Saturday Night Live review: The women of Congress join forces to clap back at Trump

Singer Halsey hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time and was the musical guest. She brought a great performance to a great show.

It’s the first show in February for Saturday Night Live, and that means they had a lot to tackle. Okay, perhaps I always say they have a lot to tackle each show. But that’s just because the news moves so fast these days. There’s the State of the Union, the Jeff Bezos scandal, Black History Month, Valentine’s Day and so much more going on… and we’re not even halfway through February.

And so, the writers and cast members worked with what they had to make a pretty good show, especially with host Halsey at their side. For someone who’s profession in entertainment is singing and not acting, Halsey still gave a great performance and really showed she knew what she was doing. Plus, since she’s a singer, you know they had to throw in at least one music video sketch to show off her voice.

So, without further ado, we’ve got highlights from the show for you, including three must-watch sketches you’ll definitely want to see.

Cold Open

This might be the first time where I was honestly quite disgusted by a cold open. Disgusted might be a harsh word, but my general thoughts were “yuck” and “WTF,” as Kyle Mooney playing Chuck Todd discussed Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ … well, you-know-what.

I get where the sketch was going, making fun us taking the wrong angle when it comes to the apparent blackmail scandal. But do we really have to dedicate a whole six-minute sketch to talking about a guy’s… Amazon package? No, definitely not.

Monologue

Halsey definitely brought a lot of energy on stage with her for the monologue. For yet another monologue that was just “I’m so excited to be here,” at least it gave you a taste of what she would bring for the rest of the show. The most important thing out of all of this is that we got to hear Halsey put on a New Jersey accent. And well, of course, Halsey nailed it!

Weekend Update

New characters alert! Yes, Weekend Update is all about delivering the news in a funny way. But more so, I appreciate that it’s a way for cast members to flex that creative muscle and bring new characters to life.

That being said, these two new characters, the Instagram couple, are quite good characters… given the responses I’ve read on YouTube. To me, the back and forth bickering of the couple doesn’t quite scream “hilarious.” But as the YouTube comments point out, this is exactly how those “perfect life” couples on social media pretty much are.

Three must-see sketches

Riverdale

It’s about time Saturday Night Live did a Riverdale sketch. Okay, admittedly, I don’t watch the show myself. But I do know that there’s a lot of CW-perfect drama and ridiculousness that makes it just ripe to be an SNL sketch. Well, that would be true. If only the sketch put emphasis on the show and not Pete Davidson’s character. Maybe Riverdale fans can get the parody they deserve one day, but this will have to do for now.

Women of Congress

While we patiently await an all-female Avengers movie, we have something in real life that’s just as great: the bold, diverse, and powerful women of the U.S. Congress. (I can hear cheering in my head right now.) I absolutely love dubbing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the “I say what I meme” Congresswoman and Nancy Pelosi as “Madame Clap Back.” The men of Congress better watch out.

Them Trumps – State of the Union

When the first Them Trumps sketch aired, I absolutely loved it. The similarities between Empire’s drama and the real-life drama in the White House was just too good to pass up. Although, I thought it would be a one-time thing. But let me just say, I’m glad they’re back for a whole lot more. (And I hope there’s still more to come down the line.)

Next week, Avengers: Endgame’s very own Don Cheadle will host, with Gary Clark Jr. as the musical guest for the night.