Oof. Emily Blunt has the unfortunate task of hosting a really terrible episode, as the writing staff fails again, but will probably, as usual, make some waves due to the ongoing Trump fiasco as he continues dragging the country through hell on his way to defeat. It’s not like Emily’s a bad host exactly, but she doesn’t leave much of a mark.
COLD OPEN: We start with the town hall debate, taking place in the wake of the Trump tape and the multiple accusations of sexual assault facing the orange asshole. The skit isn’t as good as the first debate one was, although they do get points for ridiculing the town hall questioners and showing Trump stalking Hillary around the stage like the shark from Jaws (all I think was missing was to have her whip around and spray him with mace).
MONOLOGUE: Emily comes out and leads a singalong of ‘C’mon, Get Happy’ with promises of fun, cookies and puppies handed out to random audience members. It’s fun.
ESCORTS: A terrible sketch where Emily and Leslie are weirdo, high priced escorts who have crazy demands for their clients (the two new guys whose names I have not learned yet- one of them is Mikey, but I don’t know who’s who). This isn’t funny at all, and yet again I can’t believe this skit is what they chose to start out with.
MELANIANADE: This will get the most attention, as Cecily co-wrote a dead on spoof of Beyonce’s ‘Sorry’ from Lemonade, with all the Trump women getting in on the action to diss the idiot in charge. Cecily’s Melania, Emily is Ivanka, Vanessa is Tiffany, Kate is KellyAnne, and Sasheer is Omarosa (lol). The funniest part to me was Beck’s cameo as Mike Pence, and Alec shows up at the end as Trump.
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL: A parody of a film festival Q&A, as the entire cast is involved in the pretentious short film starring Emily, leaving Vanessa as the sole audience member to ask everyone questions. I guess it makes a point about the annoying nature of some film festivals, but it’s not that funny and way too long.
CHONK: An ad for “average” size clothing for women intended to make everyone feel good, but advertising itself as “chonk,” which pisses off the models. It’s kinda okay, I guess, but the bar feels low tonight.
UPDATE: What else can we start with but multiple Trump jokes? If it’s any consolation this time, I think Jost and Che have had it and slam him hard on the many, many women he’s assaulted, as more seem to come forward every ten minutes. It’s starting to feel oppressive, and I can’t fucking wait for this nightmare election to be over. Kate comes on as the Russian peasant woman to comment on newly damaged US-Russian relations (she’s good), and Vanessa then does a bit as the Disney news kid, on all the assault stuff of course. Update may be the best part of the show today.
BURGER KING: And it’s followed by one of the worst skits the show has ever done. A party van pulls up to a drive thru and annoys Pete by having a different psycho greet him in every window of the vehicle and not order anything. I really can’t describe how awful (and long) this sketch is. Words fail me. It’s horrendous. NEVER bring this back, please.
THE SINK: A quick short with Emily doing a voiceover for a gaudy, weirdly shaped sink that feels out of place next to normal looking bathroom appliances. Odd, but at least there’s kind of a joke here, unlike the last one.
HONDA ROBOTS: A car exhibition that has Emily as one of two server robots who keep malfunctioning and annoying people in the crowd. Eh, this one’s lame, but Emily goes for it. I guess it’s not that bad, but it’s not hilarious either.
MELANIA MOMENTS: These are pretty solid, as in this one Melania fantasizes about having the maid replace her and “lie under Donald” so she can escape to the outside. Lol.
BRITISH BAKE-OFF: A spoof of the popular British reality show (which I have never seen, but I understand it’s a phenomenon in the UK), with Emily and Cecily as rude cockney contestants who don’t bake their cake right. It’s not that funny, to be honest. I think this must have been done as a nod to Emily, who’s probably a fan of the real show, but again, I have no idea what the references are, so it’s pretty much lost on me.
HAMPSTERS: Now this is an 11:55 skit alright. A totally off the wall spoof of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf set in a hampster cage, with Kate doing the Liz Taylor part in full hampster costume. I think this must have been Kate’s idea actually, and it’s SO weird that it almost kind of amuses me. Again, at least there’s something of a joke here.
So, this episode was really not good overall. It had the debate, it had another good Melania moment and it had the Lemonade spoof. Everything else was forgettable or really painful, and Emily didn’t elevate anything, unfortunately. I have to give it a D. I’ll be back next time with Tom Hanks, returning for his ninth hosting stint! See you guys then.
