Saturday Night Live review: Leslie Jones goes Game of Thrones on recent abortion laws

Paul Rudd wrapped up Saturday Night Live’s 44th season in an okay episode. Meanwhile, Leslie Jones shined in a speech against recent abortion laws.

For the season 44 finale, Saturday Night Live’s final host, Paul Rudd, didn’t really seem to be the star of the show. In fact, the real person making headlines from the night’s show was, in fact, SNL cast member Leslie Jones for her appearance on Weekend Update (see more on that down below).

Overall, Rudd tried his best in a mediocre episode similar to last week’s with Emma Thompson. Great talents, but severely underutilized. Very few of the sketches felt fun and original, but perhaps the writers could use a good summer break to recharge their batteries.

Though, without further ado, here’s the best of the best from Saturday night, including Jone’s speech and the star-studded cold open.

Cold Open

For a cold open featuring two of SNL’s favorite celebrities (Alec Baldwin and Robert De Niro), them singing there own version of “Don’t Stop Me Now” just didn’t seem to cut it. Maybe the singing made the words hard to hear, but I appreciate their effort to try and make this a fun opening.

Monologue

Paul Rudd opened by saying this was “hands down, the most anticipated finale of this weekend.” I mean, he’s not wrong, given most fans barely want to watch the final episode of Game of Thrones Sunday. As for Rudd? Nothing special about his monologue — but it was exciting to see him nonetheless.

Weekend Update

Leslie “Dracarys” Jones is our hero. On Weekend Update, she had a moment to voice her opinion about the recent abortion laws happening around the country. Once she shed her Handmaid’s Tale cloak and put it behind her, she literally looked like a superhero wearing a cape (how symbolic) — with the “Mine” on her chest with the arrow pointing down looking like her insignia.

Without giving away too many spoilers about Game of Thrones, her self-given middle name shows that she has no problem holding back when it comes to roasting the lawmakers in Alabama and Georgia. But, through her humorous speech, she took a serious moment to let all women know that they are not alone through this struggle.

Three must-see sketches

A Journey Through Time

I always seem to groan when I see this type of sketch come on —  the one where everyone’s giving a believable testimony, then Kate McKinnon’s character blows her’s completely out of the water. Still, I always end up getting a laugh out of it, and this one is no exception. Plus, you have to love Paul Rudd’s character in this first sketch of the night.

GoT Tribute

Lots of stars have tried to recreate the feel of Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island’s success with music videos. And Pete Davidson comes close in this one, rapping about his favorite show, Game of Thrones— er, make that Grace and Frankie. There are a few cool cameos in this, including Game of Thrones actor Jacob Anderson (Grey Worm), which made it pretty enjoyable.

The View: Peter Buttigieg

After a run of mediocre sketches, I was thinking “Thank goodness. Finally, a sketch with good potential.” The ladies of The View started off discussing abortion laws. But one thing leads to another, and they’re all of the sudden crushing hard on Joe Biden (in front of 2020 presidential candidate Peter Buttigieg, played by Paul Rudd). This may not be as great as the first The View sketch, but it beats the other sketches by a long shot.

That’s it for Saturday Night Live’s 44th season. Who was your favorite host this season? Let us know in the comments!