Saturday Night Live
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Last yearsSaturday Night Liveseason finale was not intended to be the finale.
Season 49, unfortunately, has no such excuse for going out on an off-pitch note.
The fault appears to lie equally with the writers and versatile third-time host Jake Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal can do both in his sleep.
When he next hostedSNLin 2022, that overconfidence was etched on his facethe entire time.
This episode finds the actor somehow operating at an even higher register.
Gyllenhaal plays big, wacky, scenery-chewing characters in pretty much every sketch.
Alive-action Fred fromScooby Doois possibly his least animated role of the night.
At a certain point, viewers can only cease being impressed and start being exhausted and maybe concerned.
Its unclear whether this center-stage intensity was the stars idea or a symptom of cast burnout.
Either way, this seasons finale plays like it was made by people mentally scrolling through their summer-hiatus itinerary.
Beautiful Girls
The last time Gyllenhaal hosted, one of his sketches took place ona cabaret night.
This one looks at first like a riff on the musicalCabaretbefore going in an entirely different direction.
Now, the easy joke would be to lean entirely on the switcheroo of an all-male revue.
Most wear ancient, high-waisted khakis, and all of them sport drab hairstyles imbued with grade-school photo-day presentability.
Fast-Fashion Ad
Temu and Shein have had it coming for a while.
Their ethically dubious, built not-to-last, refreshingly affordable wares have long been as popular as they are scrutinized.
In the end, though, the joke is on us all.
Weekend Update
Theres a lot to recommend in this weeks Update.
The two invest their pesky insect characters with scientifically accurate horniness, which they can barely contain.
Musical guest Sabrina Carpenter squeezesa lot ofSNL-centric patterin the outro ofher song Nonsense.
