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\n Miles Teller hosts a sleepy episode that shows SNL is still looking for its new center of gravity.
\n Photo: Rosalind O\u2019Connor\/NBC\n <\/p>\n
Miles Teller has a punchable face. This isn\u2019t an original observation \u2014 Teller has been plagued by it in some form or another throughout his career<\/a> \u2014 nor is it a value judgement on his actual personality or character. In fact, the actor came off as endearingly enthusiastic about hosting Saturday Night Live for the second time<\/a> last night, particularly in his monologue, which centered around his childhood love of the show (much as it did his first time around<\/a> as host). He seems like a good dude who earnestly loves the show! And yet the fact remains: the more Teller leaned into his inherent douchebaggery on this week\u2019s episode, the more laughs he was able to pull.<\/p>\n Sadly, that didn\u2019t happen too often last night, and maybe that\u2019s at least in part why this sleepy episode never quite found lift-off. The show kicked off on a tired note with a cold open<\/a> that took on the last New York City mayoral debate, which at this point happened more than a week ago. The debate has already been fully metabolized on social media and iterated upon through endless posts on TikTok and X. The cold open had little to offer by way of a fresh perspective, and though Teller did a solid Andrew Cuomo impression (the third time this season a host has appeared in the cold open), the remaining two mayoral candidates were played by non-cast members.<\/p>\n Neither Ramy Youssef<\/a> as Zohran Mamdani<\/a> nor Shane Gillis<\/a> as Curtis Sliwa was funny enough to justify taking up spots that could have been given to, say, any of the five new cast members<\/a> still looking for their spotlight on the show. I will never understand why the show is so allergic to actually showcasing its crowded, talented cast, instead opting for pointless celebrity cameos that do nothing except make you go, \u201cOh, that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Last night\u2019s episode never recovered from its drowsy start. You get the sense, when watching SNL this season, that the show is looking for its new center of gravity. Unmoored by the star-power vacuum left by heavyweights Ego Nwodim<\/a> and Heidi Gardner<\/a>, the cast is clearly straining to find its footing in these early episodes. While featured players like Ashley Padilla and Veronika Slowikowska show definite promise, and mainstays like Kenan Thompson, Bowen Yang, and Mikey Day continue to hold down the fort, season 51 is still missing that essential animating X-factor. This isn\u2019t to say that the cast won\u2019t find it \u2014 it\u2019s still early! And when you have a particularly charismatic host, like Sabrina Carpenter in the last episode<\/a>, those cracks aren\u2019t as visible. Unfortunately, Teller, who either wanted to distance himself from his punchable vibes or wasn\u2019t given the material to showcase it, had a sort of low-key hosting style that was not magnetic enough to distract from the growing pains currently testing the SNL cast.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, here are the highlights:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n This early-episode highlight stars Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla as directors of a PSA video for the NHL, alongside hockey players played by Miles Teller, Ben Marshall, and Tommy Brennan. The central joke here is that Teller\u2019s character plays for the Nashville Predators, which makes for some uncomfortable lines in the PSA (written, of course, by Dismukes and Padilla\u2019s directors). The heightening of those lines is what\u2019s working best in this sketch, as well as Teller\u2019s mounting dismay at what he\u2019s being made to say.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A trailer for a new Netflix crime series centered around three distraught husbands (Miles Teller, Ben Marshall, Kenan Thompson) whose wives (Ashley Padilla, Veronika Slowikowska, Sarah Sherman) mysteriously go missing on work trips and family visits, of which their husbands were most definitely informed. This digital short is elevated by its very funny specifics, including Teller\u2019s character making a Tinder profile shortly after his wife\u2019s \u201cdisappearance\u201d and Thompson getting jumpscared by his own children.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n This sketch takes a pretty simple setup (a news broadcast keeps getting interrupted by workers in the open newsroom background) and then crams it with a bunch of physical comedy that is as stupid as it is funny. Teller is utilized especially well here, in all his punchable glory, as an asshole coworker who openly watches hentai on his work computer. MVP goes to Bowen Yang, though, who fully commits to getting electrocuted at the high point of the sketch.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Weekend Update is almost never my favorite part of any given SNL episode. But I actually appreciated Colin Jost\u2019s super talky introductory bit about the White House trick-or-treating event, in which President Trump once again<\/a> placed candy atop a kid\u2019s head. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of an embodiment of his entire presidency, because it\u2019s just a violation of norms that no other president or person has ever conceived of,\u201d Jost points out, and it\u2019s not really a joke, but it\u2019s still funny. Also, bonus points to Michael Che, who deems Curtis Sliwa \u201cthe world\u2019s only White Panther.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Two people who just hooked up backstage, played by Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla, stop by the Update desk to explain the government shutdown\/litigate their relationship\/harass Jost. What makes this Update desk bit such a highlight is the chemistry between Dismukes and Padilla, who are genuinely good actors and extremely believable in their respective roles. In under five minutes, Dismukes and Padilla speed-run through their entire relationship, from meet-cute to consummation (in Jost\u2019s office, obviously) to the inevitable blowup. Hope we see more of these two in the future, because they\u2019re delightful together.<\/p>\n \u2022 Chloe Fineman and Marcello Hernandez continue their tradition of cuckolding a poor, hapless husband (this time played by Mikey Day) in \u201cItalian Restaurant Date.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cHungover Halloween\u201d<\/a> never completely came together for me, but \u201cWho did you make out with last night? Same options as before\u201d did make me laugh.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cBill Clinton said that? He said that the best perk for him was the movie theater?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Bowen Yang stopped by Update<\/a> as George Santos again, and though it\u2019s not my favorite of his Update characters, the repeated use of the prison phone was very funny.<\/p>\n \u2022 I could see Ashley Padilla having a Heidi Gardner trajectory this season. She shines in literally everything she\u2019s in, even the \u201cMurder Press Briefing\u201d<\/a> sketch, which was a dud except for Padilla\u2019s incredible screaming at the three minute mark.<\/p>\n \u2022 \u201cBut George, I was actually born very rich.\u201d<\/p>\n VULTURE NEWSLETTER<\/p>\n Keep up with all the drama of your favorite shows!<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n