Saturday Night Live
Glen Powell & Olivia Dean
November 15, 2025
Confession: I don’t get Glen Powell. I understand that he’s conventionally handsome and that he’s a huge movie star and that he has a “boyish charm” or whatever. But I also find his face kinda punchable? Not my thing, I guess, is what I’m saying; his name on the marquee is not going to draw me in.
So color me shocked at how charmed I was by Powell’s freshman outing as host of Saturday Night Live. He was funny and clearly having a great time in every sketch, and, dare I say it, endearing, thanks in large part to a winning monologue that helped explain why this is his first time on the 8H stage. I don’t know that you’d count me as a “fan” of Glen Powell now, but I definitely walked away from this episode liking him more than I did coming into it.
Oh, and yeah, they also gave us new “MacGruber,” as a little treat. And though it’s only the 6th episode of the season, it’s the best so far.
The cold open is a White House press briefing where “Karoline Leavitt is about to have a day” thanks to the release of the Epstein emails. It’s pretty much what you expect: Leavitt fights for her life and attacks the reporters until James Austin Johnson’s President Megalomaniac hijacks the proceedings and makes things considerably worse for him. Points for bringing up “Bubba” in the opening minutes of the episode, but they should have given Ashley Padilla more time as Leavitt, because she was killing it.
Grade: B+
Glen Powell spends his first SNL monologue discussing his career and how it seems like he’s everywhere these days. He then shares an embarrassing music video (?) he made as a teenager, before telling the story of how he was supposed to host SNL‘s Christmas episode four years ago. It involves a UPS driver, a selfie, and the best feel-good ending of a monologue I’ve seen this year, maybe in a long while. I’m not going to ruin it, just watch for yourself. AND FINE, GLEN POWELL, YOU WON ME OVER, YOU CHARMING BASTARD.
Grade: A+
A trio of grandchildren visits their grandmother for Thanksgiving, and they bring a gift: her old family photos have been animated using AI. It starts off charming enough, but soon there are headless dogs, floating bowling balls, and Ken doll anatomy.
Grade: A-
It’s a Nu-Country song in which a couple of guys sing about missing their ex-girlfriends’ dads. Just the dads, not the girlfriends themselves. And look, it’s fine, whatever. But maybe it’s just me, but I found it distracting that, because there is not a Black woman in the cast, the ex-girlfriend who should be Kenan Thompson’s daughter just doesn’t appear in the sketch at all. There is no ex-girlfriend. Hire a Black woman already, Lorne.
Grade: B
Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco attends a bachelor party. That is the entire conceit of this sketch.
Well, that’s not entirely fair: the real conceit of this sketch is, “Hey, Marcello, Do Your Sebastian Maniscalco Impersonation that 65% of the Country Won’t Understand or Care About!”
Grade: C+
A group of Norwegian actors filming a depressing divorce film is overwhelmingly excited and giddy after every take, swinging between the two extreme moods. Look, I don’t know what’s going on here — it was a big, weird swing — but everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. It (sorta) works thanks to the vibes.
Grade: B
SNL great Will Forte returns with “MacGruber” over the course of three sketches with perhaps the best Epstein File-related sketch idea: MacGruber is in the Epstein Files and therefore desperate to destroy them.
I am going to be completely honest with y’all: I’ve never been a big “MacGruber” fan, mostly because it just felt like the same gag over and over again. However, tying it into this particular current event was inspired. Also, it was great to see Forte in this context again. Great idea, great execution, no notes.
Grade: A+
A soldier learns he’s being assigned to a new military division, except instead of a traditional military squad, he has to choose between essentially two “houses,” House of Bob or House of Bangs. For those unfamiliar, this is based on the LGBTQ Ballroom subculture, and personally, I really enjoyed it. But I do wonder if people unfamiliar with Ballroom will enjoy this bit: is it so over-the-top and ridiculous that it doesn’t need context, it’s just funny or did it feel too insider-jokey?
Grade: A-
“Weekend Update” was short and sweet, with no correspondents, just jokes about Epstein, Bill Clinton, Bill Cosby, and a good dad joke about pennies.
Grade: A
The ex-wife and her new husband pick up Glen Powell’s Liam Nissson character from Taken after he’s rescued their daughter in Paris, and the new husband melts down from insecurity and jealousy. Eh.
Grade: B-
The final sketch finds Ashley Padilla joining her friends for dinner after receiving a disastrous haircut, and trying to pretend it’s not as awful as it obviously is. It’s giving sister in Fleabag (I LOOK LIKE A PENCIL). But I’m not mad, mostly thanks to Padilla killing it here. The only thing that surprises me is that it was chosen for the last sketch of the night, a spot that is usually reserved for the weirdest bit, even though it’s pretty conventional. Maybe it was a costuming issue with the wig/makeup? Unclear.
Grade: A-
Final Grade: A. Whaddya gonna do?
Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.
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