‘SNL’ Recap: Carey Mulligan, Kid Cudi, And An Update From The Iceberg That Sank The Titanic

The host is a pro, but the funniest part of this week’s episode was Weekend Update? Yes. I know!

What’s The Deal With The SNL Cold Open for 4/10/21?

Is everything Black or White? That’s the underlying tension forming the basis for a solid location/premise to tackle the week’s news, as KDBD-TV’s “Eye On Minnesota” roundtable includes two Black anchors (Ego Nwodim and Kenan Thompson) and two White anchors (Kate McKinnon and Alex Moffat) talking about the ongoing trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for his involvement in the death of George Floyd last May. The set separates the anchors on either side of the desk by race, but they all seem like they’re on the same side on this issue. Right? But one set of anchors is necessarily more optimistic about the jury, while another set of anchors thinks the royalty who died Friday was DMX, whereas the only Prince they know died in Minnesota five years ago. Perhaps they all can agree on an opinion on Congressman Matt Gaetz? Just don’t ask Calvin the weatherman (Chris Redd) to add his two cents. Not too long for a cold open. Not too serious. Just about right.

How Did The SNL Guest Host Carey Mulligan Do?

In a word? Outstanding.

Multiple ads airing throughout the night reminded us you still can see Promising Young Woman in cinemas or rent it at home, so Carey Mulligan needn’t remind us or Oscar voters of her credentials. Her husband, on the other hand, did want to remind us he’s in the audience and available to fill in as musical guest. Even if Mulligan’s husband, Marcus Mumford, forgot to invite the Sons along to 30 Rock.
Mulligan dominated the night, adding deft touches sometimes so subtly, yet always benefiting the sketch.

Take the game show “What’s Wrong with This Picture.” All three contestants are terrible, but while Aidy Bryant’s Rebecca is woefully misguided, and Redd’s William just the dimmest of bulbs, Mulligan’s Sandra always manages to see something correctly and wildly off about each drawing, even if she’s also quite wrong. She deserved the jam. How dare you, Kenan.

That’s immediately followed by a fake ad much like the ones we all see on TV about irritable bowel syndrome. In this one for “Tremfalta,” however, we don’t get a happy ending, as we see how the original sad situation kept getting sadder for momma Mulligan at her son’s school concert. She somehow manages to avoid ultimate embarrassment, though, snipping at Lauren Holt, who handed her the IBS pills, “If you say anything, I will destroy your life.”

She didn’t have to do much in “Study Buddy,” but the sheer joy of watching McKinnon and Bryant goof it up together, as nerdy curly-haired teen boys wearing glasses, even, makes it all somehow work as a strange, little lovable scene.

After Weekend Update, Mulligan starred as a bratty rich White girl new to the Starcharter Andromeda, a starship and spin-off in the Paramount+ Star Trek universe. Everyone else on the bridge focuses on the threat of getting sucked into a black hole, while Mulligan’s McKenna feels scorned for her suggestion that they simply unplug and plug back in the starship? “Stop gaslighting me!” Woe be unto the other new college grads who, equally unequipped for adulthood or the universe outside of them, stick up for her.

She’s even great in “The War in Words” sketch, which essentially repeats all the beats of the premise that Mikey Day’s soldier ran through in previous seasons with other British hosts Claire Foy and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

How Relevant Was The Musical Guest Kid Cudi?

Last week’s musical guest was St. Vincent, and this week a volcano erupted on the island of St. Vincent. What does this have to do with Kid Cudi? I’m not ready to predict any explosions.
Unless you count TikTok? Cudi made headlines last month with his consternation and confusion over a verse he originally released back in 2008 becoming a “Day ‘N’ Nite” meme. Perhaps the kids will have as much fun with the music video Cudi did with Chris Redd, Pete Davidson (and a cameo by Timothée Chalamet!), throwing down sick beats about their “Weird Little Flute.” Mulligan also makes an appearance here.

Both of his live performances picked songs off of his December 2020 album Man on the Moon III: The Chosen. First up, “Tequila Shots.”

Liquor before beer, never fear? So why so “Sad People,” Cudi? If anything, his outfits and ensembles for the two songs on SNL showed his deep appreciation and tribute to both Chris Farley and Kurt Cobain. Sad people, indeed.

Which Sketch Will We Be Sharing: “Lesbian Period Drama”

What’s the problem? “She’s a bummer.”
CLARIFICATION: Please note. This is not a sketch about menstruating lesbians. Well, not exactly…

“You get one a year. Make the most of it.” This trailer parodies Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Ammonite and other seaside films “starring two straight actresses who dare not to wear makeup” with little dialogue, one actual lesbian as the stone-cold ex (McKinnon) “and of course, there’s a drawing scene.” And of course, of course, sex so graphic it reminds you a man directed this movie.

Who Stopped By Weekend Update?

Even a podcast with two of the most famous men on the planet, Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen, ultimately might be as boring as any two men talking on a podcast. Even if the impersonations from Redd and Beck Bennett are pretty, pretty good.

New cast member Punkie Johnson scores her first Update character! She portrayed Pineapple, one of the strippers in retired NBA star Paul Pierce’s Instagram Live video this week that cost Pierce his on-air job talking hoops on ESPN. She reminded us all how tough (very funny, but tough) it might have been to try to strip for customers on Zoom during the pandemic, almost took Michael Che’s offer to use the Update desk a little too literally, and offered three more great reasons why Pierce shouldn’t have been fired. Well, maybe only two reasons.

Last, but certainly not least, Bowen Yang nearly stole the whole episode with his only appearance in the episode, somehow portraying the iceberg that sank the Titanic. “This is always a weird time of year for me,” he revealed. He didn’t want to talk about that incident, but if you provoke him into it, he’ll vociferously defend his role in the Titanic sinking. But that’s not what the deal was with his publicist, Colin Jost, and you knew that. “I’m here to promote my album.” Wait, what? “Yes, it’s a hyper-pop EDM new disco Fantasia.” As a treat, he also sang his first single, “Loverboy.”
After Update, a silent tribute card for original SNL writer Anne Beatts, who died last week at age 74.

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What Sketch Filled The “10-to-1” Slot?

At 12:56 a.m. EDT, the teen students in the school cafeteria wearing matching tie-dyed Beat Buddies shirts want to rehearse their new raps, only two middle-aged women interrupt them and ridiculously attempt to fit in, before acknowledging they’re sales reps for L’eggs pantyhose, and we will hear and see their pitch. Part of me wonders how much money L’eggs paid NBC to sneak this obvious product placement branded content into the episode, but I mean, sure, for Gen Z, the very idea of pantyhose must seem crazy, even crazier that they packaged it into egg-shaped containers. So yeah, OK. Fine. But it only makes me more suspicious of this sketch’s origins the more I think about it.
Before the goodbyes, SNL offered up a second silent tribute card, this one for DMX, who died Friday at 50, and who performed as the musical guest on a 2000 episode with his hits “Party Up” and “What’s My Name?” DMX!

Who Was The Episode’s MVP?

Mulligan obviously lifted this episode to great heights as a dominating host. Among the cast members, Kenan Thompson certainly anchored the first half-hour. Bowen Yang had that shooting-star moment. But the glue that kept the whole show from falling apart, though, was definitely Aidy Bryant. From her misguided game-show contestant, to her school administrator in the fake ad, to the wise nerdy wingboy, to the sales rep to close out the episode, Bryant had more to do, and more heavy lifting to do, than perhaps anyone else. Although Chris Redd made the most of his spare spots, too.
And now we’re off for spring break! At least SNL is. We’ll see you back here on Monday.
Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.

Watch SNL Season 46, Episode 17 on YouTube