The Season 50 finale featured a reliable host in Scarlett Johansson and musical guest in Bad Bunny, but despite being a funny episode, a few of the sketches came across as incomplete concepts. As such, an otherwise strongly written season with a rogue's gallery of guest stars, ended half-heartedly. Here's everything that happened on Saturday Night Live this week.
The Cold Open
In a send-up of Donald Trump's oddly erotic remarks directed at Saudi Arabia Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud during his personal enrichment tour through the Middle East, James Austin Johnson and Emil Wakim played the respective figures. Trump spoke to the camera, so this was some kind of press address apparently, with many amusing one-liners and non-sequiturs, including yet another dig at Morgan Wallen's infamous departure earlier this season.
Trump even broke the fourth wall by sitting in the audience for the conclusion of this open, all of which was endearing enough. Perhaps this should mark the end of these meta-Trump/Johnson addresses, but who's to say? They do highlight how much of a cultural imposition Trump is, and have been working well after all.
The Monologue
ScarJo bounded out on stage and sang a satire of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," which reflected upon SNL50. She was soon joined by Bowen Yang, who took part in this singing monologue, and the rest of the cast got in on the action soon enough — including Sarah Sherman, who was informed that this was her final season. This had some fun lines but was ultimately more sentimental than super funny.
Cheery Channel 4 Morning News
Emil Wakim played Keith, a weatherman who introduced a morning news show with a parody of Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club," which we learned was his own weird idea. This was fitting, because the good-times morning show had a substitute anchor, Denise Jones from the Nightly News, as played by Johansson, who didn't quite understand how cheery repartee works on such a show. Her stories were dark and serious, but away she went with strange puns anyway, which proved to be infectious. Well-played and written by all involved.
please don't destroy - First Class feat. Bad Bunny
ScarJo thought the boys needed a vacation and landed them first-class seats on a flight out of NYC. This turned into a hip-hop music video featuring Bad Bunny, but was interspersed with scenes of dialogue where everyone began to become unsettled when they learned they'd be landing in Newark. A funny riff on the frightening rash of airplane accidents and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues in America this year, it was also nice to see a classic pdd remote, since — as referenced in this segment — they've been underused this season.
Grizzly Pear
Marcello Hernández and Ego Nwodim played a young couple at a bar when Bad Bunny and Johansson appeared, demanding to have "their table" back. Though meant to be fighting for their respective dates' honour, Hernández and Bad Bunny began talking shit about both women in Spanish, calling them crazy and lamenting how weak their need for sex with unstable women has rendered them. For their part, the women tried participating via nonsensical Spanish, while Andrew Dismukes and James Austin Johnson played curious onlookers. Or maybe they were novella narrators? This part was confusing.
Bowen's Still Straight
In a reprise of a meta remote from when Sydney Sweeney hosted, Johansson quizzed cast members about the relationship status of Bowen Yang, because she had a crush on him even though he's gay. Or is he? Yang confronted Johansson in an elevator and, after he dismissed her actual husband, Colin Jost, the two made off and had loud sex. When the scene shifted to Yang's apartment, it became clear he was an immature hound who'd had sex with other women, and was off on a date with model, Emily Ratajkowski. As it was the first time, this was frantic and funny fiction.
Mike Myers and Ye in an Elevator
Mike Myers played himself in an elevator when Ye West hopped on. Played by Kenan Thompson, Ye made Myers uncomfortable and triggered his PTSD from their infamous Hurricane Katrina telethon appearance (which was already sent up on SNL with Myers and the actual Kanye, many, many years ago). This sort of played at topicality, but ultimately was half-written and an odd sketch out.
Bad Bunny
On a stage set resembling the famous photo of construction workers eating lunch on a beam suspended in the NYC skyline, Bad Bunny and back-up dancers performed a spirited "NUEVAYoL," which delighted the audience.
In another inventive staging feat, we were brought into a dodgy club bathroom, where women primped in the mirror and one of them, RaiNao, sang "PERFuMITO NUEVO" to us. Meanwhile, Bad Bunny stepped out of a bathroom stall, came out and sang for a bit, and then he and RaiNao retired to a stall and hooked up, which we saw from overhead. This was meant to be hot and well, it really, really was.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost and Michael Che received a huge ovation, as the audience likely wondered if this might be their last stint as WU anchors. Jost told us about Trump's trip through the Middle East and had a sardonic line about Saudi Arabia slaughtering American journalists. Che also made jokes about this, suggesting perhaps Trump was procured for sex, and later earned groans for a tariff/O.J. Simpson joke. Jost reported on RFK Jr. swimming through a feces-laden creek and the Menendez brothers' imminent release being unsafe for certain people, while Che updated us about a train engineer strike that dissed New Jersey.
Ego Nwodim reprised her Miss Eggy stand-up character, which prompted an Federal Communications Comission (FCC) fine earlier this season. This time, Miss Eggy's assertive Def Jam era stand-up was about food generally — airplane food, specifically — and sex, although it was supposed to be about the Newark Airport. Nwodim is a treasure and this character was still very funny.
Che made a rough Stephen Hawking joke, while Jost told us about an Amazon delivery driver defecating on a porch.
It was now time for the traditional reading of each other's jokes for the first time ever. Jost began with a racist joke about Black people being lazy and promiscuous. Che was forced to read a joke about masturbating during the Minecraft movie, for which he got revenge by having Jost diss Kendrick Lamar.
But then, Che was forced to apologize to Johansson for tasteless jokes he'd made about her on the show, and proceeded to make a strange confession about his life. Jost was given a dumb Steve Kerr joke to read and an extreme Catholic priest sex line, too. As usual, Jost and Che seemed to enjoy their own jokes more than anyone else on Earth.
Penelope's Secret
Mikey Day played a douchey film director named Greg who introduced the crew to his non-binary assistant director, who was played by Sarah Sherman. The film was a period piece about a lesbian love affair in the 1950s. Johansson and Kenan Thompson played intimacy coordinators, who didn't understand how or even if lesbians had sex. This led to some awkward banter and an anti-climactic conclusion because it had nowhere to go.
TV Takes
Bowen Yang and Johansson played the hosts of a talk show interviewing full casts of TV shows. Marcello Hernández played Danny, the breakout star of fictional TV show, Summer Lake, who received many softball questions, while everyone else was confronted with harsh and antagonistic queries. This rapid-fire bit actually worked well.
Victorian Ladies at Lunch
Making her first appearance in a sketch in two weeks, Chloe Fineman joined Johansson, Sarah Sherman, and Heidi Gardner, playing Victorian ladies eating a disgusting array of food that muddied their mouths. Mugging and giggling through their lines, they asked their server, played by Andrew Dismukes, various questions. A very five-to-one bit, this was random but kind of funny.