Last night’s episode of SNL was the embodiment of Chris Hemsworth’s career: playful, safe, pretty vanilla, and good for a few chuckles. While nothing stood out as being extraordinary or absolutely awful, sometimes that’s ok. We’re all just biding our time for the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler-hosted episode on December 19 anyway. See how it all went down last night, below.
The Best
“George W. Bush Cold Open”
Will Ferrell resumes his role as George W. Bush to brag about being the least of all evils. “It’s a pretty good plot twist that I turned out to be the smart one.”
“Chris Hemsworth Returns Monologue”
Little C. Hemmie doesn’t know his own strength.
“Star Wars Toy Commercial”
For the grown man who collects toys that will never be played with, SNL salutes you.
“On the Record”
In this episode of “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren,” “loud-mouth jabroni” Chris Christie (Bobby Moynihan) speaks for one of his own kind.
“Time to Bleed”
A tough-guy action movie star just won’t go to the hospital.
“Brother 2 Brother: Wrestling Meet”
Hemsworth and Taran Killam resurrect this character duo favorite. These twins look nothing alike — and everyone is quick to remind Killam’s wimpier brother of that fact.
“Weekend Update”
Kate McKinnon returns as Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, who was recently voted Time magazine’s Person of the Year. She’s not happy with her cover photo, though. Jeb Bush gets cast in that Sarah McLachlan animal cruelty video you can’t watch, and Leslie Jones just discovered Breaking Bad (and wants Colin Jost to be her emotionally crippled white guy sidekick).
“Brunch”
If only to see Hemsworth in a wig and dress calling everyone “bitches.”
“Pirate Ship”
Featured player Jon Rudnitsky makes a brief leading appearance as a wacky pirate with a little pep in his step who likes to tease his shipmates with fake hook hands. The comedian’s goofy grin and bug-eyed glances make him a fun, animated addition to the group, so hopefully we’ll be seeing what else he’s capable of soon.
The Worst
“Christmas Sing-a-long”
At a couple’s holiday party, they insist on singing a show tune called “Debra’s Time” — which turns out to be about a woman’s horrible holiday experience and broken relationship. Sadly, SNL didn’t push the yarn about Debra’s struggles as far as they should have. You keep waiting for the disaster to unfold, but instead the joke turns out to be about a Smucker’s TV commercial.
“Male Strippers”
Welcome to the strip joint where the male dancers are from Tisch School of the Arts and try really hard. The sketch doesn’t quite come together, but Jon Rudnitsky’s leaping ballet dancer is much appreciated. The strippers need to take a lesson from SNL‘s ridiculous high-school drama club sketch with a social message that’s been popping up more and more lately.
Musical Guest: Chance the Rapper