This past weekend Adam Driver hosted Saturday Night Live for the third time. We couldn’t wait to see him return to Studio H8, but not just because he’s one of our favorites. Thanks to his track record on SNL, we knew we were in for a good episode. Even his promo during the week when he smashed a Christmas tree was better than most sketches. And he did not disappoint. He helped deliver the rarely-seen funny cold open before giving one of the show’s best opening monologues in years. And then he consistently killed it in a litany of absurd sketches. But most importantly, he brought back one of our favorite non-canonical Star Wars stories, in another installment of Kylo Ren, Undercover Boss.
SNL‘s openers usually disappoint, but not this week. It saw Jon Lovitz as lawyer Alan Dershowitz meeting in Hell with his evil dead friend Jeffrey Epstein, played by Driver. It also included Kate McKinnon as the Devil, the recently deceased Mr. Peanut, and Beck Bennett and Cecily Strong doing amazing impressions of Senators Mitch McConnell and Susan Collins.
For his monologue Driver set out to prove he’s not as intense as everyone thinks. We’re not sure his attempt to be “chill” worked, but it was really, really funny. He wandered around the stage and through the audience in a meandering, silly, downright surreal opening that was bizarre and wonderful.
If anyone at Del Taco can please make a t-shirt that says, “Aww man, I’m all out of cash!” we’d be really grateful. Almost as grateful as we are for this absurd short sketch where Driver and Beck Bennett both lost their minds while filming a commercial.
We know lots of people out there would love to hear Adam Driver sing to them. And they got the chance (sorta) when he appeared in the pre-taped piece for a new R&B track titled “Slow.” Unfortunately for the women of the sketch, it turns out it is possible to go too slow.
In an episode full of amazing Adam Driver moments, the end of “The Science Room” sketch might be our favorite. He played a TV host whose frustration at the kids ruining the show boiled over into pure rage.
(Side note: we would 100% watch this fictional show if it were real.)
Saturday Night Live has obviously shown what a fantastic comedic actor Adam Driver really is, but he’s especially great during the silliest sketches. And they don’t get much sillier than this one where he plays a bottle of ketchup breaking up with his would-be wife after she turns out to be catsup. It’s really even more absurd than it sounds.
Driver also was great as a dad hosting the single most destructive teenage girls’ sleepover ever. He got to show off his trademark intensity as an overly dramatic method actor working at a local Renaissance Faire restaurant. And he co-starred as one of the coach’s in SNL‘s parody of the new Netflix docu-series Cheer.
But the moment Star Wars fans will remember is Kylo Ren’s return to Undercover Boss. Previously, he went incognito as Matt the Radar Technician. It didn’t go all that well for Kylo that time. Or his employees. He killed many of them. But this time he wanted to keep his promise to be a better leader, and he went in disguise as Randy the Intern.
It…..it wasn’t a perfect experiment.
After two attempts it’s safe to say Kylo Ren does not do well as an Undercover Boss. It’s basically the opposite of what happens when Adam Driver hosts SNL.
Featured Image: NBC