Saturday Night Live Druski post-midterm episode review, Digi Mart USA News: Four days after the midterm elections, Saturday Night Live opened at Democratic headquarters, where party leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer celebrated while vowing to hold on to power despite the wishes of their energized base.
Their toast was interrupted by Donald Trump, who accepted the results and said he was now a lame duck. He also turned his attention to the White House ballroom, and the sketch included brief appearances by a defeated JD Vance and Pete Hegseth.
Texas senator-elect James Talarico then interrupted Trump with a joke about the show’s cold opens. While the bit initially seemed like a rehash of the previous week’s cold open, Talarico’s appearance gave it some needed energy, though the episode overall felt underwhelming for such a historic week.
Comedian and streamer Druski hosted the episode. He claimed to be the first internet content creator to host the show, a claim that is not entirely accurate, since previous hosts Issa Rae and Quinta Brunson also rose to fame on social media before landing hit television shows.
Druski is currently filming a movie alongside Emma Stone, who joined him onstage for light banter.
Several sketches drew criticism. A parody of the BET political roundtable program Washington in Focus was described as a one-note idea that ended quickly.
A parody of the documentary You Can See Everything cast Druski as Elizabeth Holmes in whiteface, a move that broke one of the show’s taboos.
The episode’s Weekend Update segment drew praise for Colin Jost’s rundown of the week’s news, including the White House chief of staff shakeup. Jeremy Culhane’s portrayal of Elon Musk was singled out as the strongest performance of the night, capturing Musk’s awkward speech patterns and desperate attempts to appear cool.
Several other sketches, including a cellphone store scene, a taqueria dinner party, and a wedding photography sketch, were described as weak. Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle appeared during the curtain call to embrace Druski.
The review concludes that the episode failed to match the significance of the post-election moment and that Saturday Night Live appeared to have missed an opportunity to respond to the midterm results.
