SNL Recap, Season 49, Episode 18: Dua Lipa

A few weeks ago, an activist Talk to Alec Baldwin in the café, phone camera first, asking the actor to speak on behalf of Palestine – right there, right there. When Baldwin objected, the activist poked and provoked him with deeply personal insults until the actor knocked the phone out of his hand. It’s just a slightly enhanced microcosm of what you must be feeling in this moment anyone With a high-profile platform as the world’s largest, most flammable, and most difficult to engage in civil debate News story It continues until its eighth month.

since Saturday Night Live It has provided running commentary on topical comedy for 49 years, but the show is burdened with unfair expectations to invent the perfect thing to say about the war between Israel and Hamas — or at least take a clear position. For reasons left undisclosed to the media, she never did. (Although Ramy Youssef did so on behalf of the show during his final role as host.) And as the season ends, with the first of its final three episodes, the series hasn’t gotten any better at finding neutral ways to address the looming war. Over the course of the entire season. However, I found a clever way to say something rather than saying nothing.

“It’s wrong to stay silent, but it’s also wrong to say too much. I just wish there was a way to split the difference!” Heidi Garner’s unnamed character laments Sketch It mocks the very expectations that the show and its performers face. the solution? “Tiny Brooches” – Brooches so small, they make the Ceasefire Brooches that dotted the Oscars red carpet look like a Flava Flav watch pendant. Earlier, though, the show shows what it’s actually like to join the conversation and say nothing.

Cold open Focuses on the wave of controversial college protests that dominated news coverage last week from the perspective of these students’ parents. It’s like watching a circus performer bend her body at improbable angles, the way this scene manages to avoid offending or validating anyone at all. In the context of an introduction with a drawing like this, the following diagram seemed like a nod to the difficult situation the writers find themselves in—and to their awareness of how it works.

Elsewhere in the show, pop star W.M The thriving actor Dua Lipa pulls double duty next Make a splash in drawing During her last appearance as a musical guest. the next Charming monologue, blessed by her wonderful parents, Dua is often relegated to the sidelines and given very few words. However, when she does get the spotlight, her off-the-charts presence more than justifies her hostess choice. Although somewhat hampered by a pair of not necessary sequel Sketchesthe episode is elevated by some big twists that are as bold in their own right as the series’ topical humor this season.

Here are the highlights:

Dua Lipa plays a high-society woman who is inexplicably drawn to a strange “gay man,” played by — who else? -Sarah Sherman. The drawing takes its sweet time to reach a development that is at odds with its setting in 1897 London, with little applause from the audience along the way. But what saves it from being wrong is the audacity to broadcast it at all. The pre-recorded portion of this episode could have very easily relied on Dua Lipa’s skill at creating a funny music video. Instead, she shows off her performing skills with some huge acting chops in a wild scene Elephant man, a film her twenty-something fanbase may not be familiar with. Also works in the drawing’s favor: the line “I’ll ride your face until it’s natural.”

What begins as a bizarre ode to white local TV hosts forced to discuss the Kendrick-Drake rap beef, eventually devolves into absolute delirium. Not since Dave Chappelle forced Mickey Day to talk like a cartoon pimp Meta drawing 2022 he have SNL Stream anything racially uncomfortable (in a fun way!) as Day and Gardner puppeteer Drake and Kendrick Lamar in face masks to challenge each other to say the N-word. It’s a rare and exciting moment in this show where viewers may not quite believe what they’re seeing.

The episode’s signature graphic blends two current cultural obsessions: Those creepy Sonny Angel sex dolls And Zendaya’s exciting tennis movie, United. It’s a funny premise, enlivened by inventive staging and Bowen Yang’s cocky performance as the bottomless puppet who doubles as Dua’s “little friend.” (Don’t ask, just watch).

The chameleon that Chloe Fineman was making JoJo Siwa impressions For at least four years, so Siwa’s new character is a perfect fit for Fineman’s parallel revamp. Although she and Colin Jost trade barbs about Siwa’s new look (“As if it were Mad Max on Broadway”), there is some affection woven into the sarcasm. Instead of just making fun of Siwa personally, Finnman goes more like that any The fresh-looking 20-year-old tends to act as if he invented the concept of reinvention.

And finally, we get to the most WTF sketch of the night with its fair share of them. Kenan Thompson plays a barbecue restaurant’s rib captain who late in his career turns to gynecology. The straight face he uses while treating a pregnant woman’s body like brisket – inside and out – challenges Ego Nwodim’s ability to hold back a fit of laughter. (Punky Johnson enters the scene late, and explodes as soon as he enters.) It’s gross and unhealthy, but for those who crave edgy comedy, it’s just what the doctor ordered.

• It will be difficult not to pronounce Dua Lipa’s name from now on the way Yang does In the monologue. (“Do-AHH.”)

• For those who enjoy Product label drawinghere the first From last season with Ana de Armas. For those who enjoyed Draw the tone of the songhere the first From last season with Jenna Ortega. It can be difficult to determine the differences between iterations of either.

• Calling ASAP Rocky “ASAP Rocky” is a nice touch Good morning, Grenfell Painting.

• Penne alla vodka is actually the world’s least rejected pasta, and it took it This drawing To make me realize that this is not necessarily a compliment.

• Marcelo Hernandez’s desperate concentration as he presses buttons to communicate is the pinnacle of his performance Kristi Noem’s other dog.

• Jerry Seinfeld may be right in suggesting that Ryan Gosling, Like Seinfeld himself, at the risk of doing too much journalism; But the difference between the two is that Gosling’s journalistic strategy involves nothing Complaining in such an annoying way It generates a secondary wave of earned media for the Pop Tarts movie.

• I’d rather watch a “Please Don’t Destroy” video than a “Please Don’t Destroy” video, but this episode could have used a Please Don’t Destroy video.