Josh Brolin, Ariana, and Scarlett Go Weird for Laughs

One of the strongest episodes of the season was enhanced by expected sketch appearances by Ariana Grande, and a surprise one by Scarlett Johansson to deliver the GOP response as Katie Britt. Was she as weird as the real speech? Honestly, she mimicked it almost flawlessly … so yes!

It’s almost impossible to describe just how strange the sketches were tonight, so we’ll simply say that the return of Ego Nwodim’s Lisa from Temecula may have been the most normal and subdued sketch of the night. Let’s just say, everybody went for it! And more often than not, they scored.

As usual, we’re ranking all the sketches from worst to first, including the Monologue, Cold Open, “Weekend Update” and any sketches that were cut for time but made their way online. We’ll skip the musical guests, because they’re not usually funny — unless Ashlee Simpson shows up. We wrap up with a look at the cast-member who had the strongest week.

Okay, we’ll admit. We laughed at the stupid ending. Even Sarah Sherman knew it was stupid, and she was the one who had to do it. The rest of the sketch worked pretty well, with Josh Brolin as the Sandwich King, shocked and put out when a group of his regulars opted to order a pizza than pick up one of his subs. From Billie Eilish’s Barbie track to the more and more disturbing details about his wares, the sketch was more strange than funny — and then that ending.

Did you see having a 56-year-old actor stripping down to his underwear on your 2024 bucket list? How about if he recited his weird Timothée Chalamet poetry first? He then followed it up with a poem about Kenan Thompson’s face before it was time to jump into an ice bath — which of course meant pandering to the audience by getting into the ice bath. The audience didn’t seem to know quite what to do with him throughout, though they did appreciate his Gotye joke, but we were also a little struck by how off his usual rhythm this felt. Josh is a naturally funny guy, but this felt a little hesitant and uncertain. His cadence was stiffer, too, like he was nervous and reading too reliant on the cue cards. Hopefully, the ice bath helped to freeze out any show jitters. It certainly had us shivering!

Well, this was an unexpected subject for a musical interlude, though we were totally digging the obnoxious ’70s/’80s hair on both Andrew Dismukes and Josh Brolin. Now, thanks to this little ditty, we know the proper protocol when you’re on a flight with all your devices dead and the man in front of you and to the right starts playing Ad Astra. Who needs subtitles. The highlight was definitely Josh and Andrew fighting in song before Kenan jumped up as the air marshall to shut down all the nonsense. It’s so specific, someone had this exact scenario happen to them. Maybe all in-flight movies should have subtitles so no one has to wonder who Ad Astra is. Just a suggestion!

Ego Nwodim’s recurring character was dumped in the 10-to-1 slot, despite being a fan-favorite. Was that because they weren’t as confident in the erasing, scratching out, and hand sanitizer as justification for the table shaking? It wasn’t quite as over-the-top as her usual appearances, though Ego was as strong in the role as ever before. We also loved Bowen dying laughing (clearly he saw the cue card) even before she said he was “negrodivergant.” Lisa’s confident idiocy is always a delight, and we did find ourselves laughing at the end despite ourselves, but how many times can they dip into this same format?

Sure, Chloe Fineman would have probably performed this role, but when one of your cast members is married to Scarlett Johansson, why not see if Black Widow is willing to drop in for a surprise cameo. She stepped into the kitchen of Katie Britt to parody the bizarre GOP response to Biden’s State of the Union address this past week. From her theatricality, graphic depictions of violence and the aforementioned kitchen, Scarlett could hardly make it weirder than it was, but we enjoyed her committed performance nonetheless. She’s always shined on the SNL stage, immersing herself in these roles, and this proved to be no exception. And full props to all the pundits and political figures who immediately knew she would land the Cold Open tonight. Maybe … that was the goal?

Vienna 1893. The invention of the shrimp tower. Josh Brolin certainly leaned into the bizarre throughout the night, with this sketch among them. Sarah Sherman was fantastic as the rich woman who could have saved his family’s fortunes, were she not just to danged close to the shrimp tower. Sarah excels at physical comedy and she was on fire once things took a turn toward the crazy. The upper-crust tone of the piece only further enhanced the funny as you never knew where it was going to go next — even as we all knew at least one thing that simply had to happen, setting the stage for one final punch.

“A Britt Much. It’s the play critics are calling, ‘Is she OK?'” Colin Jost went in hard on both Donald Trump and the GOP response from Katie Britt to the State of the Union, while praising Biden for being brave enough to say the word “Snickers” over and over again as a white man with a stutter. Michael Che quickly backed out of an “illegals” joke when the audience — which has been almost as odd as tonight’s sketches — did not respond well to his punchline. And they barely needed a punchline for MTG telling a reporter to f–k off, but they gave us one, anyway. As the segment progressed, things just got worse and worse for Che.

A cute cameo by Ariana Grande elevated an already-charming winner. We all know (or are) people pleasers, and boy did this sketch not hold back in just how much this behavior minimizes the self. It was played beautifully for comic effect, but the sharpness of the writing also makes it a good cautionary tale. We can already see all the social media posts talking about how much this sketch “came after me” and “called me out.” Even the mantra at the end was a hoot, or a treat, really whatever you want to call it. It’s fine.

Wow, no surprise advertisement ending on this one! Instead, it just let the rising absurdity stand alone. That said, the rising absurdity was an absolute joy to watch, with Josh Brolin really shining as a likely terrible person who gets moved (then obsessed) over a cat sitting on his lap. By the end of the piece, the table had been turned over, blood was pouring and you could clearly see the arm of the cat puppeteer, but it didn’t matter. As knives flashed, we were all in. The only part of the sketch that didn’t hit was how hard Sarah Sherman was reading the cue cards, though we do understand she had more complex lines to get right. This sketch was all Josh and he definitely delivered!

When trash talk shows go too far. We loved the audience’s growing disgust at both guest Heidi Gardner and the premise of the whole show after Josh Brolin came out as her husband — “is he cheating or nah?” — in a wheelchair. It was immediately clear that Heidi’s character was trash of a different sort, while Ego did a great job in the challenging role of trying to salvage a disaster in the making even as her studio audience totally bailed on her. Once again, Heidi’s commitment to the role helped carry the piece, balanced perfectly by Josh in a ridiculously over-the-top get-up and his own commitment to the absurd.

Ariana Grande came back to help sing all the hits in these outtakes from Moulin Rouge! where they tried even more popular songs as part of the show’s iconic love medley … including “Happy Birthday!” Mikey Day’s PBS host explained that they were hedging their bets, uncertain which songs they could get the rights to for the film .What resulted was Bowen Yang and Ariana trying (and failing) to keep it straight as they masterfully shifted from one song to the next, expressing their feelings. They never quite let the giggles take over completely, but they proved a charming addition — and the whole piece a reminder why Ariana should come back to host again!

Heidi Gardner can steal a scene without speaking a word. Her body language, cavorting and contorting as a wife convinced she’s about to be ravaged by two surly bank robbers, was poetry in comedy. In particular, when Josh Brolin, as her horny husband, started miming how he would pose and scream, Heidi was pure gold with her hands above her head, looking on in titillation and faux horror. The premise of the sketch was humorous enough, but Heidi elevated it to classic status, with a game Josh right there with her. This is commitment to the bit.

There were a lot of ensemble pieces on the night with some great lead performances by Ego Nwodim — we still love you, Lisa! — Sarah, Bowen, and Andrew. Meanwhile, Mikey and Kenan were all over this week’s episode, though never quite dominating enough to leave us laughing.

That brings us to the woman who not only tied Kenan for most appearances, but poured everything she had into those moments. She was on point as the awful wife in the Shonda sketch, while we’re still visualizing her physical comedy as a robbery victim. Throw in a random Marjorie Taylor Greene and solid support work throughout the night, and it’s a no-brainer this week!

“Saturday Night Live” returns March 30 with host Ramy Youssef and musical guest Travis Scott.