Charades with mom – If you've forgotten Ariana Grande's childlike stage energy, this sketch will surely remind you of it. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Grande, aside from her unique voice, is her precision in reading lines. Even when she briefly mixes up a line in this sketch, she manages to quickly recover and with such clear enunciation that she doesn't lose the line. What's more, she has moments of such abrupt, melodramatic dialogue that you can't underestimate how good she is at it. When you think about it, “SNL” is like a Broadway show that's simply broadcast to millions of people around the world. With all her concert and stage experience, Grande has all the skills needed, including a more than passable comedic presence and timing. The escalating conflict of charades between Ariana as a competitive mother and Bowen Yang as her son's new boyfriend is delightfully absurd, and the result is a great live sketch.
Castrated – Just seeing Ariana Grande as a little boy during the Italian Renaissance is enough to make you laugh. This massive bowl cut into its tiny frame is inherently fun, but the sketch surrounding it makes it even better. Andy Samberg and Maya Rudolph take part in the fun as the parents of a little boy who, thanks to the magic of, as they say, castration, transforms him into a beautifully singing singer. Listening to Grande sing with a traumatized, high-pitched voice is rather funny, but even funnier are the close-ups of her perpetually terrified face. James Austin Johnson and Kenan Thompson add even more as they react to the disturbing revelations, and this one also has a solid ending.
Maybelline – If you thought Ariana Grande was only good at musical impressions, think again. In this case, Grande stands shoulder to shoulder with the fantastic performance of Chloe Fineman as “The White Lotus” and Jennifer Coolidge, her partner from “Legally Blonde”, and proves that she really has talent. Grande and Fineman even crack up a little as they try to find a mirror image in the sketch, which very clearly takes inspiration from Jimmy Fallon's famous Mick Jagger sketch from years ago. But the real treat is the unexpected addition of a third Jennifer Coolidge, played by Dana Carvey. While Carvey isn't as good as Grande or Fineman, it's more the effort and sight that makes the gag land hard. Part of me wonders if they really wanted to do this with Coolidge, who was supposed to guest last year before Writers Guild of America strikes caused the final episodes of Season 49 to be canceled.
As for less unusual sketches, Celine Dion's sports ad for UFC featured an impressive impression of singer Ariana Grande, but overall the sketch wasn't a home run. Hotel Detective was a nice riff on Twilight Zone, but it seemed to be missing something. But if there was one sketch that felt like a dud, it was Bridesmaids Speech. It was a pretty clumsy use of Sabrina Carpenter's hit “Espresso,” and while that's the point of the sketch, since Ariana Grande even lowered her amazing voice to make it seem like a normal bridesmaid singing with the bride's friends, it never quite seemed to settle into a good rhythm. There was often a lack of time, especially when you had to cut to the right camera several times, which made everything seem tense.
Meanwhile, it was the worst cold open we've had this season, even though it wasn't downright terrible. While I appreciate that they tried to shake things up with the “Family Feud” framework, the actual content and punch lines felt rather forced. While Kenan Thompson is always great as Steve Harvey, it didn't work well for the political satire at this point. However, there was one more ingredient missing, which we will talk about a little later.
