Chris Rock returned for a strong episode of Saturday Night Live, joined at one point by his SNL castmate Adam Sandler, and Gracie Abrams charmed us with tastefully staged and well-performed folk pop songs. Here's everything that happened on SNL this week.
The Cold Open
Sarah Sherman played eccentric crime story host Nancy Grace, who covered the apprehension of alleged healthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione. Speaking to her YouTube viewers, Grace decried Mangione's newfound status as a sex symbol and ran through some funny tweets about the issue. Grace also spoke with a few guests, including Emil Wakim's Citizen Who Resembles Mangione and, after a loud ad starring Marcello Hernández's amped-up pitchman interrupted the show for a second time, this swiftly paced open closed.
The Monologue
SNL alum and onetime stand-up king Chris Rock began his monologue by mocking the show's 50th anniversary. Rock made some Diddy jokes and some about Luigi Mangione's good looks, suggesting that sometimes, drug dealers get shot. Rock had some solid jokes about Black culture and hating Jake Paul. Rock covered Donald Trump's victory by reminding us that America is not as dignified as it purports to be. Man, he did a very funny Menendez brothers joke, and did a series of funny "Trump's racist" bits. Rock's extended segment about the Bidens concluded with a good callback, and his spirited monologue landed well.
Meeting Santa
Rock played a helper welcoming kids to meet Santa at a mall, but there was a twist: there were two Santas: a white Santa and a Black Santa. Various white cast members played parents who awkwardly tried to avoid the Black Santa, except for a righteous one played by Chloe Fineman, who alienated Devon Walker's perturbed "Blanta," who took a shift break just before this funny sketch concluded.
Springfield Secret Santa
Rock played a team member at an office Christmas party who is obsessed with the gift he received, which was a portrait of him as a Simpsons character. While others moved on and dealt with their strange gifts, Rock's character continued to ponder what his Springfield alter-ego might get up to, which was bizarre and amusing.
Kirby Goes Bananas
In this remote, Mikey Day played a guy whose grandfather died and he and his friends were cleaning out his old garage, which housed his 1958 sedan. It turned out the car was sentient and named Kirby, but given its vintage, was also racist and sexist, which led to some pretty awkward and funny moments.
Charlie and Mark
Rock played a disgraced and deposed corporate executive named Mark, while Kenan Thompson played a similarly fired security guard/doorman named Charlie, and each addressed their former officemates to apologize for their untoward comments and conduct with their work colleagues. Oddly, Charlie's offensive commentary was tolerated by the staff, while Mark's was scorned. This was good despite Rock's stilted cue card reading, which was a recurring issue tonight.
Gracie Abrams
With her and her band dressed smartly in formal wear, rising folk pop star Gracie Abrams clearly was excited, smiling throughout an emotive and frenetic "That's So True," which owed a fair bit to both Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.
Outfitted in different formal wear, Abrams and her band conjured early Sufjan Stevens a bit, expertly rendering her own hit "I Love You, I'm Sorry," which capped a triumphant SNL debut for the charming and awestruck young musician.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost launched Update with jokes about Luigi Mangione and his anti-corporate hypocrisy. Michael Che talked about drones in New Jersey, while Jost had a very solid one-liner about TIME naming Donald Trump "Person of the Year," and later had a great Tiny Tim joke. Che had a good RBJ/DJT abortion joke and then mocked Mitch McConnell's recent injurious fall.
Andrew Dismukes played A Bald Man, there to speak about a recent British ruling about bald jokes being a hate crime. Dismukes is so so funny, and he was a compelling storm of physical and attitudinal comedy here.
Che told us that Alabama was 250 years old now, but Mississippi is still pretty much like Alabama was on day one. Jost told us about a Japanese whale meat auction, which was a tad gory.
Jane Wickline dropped by to pay tribute to Sabrina Carpenter with a song in the spirit of the pop star asking why nobody wonders if she's gay. "I want to have mystique," was a very funny centrepiece line of this clever premise about a public figure engaging in stunts, hoping that people might question her sexuality. Wickline rules and this was good.
Lizley
A surgery went awry when surgeons were hamstrung by an inept assistant named Lizley, who was played by Sarah Sherman. The main thing to know here is that Adam Sandler made a cameo as the patient, sprayed everyone with fake blood, and broke the fourth wall a few times, which was amusing.
Your Office Christmas Party
A very funny and relatable remote done in the spirit of a monster truck rally commercial, we got a look at the awkward mess that office Christmas parties usually are. Real Wife vs. Work Wife was particularly clever.
Henry McAdams
Ego Nwodim played a character settling into her seat a restaurant for a blind date when she was accosted by a character played by Rock, who pretended to be there for her. The conclusion to this was a bit surprising and was a nice payoff.