“Saturday Night Live” was criticized last week for barely addressing the shooting of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis just hours before the show. Instead, “S.N.L.” opened with a blithely satirical sketch that, as had been the norm, featured James Austin Johnson in his recurring role as President Trump.
That may provide context for the sketch that led off this weekend’s broadcast, which was set in Minneapolis and which had no role for Johnson’s Trump character.
Instead, the show (hosted by Alexander Skarsgard and featuring the musical guest Cardi B) began with Pete Davidson as the White House border czar Tom Homan, taking command of I.C.E. officers to reacquaint them with the purpose of their deployment.
“Now I’m sure a lot of you are wondering why Greg Bovino, the last guy, was dismissed,” Davidson said. “I want to stress that it wasn’t because he did a bad job. Or publicly lied about the shooting of an American citizen. Or even — uh-oh — dressed like a Nazi. It was that he was filmed doing these things. And the president no likey that.”
Davidson asked an officer, played by Kenan Thompson, to identify his mission objective.
“Pass,” Thompson replied.
Another officer, played by Johnson, was asked what I.C.E. was doing in Minneapolis. Johnson answered, “This could be wrong, but — Army?”
“That’s close,” Davidson told him. “We’re here to detain and deport illegal immigrants who have committed crimes.”
Andrew Dismukes, also playing an I.C.E. agent, interjected with some surprise: “That is literally the first I’m hearing of that,” he said.
The back-and-forth between Davidson and his men continued in this manner.
“Remember, the job ultimately is about keeping America safe from — what?” he asked.
“This could be wrong,” Johnson answered, “but — Don Lemon?”
Finally, Davidson asked his men, “What have we learned today?”
This time, Johnson replied, “This could be wrong, but: that you hired a bunch of angry, aggressive guys, gave us guns and didn’t train us, so this is maybe what you wanted to happen?”
Davidson told the officers to show some restraint and to do their jobs without violating Americans’ rights. “Can you do that?” he asked.
“No,” Thompson replied curtly.
“Well, I had to ask,” Davidson said. “Maybe just try not to get filmed.”
Family confession of the week
Without relying on its Trump character this week, “S.N.L.” found other creative ways to joke about politics. The setup, of a family gathering in a suburban home, is one you’ve seen countless times before. And it’s plenty funny just to watch Ashley Padilla, as the mom, repeatedly build up to, and then back away from, the big announcement she wants to share, if only the offspring can stifle their response. Her revelation isn’t as outlandish as she made out: She just wants to say she’s reconsidering her longtime support of President Trump, which, despite her pleas, provoked a boisterous reaction from her adult children (Dismukes, Sarah Sherman, Tommy Brennan and Jane Wickline) and an equally touchy counterreaction from Padilla: “I’m sorry I’m late to the perfect party,” she grouses. Without getting too pious, the sketch effectively sends up both sides of a debate and also gives us Skarsgard as the family’s checked-out dad, who just wants to move the conversation along so he can get to his birthday dinner at Red Robin.
Bonus Skarsgard of the week
Why settle for just one member of the Skarsgard clan when you can also get the gravitas of that acting dynasty’s paterfamilias? Stellan Skarsgard, the newly minted Oscar nominee for “Sentimental Value,” joined his son Alexander in some sketches this weekend, including a recurring segment lampooning Scandinavian cinema and a new installment of the “Immigrant Dad Talk Show.” He’s not known first and foremost for his comedy, but the senior Skarsgard at least looked more comfortable on “S.N.L.” than he did singing “Take a Chance on Me” in “Mamma Mia!”
Weekend Update jokes of the week
Over at the Weekend Update desk, the co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che continued to riff on the I.C.E. operation in Minneapolis.
Jost began:
Well, let’s start with some good news tonight. It was reported that just 20 minutes ago, Dry January finally ended. [He took a sip from a drink.] Let’s hope it’s a wet-ass February. Meanwhile, President Trump is changing things up in Minnesota to calm the recent violence against his poll numbers. Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who was incredible in “One Battle After Another,” [the screen paired a headshot of Bovino with one of Sean Penn’s character in the movie] has been removed from overseeing the Minneapolis I.C.E. operation. And hopefully he was removed I.C.E. style, through the broken window of his car. Bovino was replaced by border czar Tom Homan, seen here just thinking about Bad Bunny’s halftime show. Call me crazy, but I just don’t see this guy calming things down. This feels like trying to quit cocaine by taking up crack.
Che continued:
Tom Homan called on local leaders in Minneapolis to work with I.C.E. agents and tone down the dangerous rhetoric. Because all that rhetoric just distracts agents from their main aim, anyone filming. Homeland Security’s initial review of the Alex Pretti shooting does not say that he attacked officers, which contradicts Kristi Noem’s claims. But none of that really matters to Kristi Noem. She’ll open fire even if you’re a good boy. [His screen showed a picture of a dog.]
A tribute to Catherine O’Hara
At the close of this week’s show, “S.N.L.” displayed an image honoring Catherine O’Hara, the comic actress (of “Home Alone,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Studio”) who died on Friday. O’Hara, a performer on the Canadian sketch series “SCTV,” was hired to join “S.N.L.” in 1980 but never actually appeared as a cast member and went back to “SCTV” that same year. She later returned to “S.N.L.” as a guest host twice, in 1991 and 1992.
Dave Itzkoff is a former Times culture reporter.
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