Jacob Elordi, Renée Rapp, and Rachel McAdams (!) Enliven ‘SNL’

The best sketch of the night was Ego Nwodim sending up a Katt Williams shit-talking interview with Devon Walker’s Shannon Sharpe. Promising a conversation of brutal honesty, Nwodim’s Williams boasted that “I am 5’3, I have never told a lie, and I am 6’3.” When questioned over his claim that Kevin Hart was made in the same Hollywood factory that produces Teddy Grahams, Nwodim demanded, “then why the hell he smell like cinnamon?” Later claiming to be the genius behind President Obama’s Yes We Can campaign slogan, her Williams insisted that before he waved his brilliance, Barack was out there peddling the promise of “prolly, prolly, I think we might.”

Ugh, campaigns. There’s a cloud of dread and fatigue looming as the threat of a Trump and Biden rematch edges closer to reality. The wretchedness of it all trumps the absurdity. “Well, you guys, it’s 2024—but is it?” asked Colin Jost at the top of Weekend Update. “Guys, I don’t know if we should do this election. It’s honestly starting to feel like elder abuse. I don’t even blame them. I blame us for allowing it.” Then he proposed a kind of mercy draw, a last-ditch attempt to put both men out to gentle pasture. “Tell Trump and Biden that they both won, and that we’re very proud of them, and they can rest now.”

Maybe Rapp is right to look down on us grown folk. She appeared in one sketch throughout the night, cheekily introduced as “our little lesbian intern” by Yang and Elordi’s red carpet reporters. Explaining her time of servitude, she said “I’ve been going absolutely off in every single interview lately, so now I have to do 40 hours of court-ordered media training.” Rapp would be wise to remember that a season of bravado doesn’t equal charisma, or always lend itself to an enduring career. When Megan Thee Stallion appeared from behind a pink cake during Rapp’s performance of “Not My Fault,” it felt like being treated to a glimpse of an actual star. And during the final goodbyes, it was Rachel McAdams who was center stage. Elordi wrapped his arms tight around the older woman, activating fan fiction accounts around the world.