Saturday Night Live review: Robert De Niro captures how the Mueller report probably went down

Sandra Oh hosted SNL for the first time with musical guest Tame Impala. Plus, Robert De Niro stopped by again for a surprise appearance as Robert Mueller.

It’s been a star-packed season for Saturday Night Live, and it didn’t stop with Saturday’s episode featuring Sandra Oh. Not only did Alec Baldwin return once again to play a happily innocent Donald Trump, but Robert De Niro also returned to play a fact-giving Robert Mueller.

Overall, Oh’s performance was incredible throughout the whole night. She’s a talented actress, so this goes without saying. But some of the roles for her were hit or miss. While I’m all in favor of the cast members taking the chance to lead a sketch, the best part is arguably when the host gets their time to shine, too. Unfortunately, Oh didn’t get all the time in the world to shine, but she did have her moments.

Read on to see three must-watch sketches from the show, including one that parodies the insanely popular Us from Jordan Peele.

Cold Open

SNL had not one surprise guest for the cold open, but two. It was inevitable that SNL would cover the Mueller report findings from the past week, and I like that they brought in both Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump and Robert De Niro as Robert Mueller again. Kudos to the creative game of “telephone” between Mueller, Attorney General William Barr and Trump, because I’m pretty sure that’s how this all went down.

Monologue

Sandra Oh is all about tooting her horn as an Asian Canadian-American in her monologue. Originally from Canada, Oh revealed in her monologue that she’s had a hard time adjusting her personality from the politeness of being Canadian to the boisterous nature of being American. If her monologue is any indication of her progress, we’re sure she’ll be fine.

Weekend Update

Feel how you may about Jeanine Pirro, but I always love when Cecily Strong comes on to play this very… animated character. I’m not sure how often Strong has actually played Pirro on Update, but it was an interesting choice to bring her on to this segment. As Pirro, Strong gives her feelings about the Mueller report and — much like the cold open — this feels pretty accurate to what her thoughts might have been in real life.

Three must-see sketches

Discover Card

Shoutout to SNL for doing a clever Us parody. If Jordan Peele were to direct commercials, I’m sure that’s exactly how this would go. Luckily, if you haven’t seen the movie, this doesn’t spoil anything you wouldn’t have seen in the trailers.

Future Self

Who would ever think in the year 2019 that we would get to see Sandra Oh play a trashy, wild girlfriend who you’d never imagine bringing to your parents? That’s who Oh characterizes when a scrawny youngster (played by Mikey Day) gets to look into his future. Tischy (Oh’s character) is in fact so fun that I’d love to see her again in another sketch. Fingers crossed that Oh gets to host a second time.

The Duel

There is so much going on in this sketch that it deserves to be on the must-watch list. Oh plays an old-timey woman whose heart belongs to two men. The only way to settle their score is through a duel that goes terribly, terribly wrong.

Game of Thrones fans will want to stay tuned next week. Kit Harington will host on April 6 with musical guest Sara Bareilles joining him.