SNL: Elizabeth Warren faces Kate McKinnon's Elizabeth Warren

Saturday Night Live opens with a spoof of the Fox News show The Ingraham Angle, hosted by ”the Joey Fatone of Fox News”, Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon). The night’s main story is coronavirus, a “deceitful, dishonest and frankly gay smear campaign” cooked up by liberals. Ingraham welcomes a stream of guests, including the always-soused Judge Jeanine Pirro and the dimwitted Trump brothers.

Pivoting to the Democratic primaries, she’s joined first by Fox’s newest anchor, Chris Matthews (Darrell Hammond, doing a killer impression of the insufferable former MSNBC pundit) and later by the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren. The night’s big surprise comes early, with the real Warren showing up to poke some fun at herself (while also taking one more dig at humiliated rival Mike Bloomberg for good measure). Asked whether she’ll endorse Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders, Warren waffles, saying that “maybe I’ll just pull a New York Times and endorse them both”. Warren is surprisingly natural, acquitting herself much better than most politicians who have appeared on the show.

Daniel Craig is back hosting for the first time in eight years. He introduces a clip from the upcoming James Bond film (recently delayed due to public health concerns over the coronavirus): doing reconnaissance in a casino, 007 loses track of his mission once he starts winning at craps. He quickly turns from a suave secret agent into an overexcited tourist D-bag, swapping his usual drink (vodka, shaken, not stirred) for a “vodka and Red Bull in a pint glass”. It’s a good showcase for Craig’s goofy comedic chops, even if it runs a bit too long.

Daytime soap The Sands of Modesto plays up coronavirus fears by having the actors jump through hoops to keep from touching one another. It’s mostly flat and, again, overlong, but it includes some decent slapstick, especially a bit where Craig’s quaffed lothario attempts to make out with McKinnon’s desperate housewife only after wrapping her head-to-toe in plastic wrap.

On the Couch Tonight is a smooth R&B single from Kenan Thompson, Chris Redd and the night’s musical guest, The Weeknd, about a trio of lovers consigned to the couch by their partners for various transgressions such as infidelity, potential matricide, and stalking their ex.

Next, we’re treated to some welcome weirdness on the daytime talk show The Diedre Show, in which the celebrity guest, musical diva Cookie LaFloo (Ego Nwodim) takes offense at Craig’s visiting chef after he innocently warns her not to eat the foil on an hors d’oeuvre. Her nonstop berating grows increasingly threatening – as well as shockingly homophobic – until the pitch-perfect punchline.

Former cast member Rachel Dratch returns as one of her most popular characters, Debbie Downer. The vibe-killing uber-pessimist bums out the tablemates at her cousin’s wedding reception by bringing up coronavirus, #MeToo, feline Aids and, of course, Trump. It’s a welcome return for the character and her accompanying foghorns, although as good as Dratch is, it’s Thompson who steals the sketch with one perfectly delivered line, furiously asking a fellow tablemate who engages Debbie: “Now why would you delve?!”

The Weeknd, sporting a bloody and battered face, performs his single Blinding Lights.

On Weekend Update, Colin Jost ponders potential presidential debates between Biden and Donald Trump, predicting: “They’ll be the first debates that have to be moderated by a Jamaican nurse.” Michael Che doesn’t care who wins the Democratic nomination so long as they beat Trump: “Democrats are like condoms. I use them because they’re safer, I guess, but it don’t feel good.”

Next, Craig rehearses his southern accent in preparation for his role as Detective Benoit Blanc in the recent hit Knives Out. He brings along his accent coach, Franklin Hughes (Beck Bennett), a mulletted, rhinestone-clad lunatic whose accent work is based entirely on cartoons like Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn. Bennett is great here, gyrating and ranting (mostly about “hot butts”) and puking on cue.

In Game Night, an awkward party guest (Heidi Gardner) suggests a group of friends play Quote, a simple game in which they guess movie quotes. She quickly hits it off with Craig’s married host (a fellow movie buff, or “flick daddy”) over their shared ability to guess vague quotes such as “Hey, hi, I didn’t know you were here” (from Failure to Launch, obviously). It’s all a bit awkward and jumbled – thanks mostly to McKinnon constantly breaking – but it has a weird energy that makes it one of the night’s winners.

The Weeknd – still sporting a broken mug – returns and debuts a moody new song (no title available as of yet).

Overnight Salad is a poppy (and legitimately catchy) tune from Aidy Bryant’s bubbly housewife about her salad recipe made from “gallons of mayo”, “so many raisins”, hot dogs, pizza, quarters and “more mayo”. The towering end result horrifies her family and nearly kills the dog, before actually killing her once she takes a bite. Craig, solid throughout the episode, absolutely smashes it here with his furious and unhinged rant. The final sketch of the night, it’s also by far the best.

Craig and The Weeknd turned in solid work this episode, as did the night’s guest stars (especially Warren). Predictably, the writers relied far too much on coronavirus jokes, but there was enough absurdity throughout to counter balance this, and the show went out on a high note.