anchors, and Chris Redd as their weatherman. When Waller-Bridge reads a crime story noting that the police are searching for a white suspect, Thompson and Nwodim don’t hide their delight that the suspect is white. Part of the sketch’s brilliance from here is that rather than keep this whispery and under the table, it becomes immediately overt, as the five actively root, with every new story, for the perpetrator to not belong to their race. Taking a clever approach to racial stereotyping and the subversion of such – as when a Utah rock climber turns out to be Laquan – left us with an increasing rare sketch for SNL that felt both funny and relevant.

WEEKEND UPDATE: Update is finding its stride as well, including a rant from Micheal Che comparing the president to Lenny from Of Mice and Men, repeatedly excusing POTUS’s rambling by saying, “He’s strong.”

At the desk, McKinnon showed up as Elizabeth Warren, an impression that, as is often the case these days, seems more like McKinnon than Warren, with the same sassy sarcasm we see her Ruth Bader Ginsburg and many others. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoRc298lahI) Mikey Day also had a fun outing as Super Centenarian Mort Fellner, giving news of other super centenarians (people over 110 years old) that all end with them dying.

The Update highlight was Yang as the Chinese trade representative, flamboyantly declaring himself, at this key moment for US/China trade relations, “Lizzo from China,” and “100 percent that trade daddy.” Basking in the attention, Yang’s rep makes the point that “We can live without your movies starring The Rock. How you gonna do without iPhones?” And, taunting Trump, he says, “We actually built our wall, and you can see it from space.” Yang’s energy was infectious, as he clearly had a blast with this.

THE 10 TO 1 SLOT: Waller-Bridge, McKinnon, Bryant and Cecily Strong appeared as tattooed and mulleted women in a bar lamenting their love lives, which all involve falling for a Guitar Center employee played by Bennett. The limits of Waller-Bridges’ American accent become all too clear here – her trying to mix a Southern accent with her natural British results in a garbled mess – and while the four had some fun with this, they might have had more than the audience. This also marks the second week in a row that Bryant broke, and here, it wasn’t warranted, as nothing that funny was happening. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a regular thing. ()

NEXT WEEK: SNL returns next week with host David Harbour and musical guest Camila Cabello.

Larry Getlen is the author of the book Conversations with Carlin. Follow him on Twitter at @larrygetlen.

Stream Saturday Night Live Season 45 Episode 2 on YouTube