Since the current season of Saturday Night Live began, its election-themed cold opens have taken some criticism for being, shall we say, a bit on the long side. The latest episode seemed to take that to heart, with a cold open coming in at under 8 minutes. Jim Carrey’s take on Joe Biden remained an odd blend of performer and subject, but the concept for the sketch — Biden reading an election-themed version of “The Raven” — provided a solid template, even if some of the jokes were hit or miss.
Alec Baldwin’s Donald Trump was entirely absent from the sketch; instead, various cast members showed up doing impressions of politicians and celebrities. Among the highlights? Mikey Day as Nate Silver saying, “I think this country is haunted.” And Kate McKinnon made a return as Hillary Clinton, though there were no Leonard Cohen covers this time out.
By the end of he sketch, the original concept had mostly fallen by the wayside, though it did feature Carrey explaining, “I took some artistic liberties to preserve my rhyme scheme.” In the end, Carrey and Maya Rudolph made an earnest plea for viewers to vote, and then the last of these cold opens before Election Day reached its conclusion.
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