Jack Harlow

The rapper makes for a fine host, with help from a surprise cameo from Tom Hanks, in a week that made the most of the time of year.

The minute Hanks showed up earlier, it seemed a foregone conclusion we would get a sequel to his instantly iconic David S Pumpkins sketch from 2016 (Moynihan turning up only made it more obvious). We then get the welcome return of Bobby Moynihan as Drunk Uncle, who angrily yells, slurs and weeps his way through various rants on Halloween (“Halloween is socialism”), quiet quitting (“We used to quit loud, because they hired a lady manager and we were scared”), Chris Pratt (“Barf – not my Mario”), and, of course, Kanye (“I’ve been listening to a lot of what he has to say and you know what … It’s like he bought the rest of Orlando.” He and Michael Che also take aim at Musk buddy (and fellow former SNL guest) Kanye West: “Goodwill … The show appears to have realized that she might not be the Chosen One after all, but it also seems afraid to mine any humor out of her. There’s a lot of dead air here, which does not bode well for the rest of the episode. There is a tangible air of pointlessness and hopelessness hovering over everything, owing to the knowledge that some, if not all three of these individuals are going to win their contests no matter how obviously unsuited and dangerous.