The Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live opens with a message from Joe Biden (Mikey Day). The president, looking and sounding especially fragile, recognizes how scary things are, what with “war, shootings, climate change, everything in the Britney book”, and seeks to set America at ease by inviting everyone to watch him hang up Halloween decorations. He precariously scales a tall ladder, shows off a severed arm that his dog commander ripped off a Secret Service agent, and greets the instantly forgettable new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, (Michael Longfellow) and his strange “adult black son”, also named Mike Johnson.
Confused and winded, Biden wishes there was someone to show him the true meaning of Halloween. Who should arrive but the Ghost of Halloween (Christopher Walken), aka Papa Pumpkin.
Walken’s return to SNL – which he’s hosted so memorably in the past – is long overdue, and its great to see him, but his presence isn’t quite enough to save this cold open. Day’s Biden is a step down from James Austin Johnson’s and the emphasis on the president’s senility feels like it’s playing right into Republican talking points. Not that the show shouldn’t touch on it, but this just feels lazy.
Nate Bargatze hosts for the first time. A stand-up comic with a number of popular Netflix specials, Bargatze is hardly a household name, and he admits right off the bat that he’s “as shocked as you are that I’m here”. He then launches into a new routine about the future (“How am I gonna talk to someone in 2057? I have more in common with a pilgrim”), growing up in the pre-internet ‘80s (“You could fight an orangutan – this was offered. We didn’t have a lot going on”), his aging parents (“My dad has surgery eight times a year – he loves it, he loves it”), and his attempts to brighten up (“I can tell I don’t know anything about history because every history movie I watch I watch on the edge of my seat”). It’s all very funny and a good introduction to those not familiar with Bargatze’s relatable observational comedy.
In his first outing, Bargatze plays a hopelessly white chef on a soul food cooking show. The blind tasting makes it seem like Bargatze is entirely out of his element, only for it to be revealed that his was the winning plate. His laconic character is just as bewildered as the judges, apologetically shooting down all of their theories as to how he did so well (“My parents are white, I’m sorry”). Padma Lakshmi makes an appearance to give Bargatze his prizes (including a spotlight at the essence awards and a recognition by Howard University).
The Hallmark Channel’s A Stab of Love is a romantic slasher movie about a single woman who returns to her hometown and has a meet-cute with her former crush-turned-masked serial killer. The genres aren’t as disparate as they first appear, with the trailer voiceover explaining: “The only thing female viewers like more than romance is murder.” It’s a clever idea, but it doesn’t go near dark enough.
Then, Bargatze plays General George Washington. He attempts to deliver an inspiring speech to some troops about how they are building a new nation where they will be free to choose their own laws and leaders, but he loses them as soon as he declares they will also “choose our own systems of weights and measures”. His explanation of American weights, distances, and temperatures (as well as certain spellings and sports) only confuse them more. This has the feel of one of Bargatze’s stand-up routines – with some sharp racial comedy thrown in courtesy of Kenan Thompson – and as such it succeeds even though the host trips over some of his lines.
Bargatze, Johnson and Andrew Dismukes play a country-western trio singing a legitimately catchy song about vacationing at a skeezy “lake beach”. They indulge in some white trash fun, including accidently drinking dip, kissing a best friend’s wife on the lips, and suffering a gnarly fireworks-related injuries. Foo Fighters singer and musical guest Dave Grohl is the MVP here, playing a dirtbag uncle who takes the game of cornhole far too seriously.
Next, Bargatze and Ego Nwodim play a couple handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. They’re interrupted by Sag-Aftra President Fran Drescher (Sarah Sherman), there to teach children (aka “adorable scabs”) how to celebrate the holiday during strike season. Sag-approved costumes include Harry Potter as described only in the book (“I look just a little bit off and that’s a good thing!”), minor characters from the Bible (“Zoheth, son of Ishi who beget Ben Zoheth”), and Wolverine without the claws (aka, “any gay guy over 50”). The sketch displays a weird antagonism towards the Drescher and the strike for its first half, only to reverse course and celebrate both by the end.
Walken returns to introduce Foo Fighters for their first performance. Grohl has told a funny story about performing on the show when Walken was hosting before, and how, when introing them, the actor (seemingly intentionally) put the emphasis on the wrong part of their band name. This time he gets it right. Then we’re on to Weekend Update, where Colin Jost tries to wrap his head around how Mike Johnson became Speaker of the House: “I feel like … after weeks of voting, Republicans got bored and they all wrote in the same fake name, then they were all like ‘Wait, that’s a real guy?’”
Returning to the actors’ strike, Jost then brings on his agent, JJ Gordon (Sherman, in some disturbing male prosthetics). Gordon pitches Jost a few potential projects once the strike wraps up, including a biopic of Jared Fogel, Jurassic Park: Porn Version, a commercial for Jersey Mike’s – not the sandwich shop, but a kill shelter in Newark – and a documentary about his summer with Jeffrey Epstein. Jost and Sherman continue to show off their oddly strong chemistry.
On a flight to Newark, a pregnant woman (Chloe Fineman) goes into labor. She and her husband ask if there’s a doctor on board, prompting Bargatze’s character to declare that he’s a lawyer. Pressed for what that has to do with anything, he explains that, while not as impressive as a doctor, lawyer is still “the second-best job.” This leads to a debate with the other passengers as to whether that’s true or not. A joke about the group’s disdain for teachers is funny, but there’s too much dead air throughout the rest of the sketch.
Following the second Foo Fighters set (featuring H.E.R.), in which they perform the song Rescued, about the passing of longtime drummer Taylor Hawkins last March, the show wraps up with a new Please Don’t Destroy film. John and Mark disturb Ben by revealing that they’re on an all-dog food diet. A one-note joke, but its fast and funny.
Following an on-screen tribute to the late Matthew Perry, Bargatze and crew sign off. There was never any question that Bargatze would make good on his monologue, but it was unclear how hi lowkey style would translate to sketch comedy. He played everything as a variation on himself, which worked for the material he was given. Not a classic by any means, this was a roundly solid episode, and the best of the young season so far.
