Kristen Wiig Won't Wear a Costume, and Other SNL Treats

Halloween’s about candy, so it makes sense that last night’s SNL provided plenty of it—for the eyes, chuckle chuckle. Guests Jon Hamm and musical guest Rihanna added dashes of dashing and fierce. Let’s check out the good stuff!

Of the straight-up sketches, the keeper was “Audition,” in which Kristen Wiig tells an auditioner (played by Jason Sudeikis) her long, long list of what she’ll do and not do in a role, as well as what she might do—including “eat a very small bowl of white bird waste, if it is relevant to the story.” Surprisingly, she doesn’t get the part! And this upsets her and her husband, played by Hamm, very much:

The best sketch of the night was the digital short, in which Andy Samberg and Rihanna brought back their characters “Shy Ronnie,” played by Samberg, and Rihanna as his frustrated but collected sidekick. We’d love to show it to you, but for the second week in a row NBC has pulled it off the Internet (what the heck?)—so we can’t. This time around, Samberg and Rihanna play bank robbers trying to pull off a heist. But Ronnie’s inaudible singing and general clumsiness (he shoots himself in the foot) causes a few complications. Clyde tries to coach shy, nerdy Ronnie, telling him to “just imagine that everyone’s naked.” But this prompts a “boner alert.” Eventually, Rihanna takes the money—and a bank customer, played by Hamm—and runs. That’s when Ronnie busts out his curse word-laden rhymes.

The family-friendly bleeping subtracts from the overall effect, to be sure. But I’m also kinda tired of Andy Samberg’s barky rapping style-he needs to diversify his assets.

Rihanna looked amazing during her performance of “What’s My Name”—the red backdrop, which matched her hair, totally worked. But the song itself did not: a better title would have been, “Where’s My Hook?” The recorded version sounds better, as does the other track she sang, “Only Girl in the World.” As some 16th century mathematician once scribbled into a notebook, “Rihanna + edgy synth sounds = good, Rihanna + jangly guitars = bad.”

Another mediocre effort, all around. The “Vincent Price’s Halloween Special” wasn’t special, and nothing else left much of an impression. If this episode were Halloween candy, it would be a Pay Day bar, or a Chunky. What did you think, dear readers?