Cancel all of your plans. Go to NBC immediately. Watch the Oct. 8 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Lin-Manuel Miranda. This just might be the best episode yet.
Image from NBC.com.
For the rest of the season, Saturday Night Live will have difficulty topping the fantastic spectacle of Miranda’s episode, which was full of show-stopping raps, razor sharp comedy and, of course, the social commentary viewers expect from the show every week.
Right off the bat, Miranda blew the audience away with a monologue parody of his Hamilton song “My Shot.” Miranda brought a coolness and expert timing to the stage that can only be so well honed by years of theatrical training. After the monologue, any viewer can relax knowing they are in the safe capable hands of Miranda as their host.
This season, led by new head writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, proved itself with the first digital sketch of the night, Crucible Cast Party. This music video about the wild debauchery that could only follow a high school production of The Crucible is pure joy to consume for anyone with an ounce a theatre background.
Kate McKinnon proved to America once again why she deserves her Emmy for her performance on SNL. Appearing most notably this episode as Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, on her day off.
Image from NBC.com.
The episode stayed strong until the final goodbyes. With the combination of Miranda as host and the band Twenty One Pilots as the musical guest, the episode served to satisfy a dream collaboration millennials never dared entertain.
Miranda’s acting chops, paired with the genius and sincerity of new writer Julio Torres, produced an uncharacteristically sincere sketch entitled Diego Calls His Mom. The sketch, in which Miranda plays a young immigrant named Diego, is all at once hilarious and touching as Diego calls his mom to update her on his life in North Dakota.
The episode never slows down, with a sketch about the new Netflix hit Stranger Things, a sketch about a dying soldier on the battlefield and guest appearances on Weekend Update from SNL alumni Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon as politically undecided mothers from Philadelphia.
Lin-Manuel Miranda led the cast of powerhouses with grace, talent and deftness that usually only comes when a former SNL player comes back to host, making this episode one for the ages.
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