The Cold Open and Monologue Brought Adam Driver to Saturday Night Live

The Big Picture

• Adam Driver's hosting of Saturday Night Live was a solid episode, bringing charm and comedic timing to the night.
• The cold open of the show was awkward and unfocused, failing to make a strong commentary on the topic it addressed.
• Driver's monologue was perfect, with him playing a song for Santa and bringing genuine fun and entertainment to the show.

Adam Driver took to Studio 8H to host Saturday Night Live this week with musical guest Olivia Rodrigo and gave us a solid episode to get us into the holiday spirit. The fourth time that Driver has hosted the show, he was there to promote his new film Ferrari from director Michael Mann and brought his level of charm and comedic timing to the night and was all-around just a great host as always.

Sometimes, especially in the case of Saturday Night Live, the cold open and monologue can make or break the show and this week, we got see a packed open portion of the show which set the tone for the rest of Driver's night. Whether it was just that he's been there before or because everyone was on their A-game, this was one of the better episodes in recent weeks with great sketches all around. The cold open was rough to start but Driver brought it home with the monologue that made the rest of the night work in the long run.

The Cold Open Was an Awkward Start to the Night

The cold open this week took us into conversations about whether it is anti-Semitic to criticize Zionism on college campuses. Unfocused for the topic it was trying to address, the cold open didn't really push any buttons or make any commentary, especially as it didn't even directly address the reasons student groups are protesting Zionism in the first place. Yes, it tackled the vague statements issued by colleges this past week, but failed to say anything of substance about the subject at hand. It was nice, however, to see newcomer Chloe Troast get her first "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night" on the Studio 8H stage.

Driver's Monologue Was Perfection

In Driver's monologue, he decided to play a song for Santa to tell him what he wants for Christmas. First, he screamed at Santa, before remembering he's on TV. Getting quieter, he tells Santa what he wants, including asking for people to stop blaming him for killing Han Solo (it turns out, wokeness killed Han Solo) as well as asking Santa to kill couples on TikTok who do pranks on each other. Watching Driver play piano was incredible because he made sure we knew he was actually the one playing, and it was nice to see him having a great time during the monologue to set us up for a genuinely fun time during the show!

The full episode of Saturday Night Live is available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.

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