'SNL' Highlights: Woody Harrelson Goes Off Script with Unhinged Anti-Vax Nonsense

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 26, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | February 26, 2023 |

Cold Open — Donald Trump went to East Palestine, Ohio this week and said some insane things, and I thought I might have been ready for a Trump parody again, but I was wrong. That said, James Austin Johnson does the impression better than anyone and he’s getting better. There are a couple of lines here that are also brilliant. “You usually blame [farts] on the dog, but now they’re all dead.” Chloe Fineman also does an impression of the kooky lady on the Trump grand jury, at least I think it’s Chloe Fineman. She’s unrecognizable with that facial expression. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

Woody Harrelson Monologue — It’s Woody’s 5th time, and they usually pull out all the stops. Mostly, though, Woody comes off as the loud, weird uncle you adore but don’t want to spend too much time with. Why is he yelling? The monologue is equally amusing and rambling until the last minute when he (probably) adlibs some insane anti-vax conspiracy nonsense. What the hell? (Score: 5 out of 10)

Prison Visit — A man in prison talks to his wife, who is visiting, but the prison guards (played by Ego and Kenan) butt in with their own commentary. And their commentary is kind of rambling, too. And then Ego and Kenan start talking to each other. Are Ego and Kenan stoned, too? (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Please Don’t Destroy — One of the guys is worried that the other two are hanging out without him, so he and Woody do a stakeout to find out why they bailed on him. It turns out, the other two are married, they have kids, and have been living a completely secret life without telling him. Eh. (Score: 6 out of 10)

Mission Slingshot — Woody and Kenan go on a wild slingshot ride, and Kenan keeps passing out during the ride, and while it shouldn’t be a particularly good sketch, Kenan somehow makes it work. It’s 100 percent Kenan at his best. (Score: 6.5 out of 10)

Submarine Launch — The Navy christens a new submarine named by a poll. The name is Mr. Dingleberry’s Goochballoon ASDFJKL; 6969. That’s basically the joke. It goes on for a long time. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)

Cologuard Ad — This one is a lot. They’re exam boxes begging Woody to “unleash inside them” for colon cancer. It’s funny/gross. It’s also the Mat sketch of the week, whether he likes it or not. (Score: 7 out of 10)

Weekend Update — James Austin Johnson does a bizarre Bill Walton impression that I honestly don’t really understand, but it’s amusing. Heidi plays a mom of five who talks about motherhood, but mostly about how much she loves her f**k-up of a son whom she wants to have sex with and how annoying her successful daughters are. Meanwhile, the political jokes are decent, but as has been the case lately, Che and Jost go off the rails in the second half, for better or worse. There are a lot of laughs. Also a lot of boos. (Score: 7 out of 10)

The Hippo — A bunch of actors prepared for a movie called The Hippo only to find out that it was canceled. One guy grew a beard. One lady shadowed a therapist for two weeks, and another lady dyed her hair brown. Oh, and Woody added 450 pounds for nothing. He turned down a Marvel movie to gain 450 pounds! For nothing! (Watch Here) (Score: 4 out of 10)

Two Men Speak in the Most Beautiful Gym in the World — The title says it all, sort of. The men wear suits, and the gym looks like a night lounge. It’s also weirdly Bowen Yang’s first sketch of the night. It’s a very bad sketch. Many people will love it anyway. (Watch Here) (Score: 3 out of 10)

FYI, Woody finally got his 5-Timers jacket at the sign-off, which was presented to him by ScarJo (Jack White got one, too).