42x07 Kristen Wiig with The xx

7.3/10. Pretty decent episode. I have to admit, I've never been a big Kristen Wiig fan. Her style of humor has always been a little too baldly broad and wackadoodle for my tastes, so frankly I fast-forwarded through a pair of the sketches that featured that kind of shtick from her ("Secret Word" and "Sue"). But excising that stuff made it into a very solid episode!

The political humor was sharp all around. The opening sketch with Trump freaking out a bit at the realization that now he'll actually have to govern and being unprepared for it was amusing, and had some solid burns. (E.g. "You're the reason I won't be impeached" to Mike Pence, not to mention his campaign manager's guilt about the whole thing.) The follow up with jabs about CNN's anchors responding the same way to every Trump story wasn't exactly subtle, but it was a solid bit of media criticism. And Weekend Update was on fire this week, with Michael Che's comparison of Trump to a guy who only likes the chase but not being in a relationship being the stand out bits.

But it wasn't all politics, there was room for goofy humor SNL and "Weekend Update." Goofy stuff like the centipede with four penises or even Kenan Thompson as Willie (who's the same old schtick but has grown on me) worked well. And Pete Davidson's standup bit about being upset about Trump and wanting to take it out on relatives on Thanksgiving was a better outing for him. It was part and parcel with more Thanksgiving humor, like the high concept "Macy's parade balloons are too close" sketch that got some mileage out of its frankly bizarre premise (though the sketch gets points for novelty and chutzpah, if nothing else).

Wiig was fine in her non-super broad sketches. The "Kittens R We" bit is a reliable recurring sketch (where the shine comes from the writing) and it was sturdily funny toward the end of the night. Wiig's monologue about messing up the history of Thanksgiving was pretty lame, but did give us a chance for gratuitous but entertaining cameos from the far funnier Steve Martin and Will Forte.

Still, Wiig managed to co-anchor the sketch of the night. The QVC audition tape drama was some great character comedy, with a lot of understatement and a lot of the hilarity coming from implied backstory and performance. The payoff that despite the domestic squabble, they end of co-hosting the QVC show was a great twist, and the entire world felt very lived-in very quickly.

The runner up on that front was the fun "The Bubble" pre-taped sketch. It was a nice way of poking some fun at the other side after the knives out Trump stuff that (deservedly) permeated the rest of the episode. It was a clever way to tweak the other side and closing it with "It's Brooklyn, But in a Bubble" was the perfect button.

Overall, a solid-if-forgettable entry that was strengthened by a pair of particularly good sketches, and some solid political gags, especially during a very strong Weekend Update.