Often, when a host flounders — and Miles was about 50-50 in that category — it hurts the whole show, but SNL surprisingly was able to rise above him, even at his weakest. Miles was the weak point in a hangover game show sketch, but every other performer was so no their game that it didn’t really hurt it.

Where the whole thing did fall flat, unfortunately, was right at the top. Miles’ monologue delivery was downright atrocious, while celebrity guests Ramy Youssef (as Zorhan Mamdani) and Shane Gillis (as Curtis Sliwa) couldn’t save the lame New York Mayoral Debate opening sketch — with James Austin Johnson’s Trump rammed in there just because. 

Miles was flat in his first two appearance and the night seemed destined for disaster — but almost every sketch after that worked, from the moment we took a peak at the inner workings behind a newsdesk to a lively and memorable Weekend Update and all the way to the short-changed date with “funny” waiters to wrap the night.

Was this the strongest episode of the season and the weakest host? That’s not something you see often.

As usual, we’re ranking all the sketches from worst to first, including the Monologue, Cold Open, “Weekend Update” and any sketches that were cut for time but made their way online. We’ll skip the musical guests, because they’re not usually funny — unless Ashlee Simpson shows up. We wrap up with a look at the cast-member who had the strongest week.

Miles was very stiff and definitely did not roll with the live-ness of the show, stumbling over audience reactions and horribly ad-libbing when a picture of the “Night at the Roxbury” guys didn’t show up when expected. It was as if he was delivering a very serious speech in school and getting mildly irked when he’d get interrupted or forget his spot. That emotionally flat delivery did nothing for the material, which was just reminiscences of his life, Halloween and the impact of SNL. Shouldn’t you be able to make us feel like you care about your own life? And the poor guy cannot deliver a joke setup or punchline for his life!

A little bit all over the place and definitely too long, you don’t want your first sketch in two weeks to be a yawner. Kenan Thompson was a highlight when he was breaking the fourth wall to share that he was portraying perhaps the least famous person to get an SNL impression, and when reading off their sponsors. Guest Ramy Youssef also brought laughs with his take on Zohran Mamdani, mugging to the camera and smiling like his face was going to break in half, but we were less enamored with Miles Teller’s Andrew Cuomo and Shane Gillis’ Curtis Sliwa. Shane stumbled over lines and delivered everything the same way, effectively killing all of his shock humor jokes. And then, James Austin Johnson’s Trump wandered in for a mildly amusing — but completely unnecessary — conclusion. We will say, though, he seems to have a pleasant singing voice under there!

This sketch went beautifully off the rails (intentionally) with Andrew Dismukes’ reporter/author introducing the pool of reporters to his own superhero creation. It was so bizarre, but we loved how the sketch shifted after this moment, culminating in Ashley Padilla snapping and shrieking at the police giving the press conference, and then Ben Marshall’s surprise appearance at the end. The final moments fell flat, but we loved going deeper and deeper into this bizarre concept up until that moment.

Just a hair too long, but mostly very funny as Miles Teller played both Property Brothers helping with the renovation/demolition of the West Wing so James Austin Johnson’s Trump could keep hitting enlarge on his ballroom ambitions. The Bill Clinton joke was definitely a highlight, as was Ashley Padilla’s Melania Trump showing off her own decorations, while we appreciated the “banter” between the brothers. Even the ending punchline was both inevitable and successful. Miles was clearly more comfortable in this pre-taped sketch as he brought more energy and life into the Scott brothers than most of his live appearances. Even Jonathan Scott was loving it, commenting on SNL’s Instagram, “How is Miles a better me than me?!”

“Do I have to say I’m a Predator–” Miles Teller asks as a hockey player really reluctant to read his lines when he has to say he’s a “predator” in your neighborhood. A New York Ranger, a Los Angeles King and a Nashville Predator walk into a commercial shoot and every single line leans into that Nashville team name is all of the wrong ways you can imagine. Miles finally wakes up in live sketches for this one, delivering the perfect reluctance about the lines written for him about the good work his team does in the community with kids. Andrew Dismukes was spot-on as one of the commercial directors, while Ashley Padilla was a little more than necessary. All in all, though, there was some great wordplay and the sketch knew when it was time to wrap it up and be done after some funny escalations.

This sketch had some fun moments, and Veronika Slowikowska and Ben Marshall definitely leaned hard into their drunk characters, but Miles Teller fell flat in his own portrayal. He even threw off host Kenan Thompson with his response to why he’s wearing a corn costume due to his stilted delivery. The video clip from the night before’s shenanigans for these three hung-over contestants answering questions about what they did last night was simple but funny. We appreciated that they didn’t go too far outside the scope of the premise, creating a very tight and funny game show parody.

This one kind of seemed to run out of time at the end, but we were definitely enjoying it more and more as it went along. Mikey Day was game as a guy on a date with his wife, Chloe Fineman, dealing with “funny” waiters Miles Teller and Marcello Hernandez. The surprise appearance of Kenan Thompson as the cook was a bonus — and we did get a kick out of the background extra laughing when some of the thrown salad landed on them. We’d have liked to see what this could have been with a bit more time, but huge props to Marcello for getting us with his “focaccia” joke — thought the censors were going to be coming for him.

This was an absolutely brilliant concept for a sketch, but we kind of wish they’d held back the overall conceit of this take on the Netflix format just a hair. It was still very funny — and kinda accurate — as it was, but would have had even more impact if we would have waited maybe until halfway through to reveal the full twist. Everyone really came through in their roles, with both the husbands and wives really selling their parts in the story. The only flaw was that once the twist was revealed, there was only so much material left before it started to feel a bit repetitive and like it was overstaying its welcome.

We love a good background humor sketch after those Waffle House pieces, but this one was just a bit more intrusive and interactive as a newsroom revealed the behind-the-scenes happenings during the broadcast by opening up the wall behind the anchors. This allowed us to get some great physical comedy from Mikey Day and other brilliantly hilarious moments from Kam Patterson, self-promoter, and Bowen Yang’s reaction after Jane Wickline’s printer mishap. All in all, it was a hilariously clever segment about office mishaps with Chloe Fineman and Kenan Thompson hold it together at the desk — well, trying to hold it together.

Michael Che was on fire with his usual dark and edgy commentary, taking on women, slippery bathroom floors, tying the word of the year (67) to 9/11 and offering a very pointed (ahem) solution to the loss of SNAP benefits. Meanwhile, Colin Jost laid into Trump for how weird he was at trick-or-treating again, and his meetings with foreign leaders in a very strong opening segment.

Oftentimes, pre-scripted bits burning Colin don’t work with guests — unless it’s Sarah Sherman (we miss you at the desk!) — but this one with Bowen Yang’s George Santos revealing photos of his “angels” in his wallet was fantastic. Then, Bowen’s prison glass showed the cue card person in the reflection, leading to a quick reposition (an amusing moment of seeing the background players during a sketch). All in all, his rapid-fire lies and recurring prison calls were both ridiculous and funny. Some impressions just keep on giving!

And we thought Che’s earlier jokes were on the edge! He fell right over it with his bit on the Special Olympics asking Kid Rock to stop using the r-word. Colin was right behind him with his own peanut allergies joke, while both made older people (the 92-year-old president of Cameroon and 80-year-old woman who hiked the Appalachian Trail) the setup for very different, but equally funny, jokes.

Who better to provide commentary about the government shutdown than two people who just hooked up. Sure, it makes no sense, but then Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla slid out and nailed the awkward sweetness and inevitable tension of their characters. The innuendoes were dropping hot and heavy and both of them were giving full performances. This was a masterclass of how to own the Update desk, with even their small, quiet moments demanding attention.

This was definitely an interesting week so early in a young season as it seemed like a showcase opportunity for some of the younger faces in the cast, with veterans like Chloe Fineman, Sarah Sherman, Mikey Day, Marcello Hernandez, and even Bowen Young settling for a breakout moment or two, but otherwise allowing the newer performers, like Ben Marshall, Veronika Slowikowska, and Ashley Padilla, to have more screen time.

Kenan Thompson, in contrast, was everywhere, but he was mostly in straight-man roles, or playing host to shenanigans, offering his steadfast presence to allow them to show off what they’re capable of. Veronika and Ben, in particular, benefited from that for some great work in the game show sketch.

Ashley Padilla continues to bring stellar character work, but this week’s shining light award has to go to Andrew Dismukes, who gives so fully to each of his ridiculous characters, and with such sincerity, that it draws you in. From his scene-stealing chemistry with Ashley at Update and as obtuse advertising directors to his comic book hopeful at the press conference, Andrew never fails to deliver total commitment.

Saturday Night Live returns next week with host Nikki Glaser and musical guest Sombr.