SNL Recap: Regina King/Nathaniel Rateliff
We’re gonna make this quick cause it’s 5:20 PM and I’m doing everything in my power to not crawl into bed. Why am I tired all the time? Good question! I don’t know, but I am worried about it!
This week’s Saturday Night Live was hosted by actual reverse aging goddess Regina King. The cold open was, obviously, about Trump’s acquittal, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty sick of political cold opens. It’s not like I think it’s too serious to make fun of or anything, but I’ve just been finding it pretty depressing. That being said, Kate McKinnon as Lindsey Graham and Aidy Bryant as Ted Cruz was perfect casting.
After the cold open, most of the sketches were fairly middle of the road, although Regina King consistently created spot on characters and seemed well in her element amongst the cast. Even if the sketches themselves weren’t particularly strong, her contributions as lawyer Latrice Commode representing people who use Gorilla Glue in place of beauty products in “Gorilla Glue,” as a contestant attracted to cringe-y white men on the matchmaking show “What’s Your Type,” and as demanding disco diva Fliona in “70s Green Room” (alongside Bowen Yang as her good for nothing manager), were all incredibly strong performances. She was on her A-game all night and also looked stunning, it simply wasn’t fair.
While most of the sketches were of fairly average SNL quality, there were two absolute standouts. In one sketch, McKinnon, Bryant, and King appeared as members of a feminist theatre troupe brought in to a high school to do a student appropriate version of their Off-Broadway show. The result was an impeccably spot on parody of a particular feminist theatre mainstay, but I won’t share the title at risk of ruining the joke.
And finally, for the most important sketch of the evening, I leave you with absolutely no introduction because I simply cannot explain what you are about to watch, here is “The Negotiator.”
I wish it was exaggerating to say I cannot stop thinking about that sketch, but I truly cannot stop thinking about that sketch.
Oh, and one final thing. I have no thoughts about the musical guest. See you next week when my love, Rege-Jean Page hosts alongside another musical guest I could not care less about!