If there’s a Guinness World Record for most utterances of the word ‘Jumanji’ within five minutes, it just got shattered. Wiig here plays what appears to be the latest in an infinite scroll of weirdos she’s brought to life on the show: Nina, who refuses to play board games out of an irrational fear of being Jumanji’d. As the writers of this season-highlight of a sketch know all too well, the best way to treat an irrational weirdo on this show is to have everyone take her seriously. (Dismukes’s screaming indignation at her ideas about Jumanji works particularly well.) They also know, of course, that the best way to end such a sketch is with the irrational weirdo being proven correct.
The inaugural outing of Gardner’s secretary sketch was so Mad Men-coded in its scene-setting that having Jon Hamm appear in the sequel is just a no-brainer. As mentioned in the intro, though, so is making Wiig and Gardner peas in a pod with this character. If there was ever any question of which current cast member most embodies Wiig’s specific gift for physical comedy, the sight of her and Gardner mixing a drink “on the racks”-style should answer it.
Even if the only humor in this sketch came from the variety of wigs and facial hair on hand, it would still be uproarious. Bowen Yang appears first, with dark Shirley Temple curls and upfront space buns, looking like a monster from Big Mouth, and Rudd later joins him styled like a post-barber Bob Ross, Fred Armisen in ‘80s metal hair, and Will Forte in a Prince Valiant pageboy. The fact that these wigs are just a little piece of what makes this sketch funny, though, speaks to its favor. The premise of an employee (Kenan Thompson) retiring is just an excuse to let one character after another perform a bizarre soliloquy of some kind. Wiig’s contribution alone has the kind of game baked into it — every bit of praise for her retiring colleague sounds like an allegation — that might sustain an entire sketch of its own. Here it’s just one highlight, however, during seven minutes of comedic chaos.
An extra-hot Weekend Update is a great way to prop up an episode that is otherwise lacking. It also makes a nice addition, though, to an episode that is already on fire. Donald Trump’s daffy behavior this week fed Che and Jost layups that they still approached with dunk contest flair; Marcello Hernández and Thompson committed hard to the inspired idea of treating the recent New York earthquake and the coming eclipse as rival professional wrestlers in a stealth nod to Chris Farley’s 1998 turn as El Nino; and what a subtle flex to make the only classic Wiig character to come back in this episode Aunt Linda, who returned last night for the first time since Wiig was a cast member. This Update absolutely did not need to go this hard, and yet here we are.
What stands out about this darkly funny sketch, which wrings laughs out of imminent childhood trauma, is its pacing and escalation. Andrew Dismukes spends a full half of the sketch grounding the reality of what it’s like to be a child about to receive devastating news from his parent, only for Chloe Troast to appear in overalls and a sad little birthday hat, making the sadness even more real. The genius of this sketch, though, is the lingering mystery of it. While it sure seems like the news James Austin Johnson and Wiig are about to break to their kids is that a divorce is coming, the end keeps viewers guessing. Who, exactly, is Sheila? Why does she know Johnson as “Big C”? The sketch is better off for never letting viewers know.
