We follow the lowest rated episode of the season (Michael B. Jordan) with one of the best. Most of us were impressed with Pedro Pascal when he burst onto the scene in Game of Thrones. Then he landed the role of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin and that series took off. To top it off he was cast in the coveted role of Joel in The Last of Us, HBO’s prestige adaptation of the video game of the same name.
But who knew that Pedro Pascal was actually funny? And funny with range, to boot? Aubrey Plaza was great hosting SNL a few weeks ago, but Pascal’s episode was a tour de force. First of all, Pascal used several accents on the show. His native Chilean, an Italian waiter a Californian and several versions of reggalar ‘murican. His timing was flawless throughout the show and he could do both the little things and the big things. SNL often protects the hosts from too much weight but this week they put the show fully on Pedro Pascal’s shoulders and he delivered over and over again.
I can’t stress enough how rare that is. Just watch how the episodes are written and you’ll see cast members hopping on stage to help with a dicey monologue. You’ll see hosts as straight men, or hidden inside costumes that do the comedy for them. Not so with Pedro Pascal. He played a Latino mom and somehow did it with a beard. But he was so good it just vanished.
I’m speechless about this episode and it’s only because of some inherent unforeseen flaws with my rating system (primarily comedians doing a tight seven minutes as the monologue and artificially jacking up their scores), that this episode wasn’t the highest rated of the season.
Credit to the SNL writing staff for putting Pascal in a position to shine and giving him the room to do so. In a season where I’m always hemming and hawing about execution, this was like a different show in that area. Just pro-style all the way through, and we finally got a moment of hilarity. What a great episode.
A word on Laughstatting:
Everyone has a different sense of humor, so the things that I laugh at will most likely not be the exact same things you laugh at. The goal of this exercise is not to convince anyone, but to say “here’s what worked for me” and hopefully, if our tastes are similar enough, maybe it worked for you too and the overall stats for the season will have some value. It also strangely works if you have polar opposite taste to me, because you’ll know the episodes that were a hit for me might not land with you.
I try to be very generous with my rankings in the hopes that eventually a more clear picture of the cast and season will shape itself and contribute to some additional insight. And we get charts.
Who doesn’t like charts?
Spy Balloon Cold Open
Concept: Katy Tur investigates the shooting of a Chinese spy balloon.
Execution: Outstanding
s – Chloe Fineman: “We got the balloon.”
S – Kenan Thompson: “The Seattle Space Needle.”
S – Kenan Thompson: “Of going like this.”
l – Kenan Thompson: “Or go shshshshsh.”
S – Bowen Yang: “It’s like Succession, but outside.”
l – Bowen Yang: “Okay, ouch.”
Pedro Pascal Monologue
S – Host: “Without my mask it just sounds porny.”
S – Host: “I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold.”
s – Host: “His name is Grogu.”
S – Host: “And that, my friends, is called range.”
S – Host: “I love you, I miss you, and stop giving out my phone number.”
The Big Hollywood Quiz
Concept: Film Junkies know nothing about modern entertainment
Execution: Excellent.
S – Host: lost expression about current show on Netflix
s – Bowen Yang: “Nobody?”
S – Host: “Juice?”
S – Host: “80 for Brady.”
L – Ego Nwodim: “Career?”
S – Host: “Wednesday?”
S – Ego Nwodim: “Noooo.”
S – Bowen Yang: “Yessssss.”
l – Host: “Wednesday.”
S – Bowen Yang: “Name any three movies from the past five years.”
S – Host: “The Hangover?”
L – Bowen Yang: “That was twenty years ago.”
Waking Up
Concept: A brawny man wakes up with an LA mush mouth
Execution: Lots of effort but a middling result
s – Kenan Thompson: “Mmmm no, it’s not Spanish.”
l – Host: breaking
Fancam Assembly
Concept: A teacher bans fancams of school staff
Execution: Unreal. An instant classic.
S – Sarah Sherman: “You have us in a choke hold!”
S – Devon Walker: “You’re in your assembly era.”
L – Sarah Sherman: “You’re so father, Period.”
S – Bowen Yang: “Because Paulina is Mother.”
H – Molly Kearney: “Kids on phone too much. Grow up wrong.”
s – Devon Walker: “Mid.”
S – Host: “I know I’m your bias and always munch on it.”
HBO Mario Kart Trailer
Concept: Mario Kart as a prestige HBO drama
Execution: Amazing. Inspired.
l – Host: “It’s a-me. Mario.”
l – Host: “Let’s a-go.”
S – Mikey Day: “It’s-a Luigi time.”
l – Bowen Yang: “I’m Yoshi. I’m bisexual.”
s – Marcello Hernandez: “Also, I’m bisexual.”
l – Host: “A little guy in a cloud comes and uses a fishing pole to put you back on the road.”
Weekend Update
l – Colin Jost: “Bad news for China, it’s a girl!”
s – Michael Che: “One of the good ones.”
s – Colin Jost: “Thank you.”
S – Colin Jost: “Has been injured in a car accident.”
l – Colin Jost: “Biden let him pick a couple of classified documents out of the bowl.”
l – Colin Jost: “Stalker Christmas.”
l – Colin Jost: “Two brothers in the Super Bowl is why my grandfather won’t be watching.”
S – Michael Che: “On February, wow.”
s – Michael Longfellow: smoking
S – Michael Che: In smoke cloud
S – Michael Longfellow: “You guys feel that?”
l – Michael Che: “What do you mean, guys like us?”
S – Michael Longfellow: “I just like good beaver.”
l – Colin Jost: “But only for a limited time…at Arby’s.”
l – Colin Jost: “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
S – Colin Jost: “When they’re hotter.”
l – Michael Che: “Economists call divorce.”
l – Michael Che: “No! Don’t.”
s – James Austin Johnson: facial expression
s – Devon Walker: “Eatin’ your mom’s bum.”
S – James Austin Johnson: “I’m allergic to dairy.”
S – James Austin Johnson: “I’m allergic to dairy.”
Protective Mom
Concept: A son introduces his white girlfriend to his latino mom
Execution: Perfect
l – Host “I kill you I put you in jail. I love you so much!”
l – Host: dumping vegan sliders
S – Host: folding bag
s – Host: “So she doesn’t like money.”
l – Marcello Hernandez: “Nice white girl.”
l – Host: “My son don’t have ADD!”
l – Marcello Hernandez: “Unisex apparel.”
S – Host: “Why didn’t you tell me she was a woman of God?”
Italian Waiters
Concept: Waiters pick on a customer
Execution: Very good
l – Host: “Smart.”
l – Sarah Sherman: reaction
S – marcello Hernandez: “And the funny one.”
L – Sarah Sherman: “What is my vibe today?”
S – Host: “To your career?”
S – Host: “Because it’s the kind that’s on the inside.”
Lisa from Temecula
Concept: A dinner with a strong minded newcomer
Execution: Excellent
S – Ego Nwodim: “Don’t think I’m given up the butt tonight.”
S – Host: “Excuse me?”
l – Host: breaking again
l – Ego Nwodim: “Oh cause we Black?”
L – Bowen Yang: breaking
L – Host: breaking again
Wing Pit
Concept: A commercial for wings goes off the rails
Execution: Phenomenal
s – Host: “Wings are here!”
S – Heidi Gardner: “Five ethnically troubling sauces.”
s – Host: “We’re probably good on wings though.”
S – Heidi Gardner: “Fifteen butt-destroying sauces.”
l – Kenan Thompson: “Over 12?”
l – Molly Kearney: getting crushed by wing bag
s – Heidi Gardner: “Via cement chute.”
s – Host: reaction
s – James Austin Johnson: “To honor Chirax, the chicken god of death.”
