John Mulaney’s Saturday Night time Dwell episodes have turn into one thing akin to custom since he first hosted in 2018. The previous SNL author’s grandiose musical numbers and irreverent adoration of popular culture make him a assured brilliant spot at any time when he seems. However between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Mulaney’s current stints in rehab for drug dependancy (which he has mentioned publicly), that assurance felt fragile within the lead-up to final evening’s episode. SNL’s struggles with the best way to strategy—not to mention giggle about—the darkness of current instances sowed doubt about how it could have interaction with two troublesome topics, if in any respect.
Moderately than attempt to tease a punch line from the tragedy of struggle, the episode opened by making area for one thing extra poignant. SNL invited the Ukrainian Refrain Dumka of New York to open with an emotional efficiency of the tune “Prayer for Ukraine.” When Kate McKinnon and Cecily Sturdy stepped in to solemnly utter these well-known phrases “Dwell from New York, it’s Saturday evening,” the digital camera zoomed in on a desk set with candles spelling out Kyiv. The intro recalled McKinnon’s transferring chilly open—additionally sung somberly—shortly after Donald Trump’s shock election in 2016.
Mulaney then delivered a candid opening monologue about his current private upheaval: rehab, divorce, and the delivery of his son. “In December of 2020, I went to dinner at a pal’s residence,” he informed the viewers final evening. “However it was not dinner. It was an intervention. For me. My least favourite sort of intervention.” As a comic, Mulaney is usually private in a means that doesn’t sacrifice his privateness. In his stand-up specials, he’s mentioned his dependancy, his now-former marriage, and his childhood, forgoing emotion as a way to be intelligent. However this monologue had a brand new air of openness. Discussing a product recall that had affected his toddler son’s favourite sort of pacifier, he famous the necessity in his little boy’s eyes. “Ah, I wish to use these however I can’t, as a result of they may kill me,” he quipped as his son, earlier than replying as himself. “Welcome to my world, homie.” It was novel territory for the comic. It was additionally a refreshing strategy for SNL: a tonal shift that acknowledged the vulnerability required to handle the present second.
Nonetheless, SNL made room for Mulaney to do what he does finest. Unsurprisingly, the episode’s standout was his musical medley, which added to “Diner Lobster,” “Bodega Toilet,” “Airport Sushi,” and “New York Musical.” Set this time in a New York subway station, “Subway Churro” begins with Andrew Dismukes shopping for a late-night snack, triggering a phantasmagoria of the ne’er-do-wells that hang-out the platforms. McKinnon performed “a puddle of unidentifiable origin” consistently threatening subway riders. Delightfully twirling in a shiny blob of a dressing up, she sang to the tune of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables: “I’m the liquid on the ground / Am I pee or Mountain Dew? / Don’t fear, I’m flowing in direction of the door / Simply kidding, I’m gonna contact your shoe.”
The solid mustered the power to ship “Subway Churro,” however elsewhere strained to achieve the silliness essential to promote the extra absurd sketches. In “Monkey Trial,” Mulaney performed a courtroom choose who’s additionally a primate. However the jokes largely revolved round prolonged verbal bits about particular monkey observations, quite than the mannerisms which may have helped the premise. In the meantime, SNL saved “Weekend Replace” noticeably brief—with merely just a few surface-level swipes on the battle in Ukraine—and didn’t invite out any colourful characters.
In one other timeline, this episode would have been a celebration of Mulaney becoming a member of the 5-Timers Membership, an elite group of performers who’ve hosted the present 5 instances. A glut of alumni appeared to toast and tease Mulaney, together with Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Paul Rudd, Tina Fey, and Elliott Gould. (When Mulaney walked onstage, Martin exclaimed, “Oh, Megan Mullally!”) A sketch is rarely simple to tug off with so many individuals, however Conan O’Brien—who isn’t a five-timer—livened it up with a passionate speech about former writers claiming the highlight. “John and I had been by no means alleged to be on TV,” he exclaimed. “We’re hideous.” The sketch was candy, although barely stilted—the A-listers appeared hesitant to completely have fun something.
Humor, understandably, feels onerous to come back by lately. However the concurrence of Mulaney looking for his comedic footing after a personally disorienting time and SNL attempting to placed on a present amid a globally disorienting week truly felt resonant. Mulaney needed to reckon with the unfamiliar. He lacked the panache and confidence of his earlier self, but his earnestness shone by way of. He was actually attempting. Maybe that’s all any of us can hope for proper now.
