Nate Bargatze Makes A Triumphant Return To Saturday Night Live With George Washington & More

The season 50 premiere of "Saturday Night Live" left something to be desired. No blame should be placed on host Jean Smart, who did her best with a slate of rusty writers and cast members coming back to the high-pressure series after summer break. But we're happy to report that "SNL" is back on track with the second episode of the season, with comedian Nate Bargatze returning to host for a second time. 

Nate Bargatze's dry, quiet sense of humor is unusual for "SNL," but the writers and cast have figured out how to use his fairly limited sketch comedy range rather magnificently. While Bargatze is often playing characters that are basically some version of himself, the roster of talent at "SNL" is able to craft hilarious sketches around him, whether that means using his unassuming nature for terrific wry comedy, relying on his awkwardness in moments of chaos or confusion around him, or by letting one of the other cast members take the spotlight — especially when they're eating a massive cheeseburger (more on that later). It's a great showcase for how the show can be molded around a talented host of any kind. 

Honestly, the second time out hosting "SNL" might actually be better than Bargatze's debut on the sketch series last fall. Oh, and did we mention that The Lonely Island makes a return to "SNL" for the first time since 2018? So let's dig into the finer points of the show, which has surprisingly few lows this time out, with a full recap and review of Nate Bargatze's "Saturday Night Live" season 50 episode.

Mile High Burger Challenge – This sketch might start off a little clumsy, but the physical comedy hilarity that awaits ends up making up for it. This is not a sketch for Nate Bargatze to shine, but he does exactly what he's supposed to do by letting Heidi Gardner disgustingly and proudly pig out on a massive, messy burger in a totally inappropriate situation. While this kind of slapstick gag would have worked just fine on its own, it's that extra framing of unfolding during a serious discussion that brings an additional layer of comedy to the table (literally). There's also the right amount of escalation, as the ticking clock inspires even more exaggerated eating, not to mention chugging of a huge chocolate cherry milkshake, which also allows for a superb spit take. Kudos to Gardner for being all in on this delightfully sloppy sketch.

The good news is pretty much the entire episode was great. While the cold open continued to stumble through some political satire, the respective returns of Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg, Jim Gaffigan, and Dana Carvey as Vice President Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff, Tim Walz, and President Joe Biden (respectively) helped make it more fun than it otherwise might have been. Thankfully, this sketch was just under nine minutes, so they took a shorter route than the season premiere cold open. But at the same time, this sketch felt clumsier and lacked bite. In particular, the presence of Joe Biden feels forced, but that shortcoming is lessened by the fact that Carvey is simply great in the role. At least we only have to worry about this for a couple more weeks. 

As for the rest of the episode, let's hit some highlights. 

Washington's Dream 2 – After Nate Bargatze's turn as George Washington in his hosting debut resulted in the best sketch of that episode, it only makes sense for him to reprise the role with a different spin on the sketch's original premise. This time, rather than focusing on the silliness of the United States' units of measurement and whatnot, they hone in on some of the strangeness and irregularities in the English language. For example, we have both donuts and doughnuts, hamburgers are not made of ham, and we have a different word to describe the number 12, but no other number gets the special treatment. It's not quite as good as the first time out, but there's a plethora of material to keep this premise alive for whenever Bargatze comes back to host again.

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Sabado Gigante – Now a fully-fledged cast member, Marcello Hernandez gets a chance to shine in this riff on the Spanish-language variety show "Sabado Gigante." If you've never watched Mexican television shows, believe me when I say that they are every bit as weird and random as this. We've seen a similar approach to this kind of parody on "SNL" before, with Fred Armisen in Showbiz Grande Explosion sketches. But the presence of Bargatze as the clueless white guy, who doesn't speak Spanish very well and doesn't really have any idea what's going on, adds something else to the equation with hilarious results.

Golf Tournament – Perhaps the impressive thing about this sketch, and one of the key reasons that it plays so funny, is how it's shot. I don't know if sketch director Tim Wilkime was responsible for the meticulous lensing, but this short managed to perfectly capture the look and feel of golf tournaments when they're broadcast on television. From the distant, documentary-esque camera angles to that live sports look of network television, this was masterfully shot. On top of that, the sight gags and continued accidental cruelty to animals was perfectly timed. That snapping turtle could have looked a little better when it went belly up, but I'm sure getting the turtle to do that wasn't easy for whoever created the prop. It certainly didn't take away from how funny the sketch was. 

Water Park – I can't believe it took this long for "SNL" to pair the dry Michael Longfellow with Nate Bargatze. Both have such spectacular deadpan delivery styles, and this sketch makes outstanding use of them both. When a man dies at the top of the waterslide, the medics have to take the body all the way down the stairs leading up to the slide ... unless of course there was an easier way that no one had any problems about. The way Bargatze and Longfellow react to the conversation and feign the inspired development of the alternate body-moving option is where the biggest laughs lie, and the protest by one of the lifeguards (Jane Wickline) next to her more practical co-worker (Devon Walker) only makes it that much better. It's just a shame we didn't actually get to see that body go down the slide. 

Coach Alan – If there was a "worst" sketch of the night, it would have been this one. But honestly, this sketch is actually decent. It's a one-note joke that goes the whole way through, but it's still a solid sketch. I'm not sure it's the best sketch to end the episode on, especially when you have the return of The Lonely Island unfolding just before this one, but I wouldn't be surprised if Lorne Michaels didn't want people to mistakenly tune out and think the episode was over before the fake rap group made their return. Speaking of which...

It's been six years since The Lonely Island gave us the joy of seeing an SNL Digital Short. Their last outing was "Natalie's Rap 2," a sequel to one of their earlier breakout sketches featuring Natalie Portman doing a shockingly inappropriate rap about her life. This time, they're back with another fake rap song, and we hope it means there's a new album from them on the way.

"Sushi Glory Hole" (directed by the reliable Mike Diva) is exactly what you think it is, but for those who don't understand, Andy Samberg and Akiva Shaffer are here to explain whether you like it or not (hear them out). It functions exactly like a glory hole, but instead of a penis coming through a janky bathroom door, it's delicious sushi. There are some shortcomings, as the music video illustrates — but honestly, the risks feel like they're worth the reward. 

This felt like the boys never left, and it fits right in line with the rest of their previous work. Plus, it feels like their rap sensibilities have evolved a bit with the genre itself, especially with that one verse that starts around the 1:55 mark and gets a quick, audible audience reaction. The only bummer about this sketch is that Jorma Taccone wasn't with Andy and Akiva. However, he wasn't always involved with some of the group's biggest rap songs, so maybe he was still present in the writing process and behind the camera. I'm willing to bet we'll find out on a future episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, which continues to be a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes "SNL" stories

All right, to wrap things up, I wanted to give a quick shout out to Jane Wickline, one of the new featured players at "SNL" this season. Typically, the Weekend Update desk is where new cast members get to show a little bit of their personality and comedic style. Sometimes, it can take a little bit for the featured players to get a bit at the desk, so the fact that Wickline is coming to the desk in just the second episode of the show is rather impressive.

It's clear the audience isn't fully onboard, but they were still amused what she brought to the table. I think we can chalk it up to the fact that new cast members often need some time to win the audience over, and since they're not familiar with who she is yet, they're hesitant to be all in. It has a little bit of that Adam Sandler musical silliness charm from the '90s but with a layer of awkwardness and shyness. Wickline kinda reminds me of some of Elliot Page's work in movies like "Juno." It's a funny song, and though it feels like it maybe could have used a little more confidence from Wickline, that also kinda worked for the bit. At the very least, I think this shows that she has a lot of promise, and I hope that she can also show her stuff with a variety of characters.  

If you'd like to see the rest of Weekend Update, they had just one segment of newsworthy punchlines this time:

That's all for this episode, but we'll be back again next week when Ariana Grande returns to host on October 12, just in time to promote December's release of "Wicked." For more about "Saturday Night Live," be sure to tune in to The Ten to One Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.