October has been the month of Bad Bunny.
Ever since the Latin trap maestro announced a surprise new album, “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana,” that arrived on Oct. 13, it feels like he’s everywhere. That even goes for this week’s “Saturday Night Live,” where the artist, also known as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was both the guest host and musical guest.
Like a lot of episodes of “SNL” where a non-comedy performer has to do so much heavy lifting, the sketches worked best when they played to Bad Bunny’s strengths — stage presence and personality, especially when they were in Spanish (with or without subtitles). Two of the best sketches of the show, a pre-taped piece featuring a set of explorers explaining The New World, and one with a guy whose mom and aunt disapprove of his new girlfriend, allowed the Spanish to flow freely and Benito’s sense of humor to shine through.
His first skit, a rap battle with an overly self-deprecating “Walter Whiteboy” (Mikey Day), was funny, but made the curious choice of not giving Bad Bunny any bars at all. That felt like a missed opportunity. Mick Jagger, whom we hear is in some sort of band with a new album, showed up in a sketch about the filming of a telenovela and one about randy nuns trying to find a poorly disguised man in their midst. Bad Bunny appeared as himself, but dressed as Shrek, in a Please Don’t Destroy video that was loopy and weird. And he got a few laughs in a late-episode sketch about the CEO of Burt’s Bees facing a crisis while Bad Bunny’s character raves about his future son-in-law. He did well in an unevenly written, cameo-heavy episode that also served as a showcase for featured player Marcello Hernandez. But, really, it was the sharp musical performances of “Un Preview” and “Monaco” from the new album that showed why Bad Bunny is such a big deal.
The show’s cold open was about Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan’s (Day) failed attempts to take over as speaker of the House. Jordan is visited by New York Rep. George Santos (Bowen Yang), Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (Chloe Fineman), seen being groped at a theater performance of “Aladdin,” and, of course, former President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), who is “traveling city to city visiting their beautiful courtrooms.” Trump asks why Radiohead doesn’t play “Creep” live anymore when everybody else does after reciting some of the lyrics to describe Jordan’s situation. And as a final insult, Jordan doesn’t get to introduce the show; instead, Trump cuts him off, saying, “That’s not for losers!” before delivering the, “Live from New York… it’s ‘Saturday Night!’ ”
Bad Bunny’s monologue, which began with the performer saying he was thrilled to be on “Sábado Gigante,” made reference to the Grammys incident from earlier this year when his performances were subtitled with, “Sings in non-English.” For “SNL,” he playfully changed it to, “Speaking a sexier language.” Actor Pedro Pascal, who hosted “SNL” last season, joined Bad Bunny to offer some advice and to do some translating of the monologue, where he turned a long string of shoutouts and thoughts in Spanish from Bad Bunny into simply, “I’m blessed to be here with my favorite actor, Pedro Pascal.”
Best sketch of the night: “La Era del Descubrimiento” (“The Age of Discovery”)
“SNL” alum Fred Armisen joined in for an all-Spanish sketch about a pair of explorers (played by Armisen and Day) who’ve returned to Spain after discovering a new continent on their way to China. Rather than following the advice that they should just sail around the continent, the explorers try to sell a 16th-century Spanish king and prince (played by Bad Bunny and Hernandez) on items like turkeys, llamas, tomatoes and tobacco. The turkeys, they’re told, are just chickens with testicles on their faces and the tomatoes are disgusting apples. The sketch’s pace and strong writing, whether you can follow it in Spanish or in the subtitled English, are excellent with great jokes throughout and Bad Bunny’s best comedic timing of the entire night.
Also good: “Protective Mom 2”
Fine, it’s a sequel to a sketch we just saw in February, but Pedro Pascal’s return performance as an overbearing mami, with Bad Bunny as his sister, and Hernandez as the son trying to introduce them to his girlfriend, somehow works again. Maybe it’s Pascal’s daffy over commitment to the part, which Bad Bunny is more than willing to try to match, or the little moments of recognition, like dumping out a tin of store-bought cookies and replacing the contents with sewing supplies, that make this too-broad sketch end up working. New cast member Chloe Troast does great work, too, in the unrewarding role of the mocked white girlfriend.
“Weekend Update” winner: Jada Pinkett, again
The only person more ubiquitous on TV than Bad Bunny lately may be autobiography promoter Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of Will Smith, played here by Ego Nwodim. She reveals that the long-separated couple believes in never going to bed happy and that nothing makes her happier than “cucking my millionaire husband.” Pinkett Smith also brings up her relationship with Tupac Shakur and the Chris Rock slap that she says brought her and Will Smith closer together. “Next time my marriage hits a rough patch, I’m going to ask Will to shoot Kevin Hart,” she concludes. Rough stuff, but it was slim pickings on “Update” this week: Pinkett Smith was the only guest on the news segment. On top of that, “Update” featured two absolute groaners back to back: one about makeup companies and one about how someone looks when they take their glasses off — even “Update” co-host Michael Che admonished the audience for laughing at that one.