Glen Powell Takes on Epstein, AI, Taken in Season’s Best

Almost every single sketch worked, and even those that weren’t home runs had moments we’re still chuckling about. The entire cast felt elevated by Glen’s enthusiasm as they tackled the Epstein Files, the Epstein List, and did we mention that they touched on Epstein?

Even Will Forte returned with a fresh series of MacGruber pieces so that his ’80s-inspired action buffoon could address — you guessed it — the Epstein Files. Elsewhere in the episode, there were other things to talk about, including how creepy AI is, what’s going on with Pete Hegseth’s military, and why a famous hairstylist may not be for everyone.

The new cast continues to shine — and maybe it’s their comedic sensibilities that have the show feeling reenergized this season — while Colin Jost and Michael Che deliver one of the sharpest, darkest, most twisted and funniest non-joke-swap Weekend Update of their careers. We’re still squirming and giggling at some of those jokes.

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.

There were a lot of awkward line readings in this one from almost everyone, except for Ashley Padilla as the grandmother, but the overall conceit of watching AI turn sweet photos into nonsensical nightmares was just the kind of cautionary tale everyone needs right now. The technology is just not fully there for so many people and companies to be relying so heavily on it right now. And while it was disturbing watching Glen Powell’s father character rip his baby in half and turn it into an accordion, we’ll never be able to unsee Mikey Day’s Ken-doll crotch! Unfortunately, while the imagery was funny and strong, the material in the senior home wasn’t nearly as good — even with Marcello Hernández’s character bringing a little dark humor.

We weren’t sure where this sketch was going when it started with Andrew Dismukes writing a letter home about how he didn’t know where he’d been assigned, but we did not expect the arrivals of Bowen Yang, Glen Powell, and Sarah Sherman in severe bob wigs extolling the hairstyle as their greatest weapon. By the end of the sketch, we had six bobs and six of their rival bangs division and the whole thing was so fierce and serve and slay that we were breathless with that much drama in one room. More insanely bizarre than hilarious, it certainly kept us on our toes, and the cast was clearly having a blast with this one.

Glen Powell didn’t have us at the start of his monologue, where he was offering an awkward career retrospective, but he stole our hearts with the story of when he was originally supposed to host SNL four years ago — until Top Gun: Maverick got Covid-delayed. The added detail of a UPS driver being there four years ago for the moment with his family and even snapping a selfie was fun enough. But then he shared with us that when it finally came time for him to host, his sisters tracked that man down. It was such a sweetly sincere moment, and we found ourselves smiling our way through the rest of the monologue. We may not know if he can be funny yet, but he still knows how to capture our hearts.

We actually didn’t need Trump himself in this Cold Open, but we can understand the temptation to use him when Epstein information is dribbling and drabbling out. But it was nice to finally see SNL parody the White House press pool, with at least one fawning question for Ashley Padilla’s Karoline Leavitt. That’s an aspect of this administration that hasn’t fully been explored, as officials have fielded some pretty wildly ridiculous questions from so-called reporters. Padilla could have been a little shorter and a lot more angry and combative in her portrayal, but still managed to show a fresh perspective of the ongoing barrage until Trump came out and started answering questions himself. The framed Epstein file being for sale was on brand but the whole piece didn’t quite go there as hard as it could have — probably because the files are still being explored in real life, so context is largely still unclear.

Marcello Hernández pulled out a very random impression for this piece, but for those familiar with Sebastian Maniscalco’s manic standup style, he did a great job of delivering both the physical comedy of it, as well as the comic’s unique vocal mannerisms. The audience was certainly impressed with his high jump, but we’ll give props to Marcello for managing to bring the personality to life in a way that it was still so ridiculous and over the top, that even those unfamiliar with Sebastian’s style would still find this character funny. The side bits of humor kind of fell flat, as did the unexpected ending, but that’s because Marcello’s portrayal was so larger than life, the slice of life stuff was overshadowed.

Glen Powell as Taken–Liam Neeson rescuing his daughter from sex traffickers in Paris versus Andrew Dismukes as his ex-wife’s new husband. There’s nothing we love better than when Andrew tries to show how tough and capable he is against someone who is his character’s polar opposite in every way. Glen plays it cool and confident. He’s strong, courageous, and sexually aggressive. So just picture Andrew the opposite of all of those things but trying to show up for his lady, Chloe Fineman, in her strongest seductress/floozy approach. The character work in this piece was top-notch, with only the final moments faltering after Marcello Hernández’s unexpected entrance.

A surprising return for Will Forte as MacGruber in this pre-taped bit about the release of the Epstein files. While it had the familiar beats of a MacGruber piece, the inclusion of the files made it all the more funny as he took a quick peek at the unredacted papers and — well, let’s just say, the inevitable inevitably happened.

The Epstein List saga continued with the usual format of interstitial bits throughout episodes, with Part 2 seeing MacGruber attempt to make a few redactions — and additions — to the list before the timer runs out. The segment then moves in a rare direction but still funny, with Will Forte, Chloe Fineman and Glen Powell turning in stellar performances to up the tension and humor with fine details like Chloe checking her watch-less wrist to announce how many seconds are left each time.

For the final installment, we shifted to a narrative where MacGruber is on the list, but insistent that he was only part of the ground crew taking care of the planes and only saw very powerful and important people. But would he testify? As always, Forte managed to sell every little moment with each wince, noise, or expression.

For a cast that is known to break pretty regularly, there was a fantastic juxtaposition between the scenes within the filming of the movie and after each “cut.” Chloe Fineman and Glen Powell, in particular, were masterful as the husband and wife characters, gleefully touting the film, and even getting playful with one another, before turning into dour miserable people as soon as the cameras were rolling. We could have used a bit more of Mikey Day’s confusing about their off-camera behavior, but we liked how it was consistent with every single Norwegian involved in the film. Even Jane Wickline got to play, and she hardly ever gets to do anything this season.

Ashley Padilla stole this entire sketch from the moment she walked in. It wasn’t just the crazy hairstyle, but her facial expression as she steeled herself to put a positive spin on it to join her friends for Friendsgiving. We love how Ashley always manages to give a whole performance with every character she’s given, and almost always knocks it out of the park. This whole sketch hinged on her commitment to the bit, and not losing it — as Sarah (of course) struggled with throughout. Mikey Day’s abrupt, “I hate it!” was such a quick moment it was a gut-punch of a laugh, perfectly accenting the absurdity of the whole journey.

We didn’t expect this one to be both sentimental and hilarious, but boy did Tommy Brennan and Ben Marshall deliver with this country-influenced song about missing your ex’s dad. It’s true that breakups tear us away from the family of the one we’re leaving, which can sometimes be hard, too. The lyrics were brilliantly funny, with Ben embracing Kenan Thompson and Tommy Glen Powell — but things went to the next level when the dads took over the song, and Glen in particular. The song went places we never expected, and by the end we were dying laughing and oddly touched at the same time.

It wasn’t a “joke swap” episode, but nevertheless Colin Jost and Michael Che went very dark in this segment that featured no guests at all — when is the last time that happened? Instead, they were on fire with some incredibly dark and disturbing material, including Che lamenting that he almost donated food, that Trump “showed up in redskin” to the Washington Commanders game, Jeffrey Epstein “lost to a bedsheet,” and that HBCU stands for “Help, Bill Cosby’s undressing!” And we didn’t even get into their takes on the Oval Office-Home Depot connection, the 6-7 phenomenon, and Hitler’s micropenis — with a twist punchline Jost did not see coming! They were on fire tonight with one of the funniest segments in recent memory.

We’re not sure if they knew one another before this week or just really clicked throughout the process, but Chloe Fineman was all over this episode, and even got to make out with Glen Powell at LAX. She showed off her Jennifer Coolidge impression, and was perfect opposite the host as a serious-then-zany Norwegian star.

Normally, she’d be lock for the Player of the Week for her strongest outing yet on a season that has given the newer cast members a lot of room to show off both their talents and comedic styles. But there was another cast member who gave the same amount of conviction, and managed to steal almost every moment she was on the camera.

Ashley Padilla continues to be a rare treat in that she’s basically a theater actress doing sketch comedy, with an incredible commitment to each role. We saw her range from Karoline Leavitt in the open to a disturbed grandmother frightened (and confused) by AI, the fierce leader of the “Bangs,” and finally absolutely owning every little moment of her new haircut. 

It’s the small details she puts in a performance, even knowing how to use a silence, that elevates each of her performances. In just her second season, she’s already being treated as a key member of the ensemble. Partly, we’re sure, because there are so few women overall, but largely because of her talents — after all, her fellow newer female cast members Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska, are not getting this level of opportunity yet.

Saturday Night Live returns December 6 with host Melissa McCarthy and musical guest Dijon.