Saturday Night Live: Sabrina Carpenter excels in a silly episode that mostly avoids politics | Saturday Night Live

IIt was 50 years ago, to the day that Paul Simon hosted and was the musical guest for the second episode of NBC’s then-nascent new series, then called Saturday Night on NBC. So, it’s a cosmic twist of fate for Simone’s televised duet partner to host the opening of the much-hyped 50th anniversary special, tonight, the third episode of the 51st season.

Aside from her status as a pop hitmaker, Sabrina Carpenter has an acting pedigree. Girl meets world, anyone? She’s clearly an 8H favorite: aside from her memorable appearance on the 50th, she served as musical guest in the May season finale and her song Espresso was the basis for Domingo’s famous sketch, which was also relaunched on the 50th. This time you’re doing double duty. Let’s see how Mrs. Please Please Please fits in with the recently updated cast as the show faced a 12-minute start time delay thanks to the football game being skipped.

Last season when Ariana Grande hosted, she went viral for her sketch of Domingo as a wedding party serenaded by Carpenter’s Espresso song, which inadvertently reveals that the bride, played by Chloe Fineman, is cheating on her clueless husband (Andrew Dismukes) with Domingo (Marcelo Hernandez). So, tonight, instead of opening up politically, the show decided to start with another chapter in the adventures of Domingo, the homewrecker. In this film, husband Dismukes turns 30, prompting Carpenter and his friends to detail more cheating adventures to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Alex Warren’s “Ordinary.” They also sing Ophelia’s Fate, a Taylor Swift track. The longtime celebrity was in tonight’s episode as she continues to bring up The Life of a Showgirl, in which Carpenter also appears. Spoiler alert: she never showed up.

Carpenter is center stage and instead of singing (she will do that later), she delivers a hodgepodge of chops, many of which relate to the hyper-erotic lyrics she regularly sings about. “I’m not only horny, I’m sexually charged and I love reading,” she said. Her controversial album cover? She jokes that the hand was actually Bowen Yang pulling her hair back at 50. Meanwhile, the moment Carpenter walked into the crowd was fixed. What do you expect when you’re speaking to an actual audience (including a self-proclaimed venture capitalist)? Kenan Thompson comes in to wrap things up. He’s been on the show (age 23) a little longer than Carpenter (she’s 26).

SNL always has to cater to the times and while podcasting is still an art form that dominates the culture, they’re addressing that trend with this sketch where female cast members including Fineman, Jane Wickline, and Carpenter do perfect impressions of pre-teen boys who love snacks. Meanwhile, since James Austin Johnson’s impression of Trump was MIA from the cold open (which is surprising, especially in light of the No Kings protests that made headlines today) he inexplicably appeared on the show to talk about candy as well. Trump Johnson also became philosophical about his life and the possibility of entering heaven. “It was a good tour, a great time,” he recalls.

It’s scary movie season, and what’s scarier than having to follow through on plans (gasp!)? Here, Carpenter is paired with Ben Marshall as a couple struggling with the possibility, nausea, and anxiety that comes with the prospect of a Blumhouse horror movie idea with lines like: “They want to have drinks here and then go to the ramen place that goes viral!” All of this leads Marshall to shout “Just tell them we have Covid!” It should be noted that he is a member of Please Don’t Destroy who was promoted to featured player after the trio broke up at the beginning of the season. He then appears several times throughout the episode, proving his staying power.

Then a recurring sketch combines the fun and style of Will Ferrell and Nancy Walls’ classic 1995 sitcom Wake Up and Smile with the silly smut of the classic Christmas show Delicious Dish: Schweddy Balls with Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer. Here, cast member Ashley Padilla (replacing Heidi Gardner who previously starred in the sketch) channels Walls, while Mikey Day plays Ferrell-counter in the QVC version. They invite guest Carpenter who sells a travel pillow that looks like a lady’s private part. Cue the puns and vaginal jokes. The twist here is that unlike the Schweddy Balls, these characters know very well what a pillow looks like, and feels like, scary. “Blur this!”

And one two three. Carpenter plays a motivational dancer, no matter what. The joke here is that she falls, gets a bad concussion, and starts talking nonsense, to borrow the name of one of her signature songs. However, sometimes the best moments are the unplanned ones. Here, the dummy that’s supposed to break through the window fails, prompting Thompson to power it the rest of the way. This mishap breaks Feynman’s character, and is arguably the most magical moment in the show.

Lorne Michaels knows his audience. He has always said that his favorite SNL cast was the ones he watched growing up. So, here’s another nod to middle school kids, this time in the form of an infectious pop song about, well, grinding at the school dance. The show must target the youngest viewers in order to remain relevant, of course. Meanwhile, Bowen Yang easily takes over vocals in the pre-tape, which is a smart way to take advantage of him, considering Yang announced earlier in the day that he would be skipping the live portion since he’s being honored in Los Angeles tonight at the Academy Museum’s lavish gala. Not a bad reason to play hockey.

Multiple Goegre Santos gags were worn during the second weekend update of the season with the recent news of Trump’s pardon of him. “President Trump just released what everyone told him to release,” Colin Jost joked before shouting at Santos.

Meanwhile, Hernandez plays the character Movie Guy; His film clip, dressed as a guide with a thick accent, goes off the rails because he hasn’t actually seen much. “Black phone 2, rang rang?” He says. “Sorry, I got the number wrong. I haven’t seen that number yet.”

Meanwhile, new cast member Tommy Brennan makes his debut in the update, combining Norm MacDonald’s dry delivery and Bill Murray’s Midwestern charm with jokes about growing up with a milkman and his old-fashioned handsomeness. “I come from a family of eight children,” he says. “Maybe this is the wrong choice.”

Do you know how washers and dryers play a small role when the load is finished? Well, what if they sang? Ladies and gentlemen, that’s the concept of this drawing. Fortunately, he knew very well how crazy he was. When Dismukes’ character decides to buy one, fascinated by the singing potpourri, he goes to pay for it with a bag full of money with a dollar sign on it, similar to a Looney Tunes cartoon. If you want to be silly, you might as well be inclined to be silly.

The deliciously stupid train continues here, as cast member Ashely Padilla, who is quickly turning into a supporting player appearing in a number of sketches since last week’s premiere, simply can’t stop farting in front of her well-meaning office colleagues, including Carpenter and Marshall, who want to celebrate her birthday. The drawing eventually turns into her asking what everyone is doing. “Great Christmas everyone,” she says. “I farted and was demoted.”

In the grand tradition of T Sean Shannon’s Bear City, and a host of shorts directed by future heavyweight Adam McKay, here writer Martin Herlihy becomes a rare SNL writer to be honored with a score bearing his name. Timed to Halloween (one of the episode’s only nods to the upcoming holiday) Herlihy harkens back to Eddie Murphy’s White Like Me (1984) with a hidden camera social experiment of what people would do if they entered a theater where the audience was full of Frankensteins. Add a mention of Mary Shelley and multiple accusations of racism, and you have a completely bizarre ending to a show that was already steeped in its own stupidity.