Between Dave Chappelle’s monologue, Kate McKinnon’s cold open tribute to the late Leonard Cohen, and a reunion performance by A Tribe Called Quest, there were plenty of emotionally heavy moments on the most recent episode of Saturday Night Live. There was also no shortage of jokes to add levity courtesy of Chappelle and the rest of the cast at 30 Rockerfeller Center.
Chappelle, Kenan Thompson, and McKinnon starred in a sketch entitled “Last Call,” which was very much reminiscent of the Bobby Hutchison skit from Chappelle’s Show’s “Great Moments in Hookup History.”For their SNL sketch, Chappelle and McKinnon took on roles as the last two bar patrons in a pairing so repulsive it made Thompson’s bartender character pour bleach in his eyes to avoid the sight of seeing them make out. A dead frog also fell from the sky as a possible sign of the apocalypse.
The level of disgust was consistently ratcheted up thanks to the inclusion of Axe body spray, Pepto Bismol, and a sexual act Chappelle’s character referred to as a 66.
“That’s you facing away from me, and then I just work on myself,” Chappelle’s character explained.
McKinnon's charracter called the pending tryst “derotic,” and Chappelle’s character confessed to having a “hard off.” With Chappelle making his return to televised sketch comedy for the first time since the 2004 season finale of Chappelle’s Show, SNL is poised to continue the recent 31 percent boost in ratings. According to Deadline, the premiere episode of Season 42 drew in 8.3 million viewers, and the October debut marked the strongest SNL season opener since 2008.
