It's Tom Hanks, guys! One of the all-time great SNL hosts is back for his ninth crack at it, which means it's a better episode than last week's, almost automatically. There's something about the innate joy in Tom that makes you smile just watching him host this thing, and he's somebody who actually does elevate whatever kind of sketch he's in, so it was a good night to have him.
COLD OPEN: The hosts don't usually show up in the opening, but when you've got Tom Hanks and it's the final presidential debate, then why not? He gets to play Chris Wallace, who moderated the last of the shitshows, and Alec and Kate bring their A-game to the final showdown, where Trump's own words get incorporated into the sketch almost verbatim. Kate's Hillary gets some great moments here as well, promising to feast on Trump this time around and rattling off her credentials with glee. I don't know what they're going to do with Alec now that the debates are over, but I have to assume we'll see him again as Trump at least a couple more times before America finally passes this orange kidney stone. It's getting ever closer, people.
MONOLOGUE: Tom puts on a sweater and gives a lecture to the country in his role as America's "dad." It's pretty funny, as he tells us it's normal for the complexion to keep getting darker and that we're a lot "gayer" than we used to be, too (lol).
BLACK JEOPARDY: I normally don't think this sketch is all that funny, but this one works, solely because of Tom as Doug, a redneck Trump supporter who actually knows the answers and has a lot in common with the contestants. That is...until we get to the Black Lives Matter category. I liked this skit because it felt like it had a real point to make, which is unusual in the writing for most SNL sketches. Nice job.
HALLOWEEN BLOCK PARTY: Tom and Cecily are a couple who puts on a show for their neighbors that they've worked on for a year, which basically is just them belting out songs with gusto. I haven't seen Tom really go for it in the singing before, but this is pretty stupid.
BROKEN: A spoof of 30-minute shows that qualify as comedies even though they're dramas. This is targeting Transparent, with everyone in tears and moaning about their lives, and ads running over it to point out how "funny" it is. It's spot on, I have to say (and I say that as a Transparent fan).
FLOORS OF FRIGHTS: Kate and Beck are a couple being scared in a haunted house elevator ride, except for Tom, whose character David Pumpkins is a random dancer in the middle of the scares. This didn't make me laugh, aside from Tom's going for it crazy eyes look, but I have a feeling some people will like it. It's one of those weird characters that some go for and some don't. I didn't this time.
UPDATE: More debate jokes from Jost and Che, who I cannot stand much of the time, and tonight was one of the worst. Ugh. Che especially, go fuck yourself with your overly privileged asshole or at least do some homework on who Hillary Clinton is, you ignorant shit. How I wish Samantha Bee could be on every one of these lame shows. Leslie comes on to do a stand-up bit defending herself from the hack she suffered over the summer- it's probably her finest moment, given how awful and gross that attack was. Then Cecily comes on as the dreaded (for me) Girl at a Party, but come on- let's have the funnier version of this character instead, which is Drunk Uncle. Where's he been this season?
SULLY: Tom plays Sully Sullenberger, who wants to get back into piloting, but is forced to be an assistant to the new captain, played by Alec Baldwin! He annoys him with his constant commenting on his celebrity and trying to take over the plane, which is kind funny. Guess Alec stuck around because he wanted to do a skit with Tom Hanks. Who wouldn't?
A GIRL'S HALLOWEEN: A pre-taped bit where Vanessa, Aidy and Cecily are dressing up cute for Halloween and wanting to just grab dinner in a low key girl's night out, but wind up getting hammered, wreaking havoc in a restaurant and making fools of themselves on the street in "before" and "after" cutaways. I don't usually like a lot of these but for some reason I actually kind of liked this one. Shrug.
AMERICA'S FUNNIEST PETS: Tom does his Ron Howard impression for the pet show host, while Kate and Cecily come on as the French commentators who go super dark, murderous and suicidal on the pet videos. They did this one before, it's good for a couple laughs.
Well, Tom Hanks elevates quite a bit and pretty much makes you smile at anything he's in, so I would say this episode gets a solid B. It wasn't overly hilarious but it didn't have anything painful either, and a great host makes it easy and fun to watch at least. This was the rare fourth episode in a row for the show, as it takes next week off and comes back on the 5th with Benedict Cumberbatch (!) hosting, for the last episode before the election. Whew, thank god we're almost there! The country will hopefully be breathing a huge sigh of relief after this year and a half long nightmare.
