Ryan Gosling's third time guest hosting “Saturday Night Live” should have been a victory party after a year of goodwill that began with his well-received performances on “Barbie,” and peaked with his “I 'I'm Just Ken.” ”Number at the Oscars in March. He even appeared on the Kristen Wiig-hosted episode last week to set up the bombshell.
But not everything goes your way, and instead of a party, Gosling's episode found one live sketch after another torpedoed by the host breaking character and trying to hold back his laughter. That nervous energy seemed to have infected other cast members who also couldn't read the pieces, particularly a “News Nation” sketch about the dangers of artificial intelligence that gets out of control when it's pointed out that two audience members are watching too much. . like the animated characters of “Beavis and Butt-Head” (Gosling and Mikey Day). Heidi Gardner, the host of the segment, couldn't stop laughing every time she turned to look at one of them.
Gosling first came to light, which could be blamed on hilarious “SNL” veteran Kate McKinnon, but Gosling's laughs continued in a sketch about a man who confides in a new friend that he doesn't want to get married. one about a man from Tennessee who likes to speak with a Cuban accent while hanging out at the Cabo Club, a sketch with Bowen Yang about a wacky doctor and surgeon who really likes crumbled cookies, and a parody of “Erin Brockovich ” with Chloe Fineman and Gosling reading long lists.
What this episode needed was a pre-recorded segment where Gosling could shine without the pressure of live performance, which made it even more disconcerting when a title card invited viewers to go online to watch “Papyrus 2,” a sequel to one of the best “SNL” sketches starring Gosling, written by comedian and filmmaker Julio Torres. It's a shame he didn't appear in the episode.
Musical guest Chris Stapleton performed “White Horse” and “Mountains of My Mind” and appeared in a music video called “Get That Boy Back.” There were no Please Don't Destroy videos this week.
This week's cold open was an alien abduction sketch, the third in a series featuring Kate McKinnon as the crazy and very genital-focused Miss Rafferty and Gosling. Gosling's character points out that she's even wearing the same clothes as her last time. Along with Gosling and McKinnon, cast member Sarah Sherman joined as each explained her alien experience. The term “troll nose” was used several times (it describes a part of the male body) and finally Miss Rafferty was under Gosling's legs describing what the aliens did to said troll nose.
The monologue was Gosling's opportunity to revisit the phenomenon that was Ken from “Barbie,” perhaps for the last time. At first, he said it was time to break up with Ken, but then Gosling defiantly decided to relive that glory again to the tune of Taylor Swift's “All Too Well.” Wearing Ken's fur coat, he enjoyed “that sweet definition of my washboard abs,” before being interrupted by his “The Fall Guy” co-star Emily Blunt, who claimed they had a whole plan to promote his new movie and it didn't work. involve “Kenning.” “You're embarrassing yourself,” she told him bluntly. She then hit Gosling with a breakaway chair. But before long, Blunt changed her tune and sang about how difficult it was to let go of her “Oppenheimer” character, Kitty, too. At the end, Gosling declared, “Ken will never die!”
Best Sketch of the Night: Revenge Gets Weird in 'Get That Boy Back'
Three women (Fineman, Ego Nwodim and Chloe Troast) sing about all the ways they get revenge on the men who wronged them. But Troast's character has them all beat with the psychological warfare he wages against his ex (Stapleton), which includes replacing his shoes with a pair half a size too big to make him think he's shrinking and employing his brother, a former CIA agent (Gosling), who will surreptitiously cut his hair and replace his Sudoku puzzles with unsolvable versions. The revenge continues to escalate until the singer realizes that her ex wasn't cheating on her after all and they decide to get back together, but not before Troast separates himself from the wall she was camouflaged against.
Also good: Beavis and Butt-Head in real life
An artificial intelligence expert (Kenan Thompson) struggles to express his thoughts when he keeps noticing that audience members look like Beavis and Butt-Head from the animated series. Beavis's character (Gosling) has a blonde pompadour and wears shorts and a “Death Rock” T-shirt, while Butt-Head's character (Day) has a permanent grimace. If it weren't for all the laughs, this one could have been great, especially with the final reveal of a group of men who look like characters from “King of the Hill.”
'Weekend Update' Winner: Caitlin Clark Calls Out Michael Che
Cast member Michael Longfellow made a half-hearted defense of men and weaponized incompetence, but it was the appearance of college basketball star Caitlin Clark that won the night. After “Update” co-host Michael Che made a tired joke about how Clark’s jersey was being hung up and replaced with an apron, Clark seemed to remind him, “You make a lot of jokes about women’s sports.” Several clips of Che mocking women's college basketball and the WNBA were played, prompting Clark to ask Che to read some jokes she wrote him. They included a joke about Indiana Fever being a sports team (and not something Che gives to the women he sleeps with) and a comment about Che's most recent Netflix special. Given her 3-point record, Clark offered these three to Che: “I know. More fun. Asshole.” She then presented him with a signed pink apron. When she said she would give it to her girlfriend, Clark responded, “You don't have a girlfriend, Michael.”
