Honestly, Quinta Brunson could just be an SNL cast member, right? This almost somehow felt like a week with no host, she blended in seamlessly and worked so damn well in every scene with every costar. Opening monologue (ft. Sabrina Carpenter — seemingly becoming an SNL fave — and Dwayne Wade) was adorable and the rest of the show was great, too. Bam. Let’s break down her excellent second hosting stint!

The sketches that worked

• I guess in this political climate we won’t get anything other than Trump stuff, but that’s fine. Trump Executive Orders Cold Open was good.
• Thank you, SNL, for “Forever 31“.
• Sure, who wouldn’t love a Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure parody? “Will and Todd’s Radical Experience” was great.
• Very fun to see James Austin Johnson as someone other than Trump, and his “This could be wrong but… sexual threats?” line killed me in “Leadership Summit.” This was a good sketch in general — special shout out to Ashley Padilla‘s determined “I will,” in response to Andrew Dismukes asking her to wear shorter things. Also, Bowen Yang could have left his doctor character in the past with Ryan Gosling (where it worked oh so well).
• I liked “Ferry Altercation“, I almost forgot they did a car version last time Quinta hosted. These have been going so well and it’s a format I’m always happy to see.
• “Two Bitches vs. a Gorilla“. Yes.
• I love when SNL goes reckless and “OnlySeniors” did exactly that. Loved it, so funny.
• Special shout outs: Why did I adore the Applebee’s Barflies so much???? Also really enjoying Michael Longfellow‘s run of devil-may-care Update spots.

The sketches that didn’t

• “Jerry ‘Jackrabbit’ Tulane“. Eh, boring.
• “Addicts Anonymous“. Again, boring premise. Overdone.

The musical GUEST

Hey, two flips from Benson Boone! He was a lot more fun than I was expecting (having just learned about him from his jump at the Grammy’s). I liked both his songs and he seemed happy to be there, which is all I ever really ask for!

Final thoughts

Great show. Quinta is welcome on stage anytime, in my opinion. No complaints, no really bad sketches, just a few that could have been ratcheted up a bit. This was an all-star show!

My rating: 5/5