As a years-long Nate Bargatze fan, I was super excited when I heard he was coming back — and so soon! The Reddit-sphere had much to say about Bargatze’s return and Lorne’s stand-ups-as-hosts choices the past few years, but at the end of the day, it’s not that complicated. Nate has a great energy for the show (deader than pan), is willing to be silly, and clearly enjoys doing it. And isn’t that really all viewers want from a host? My take: Lighten up and laugh.

The opening monologue

Now, after my defense of Bargatze in the paragraph above, I’m going to come down a little harder on this opening monologue. I started off on board with the “community college” runner, but started checking my watch during the “pronunciation of ‘oil’ / EVOO” bit. Woof. The rest of the routine passed without much excitement. Luckily, he reeled me right back in the second sketches started.

The sketches

A delicious repeat of last week’s presidential debate cold open, the entire crew came back for another round, this time to tackle the VP Debate. There’s no telling how long we’ll be treated to this VIP-special-guest-royalty treatment, but I’m soaking it up while we’ve got it.

If you haven’t watched Washington’s Dream 2, there’s no time like immediately right now, please. Hilarious reiteration of last year’s original version (which many dubbed the best sketch of season 49). 10/10, an instant classic SNL sketch that is sure to go up on the wall as a fan favorite.

If I didn’t love Marcello Hernandez’s Ricky Ricardo last week, all is forgotten and forgiven after this week’s episode, propeled to the top of my charts with “Sábado Gigante.” Even if you’re not a Spanish speaker and have never seen the original show, you’ll find SNL’s take on the Chilean classic totally incredible (legend Don Francisco thought so, too).

We were introduced to new featured player Jane Wickline twice over this week, first in “Water Park” (which was dark and wicked and great — even though you knew where it was headed from the first beat, the journey getting there was hilarious) and again during Weekend Update. I’m holding on my opinion of her for now; I wasn’t crazy about her delivery as the water park straight man or the Update song, but I didn’t like Michael Longfellow at first, either! I’m reserving the right to change my mind over the course of the season.

Without question, the biggest perk of bringing Andy Samberg back for the cold open this week was the added bonus of a surprise Lonely Island short: “Sushi Glory Hole.” Weird as all get-out, completely delightful.

Plug: If you haven’t started listening to The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, open Spotify now.

Go ahead and skip…

• The locker room, “you all owe the coach money” sketch… Not the worst on this list, but didn’t kill me and could have ended a beat sooner.
• The golfer pre-tape, “Golf Tournament”. Again, got a chuckle, but wasn’t my favorite (and again went on a joke too long).
• The Mile-High Burger Club. I appreciate you going all-in, Heidi Gardner, but I’m not even gonna bother linking.

Final thoughts

Vulture asked if “Nate Bargatze has cracked the SNL code,” and I think they might be on to something. Despite one stinker, this episode had me laughing the entire hour. I’m a big fan of Nate Bargatze as host and hope it becomes a regular occurrence (there’s a good chance, too, considering Lorne Michaels is producing Bargatze’s Christmas special this year and Mikey Day’s got a writing credit). This would have been a stronger season premiere than Jean Smart’s, but it was an excellent episode two.

My rating: 4.5/5