The second episode of the landmark comedy show’s 50th season felt like a comeback of sorts on multiple levels. The popular stand-up Nate Bargatze has been handed over hosting duties once again after his well-received hosting debut almost exactly a year ago. Meanwhile, musical guest Coldplay returned for their eighth appearance. On the sketch front, there were multiple retreads of past bits; one from just last week. And by the last quarter of the show, the surprise return of an SNL favorite.
Following up on last week’s grand debuts of Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff, that star-studded cameo crew anchored by Maya Rudolph’s pitch-perfect spin on Kamala Harris reunited to spoof the most recent vice-presidential debate. Finding a slick way to include this election season’s eclectic cast of characters, the sketch volleyed between Rudolph’s Harris and Samberg’s Emhoff watching Walz take on JD Vance (keenly played by Bowen Yang) on TV, with the cordialness between Walz and Vance played to romantic effect here.
