Saturday Night Live recap: Ryan Gosling is a character-breaking blast

After the comedic tour de force that was Barbie’s Ken—not to mention that himbo fever-dream musical number at last month’s Academy Awards—Ryan Gosling had a lot to live up to as this week’s Saturday Night Live host. And, unsurprisingly, the ever-game, every-giggly actor was more than Ken-ough in his third hosting gig, which featured country great Chris Stapleton as musical guest and was—much to Lorne Michaels’ alleged chagrin—jam-packed with cast breaks.

Gosling has a delightful history of corpsing during his time in Studio 8H, particularly in regard to alien abductions (more on that in a minute), but we can’t remember if we’ve ever seen an SNL cast so thoroughly tickled by a celebrity host. (Even usually poker-faced performers like Heidi Gardner and Marcello Hernandez couldn’t get it together.) While not the most technically exacting episode ever, it made for an infectiously fun, wonderfully goofy edition of the show, sprinkled with random ’90s references (Beethoven? Erin Brockovich?) and more than a few superstar surprises.

Cold open: Close encounters of the horny kind

We’re starting off strong and silly: it’s another installment of “Close Encounter,” which, yes, means the return of the unhinged Colleen Rafferty and Gosling’s Barbie co-star Kate McKinnon. As usual, a trio of abductees (Gosling, McKinnon and Sarah Sherman) detail their extraterrestrial experiences to a panel of Pentagon officials, with Colleen’s testimonies getting progressively more graphically sexual and grossly hilarious.

A few not-so-hidden smirks pop up early, but any semblance of composure is completely lost when McKinnon has Gosling stand up to act out how the Martians reacted to his human private parts, nosing the actor’s crotch like a Collie in heat.

Opening monologue: We’ll remember Ken all too well

Sure, Ryan Gosling is supposed to be promoting The Fall Guy, his new stuntman action-comedy opposite Emily Blunt. But he’s, sadly, still not over Ken, so much so that he settles at the piano for a break-up ballad about the Oscar-worthy character, set to Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well.” (“If I said I was doing fine, you know I’d be lying. Because I was just Ken and now I’m just Ryannn.”)

Just as he starts reminiscing too lovingly about roller blades and fur coats, Blunt drops in to bash various objects (a wine bottle, a whole-ass chair) over his head and remind him just which promo tour he’s currently on. But it seems like Gosling’s wistfulness is contagious: soon, the Oppenheimer actress finds herself crooning about atomic bombs and Cillian Murphy, until the opening monologue escalates into an over-the-top “Barbenheimer” duet complete with back-up dancers and a margarita-drinking Albert Einstein. Best opener of the season, bar none.

The (runner-up) MVP of the night: Andrew Dismukes

It’s clear that nobody was outshining Gosling this week, but between last Saturday’s standout Jumanji bit with Kristen Wiig and this week’s “The Engagement” sketch with Gosling, Andrew Dismukes is having an especially strong month, playing genuinely perplexed and increasingly indignant men. (“I am not a part of this!” “You’re the main part of this, Brad!”) He also, largely, manages to avoid breaking in Gosling’s mere presence, so the lad gets extra points.

The Emmy for Outstanding Makeup goes to:

Bless whichever crew member hid the terrifying visages of Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day as Beavis and Butthead from Heidi Gardner until the very last minute, because watching the actress react in real time to the horror-hilarity of Gosling’s blonde pompadour and Day’s “exposed gums” was the hardest we’ve laughed all season.

Not since Bill Hader’s wheelchair romp with Cecily Strong have we seen a cast member lose it for quite as long or as loud as Gardner does here. And speaking of church giggles, we’ve got to shout-out the seriously stone-faced extras throughout—you’re made of stronger stuff than we are.

And the best hairography of the night goes to:

One of those characteristically nutty post-“Weekend Update” bits, this hospital sketch shows that all the world really needs now is Ryan Gosling and Bowen Yang being dumb in long, bitchy lace fronts. Highlights: Gosling’s best-supporting-actor bangs and Yang accidentally being run over by an elderly, wheelchair-bound Mikey Day.

Stray observations

• Do we wish that “Get That Boy Back” music video was a little more Cowboy Carter and a little less Carrie Underwood? YA YA. But we’re just happy to see the show finally give Chloe Troast something substantial to do, like exacting wacky revenge—replacing his shoes with a half-size bigger every other week, etcetera—against her cheating ex (played by a can-totally-hold-his-own Chris Stapleton).
• After last week’s missed opportunity of having Sarah Sherman play basketball breakout Caitlin Clark, the SNL gods righted that wrong by having Clark herself bounce in to roast Michael Che during “Weekend Update.”
• We’ve got yet another little mini-break on the schedule but at least there’s more Barbie-related goodness coming our way: SNL will be back with a fresh episode on Saturday, May 4, with host and musical guest Mermaid Barbie, we mean, Dua Lipa.