After a cold open dedicated to Ukraine, Mulaney was in full control—singing, getting his Five-Timer jacket, and opening up about his stint in rehab and baby son with Olivia Munn.
From the seriousness of Kate McKinnon's jaw and the softness of Cecily Strong's eyes, you can tell right away that Saturday's Cold Open won't be played for laughs. No one was going to be called to try and play Russian Monster. Ukraine's heroic and embattled President Volodymyr Zelensky won't be mined for humor on the SNL stage tonight. Instead, the show's twin moral compass introduced New York's Ukrainian chorus Dumka: 18 sad men and women, dressed in traditional garb, were mourning "Prayer for Ukraine".
The shadow and tension on their faces, the sad glow of three vases of sunflowers, and the candles spelling "Kiev" on the old-fashioned wooden table brought a beautiful wall of emotion, reminiscent of McKinnon's performance of "Hallelujah" . 2016 election. "I'm not giving up," she said again. "You shouldn't either." Hang in there, President Zelensky. The world sees, the heart is in the throat.
This week's episode did some wonders in balancing the tone. The cold open was upright and galvanizing, a true stranglehold. Yet the debate in new five-timer host John Mulaney's zingy monologue was an easy respite. He wisely understood that the Dumka chorus had given a serious and endearing respect, and now the audience needs to laugh. to laugh at him.
"After a very complicated year, it's wonderful to be in a place where the emphasis is always on sobriety and mental health," Mullane said. Some of his tabloid highlights were off-limits, as he politely skewered his intervention, breaking up with his drug dealer during his two months in rehab, and having a son with girlfriend Olivia Munn. All babies should have a calzone for their feet. A photo of her going into the commercial break later in the episode reveals that she also has meatballs for baby cheeks.
The funniest sketch of the night saw a group of friends gather inside a restaurant for dinner, with Kenan Thompson forgetting that he still had his mask on the table. What followed was a tentative, terrifying conversation in which a pro-vaccine, pro-science group dared to voice the chaos of perceived best practices. "Science has changed!" Excuse the CDC's mixed message, says one. ("But how does science change?" whispered another.) Bowen Yang breaks his glass in his hand, Eddie Bryant vanishes under her purse, Heidi Gardner busts the Avengers gauntlet and sits at one of her tables to testify. Rather than dust themselves off, liberal friends were wondering whether masking was really a worthwhile sacrifice.
"At least Biden sent all those tests over Christmas!" Someone said hopefully, at which Yang sniffed: "You mean, two tests for a family of eight that froze in the mail?" Come on No one laughs to avoid tearing their hair out for what it's all about: really squirming maggots and exploding rats and a smiling Lynchian montage from Brendan Fraser's Golden Globe table.
Mulaney performed the show all night long in the smooth palm of his hand. The whole episode had the impression of his crunchiness and absurdity. Of course, there was a big production number, where they launched into a New York Mets cardigan in a parody of Fiddler on the Roof. He was the blackest white man at a family reunion, trampling arrogance novodim in the dance line with a card for spades on hand. They introduced the second number of the LCD soundsystem which is still splattered in green. And he found his five-timer velvet jacket, taken from Paul Rudd—the one that had already lost so much when his five-timer episode was torpedoed when matters escalated before Christmas. “Not to be a total bitch,” said Rudd, “but my five-timer show was about to get a lot better. That is, until the whole cast decided to call in sick.”
There were also Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Tina Fey, Elliot Gould and Conan O'Brien to celebrate joining the club. Had Russia not declared war on Ukraine one would have wondered if this wonderful and spectacular sketch was originally planned for the cold open. And a free bag of Blue Buffalo dog food for which Martin's line is "Oh, Megan Mullally!" When Mulaney first entered the room.
It was good for the soul to see Mulaney flourish, and to see Rudd being called back for a proper encore. Rudd, that bluebird of a man, was also a hit with the Please Don't Destroy sketch, in which he went to town on the keys like Back in Day on Friends. And wouldn't you know that it was Rudd, Mensch, who paid the most attention to the chorus Dumka, standing there looking lost on the stage as he bid farewell to the cast. Truly, those six men and 12 women did a heroic job tonight, and deserve all the praise and comfort in the world.