Saturday Night Live Recap: Will Ferrell Can't Save The Finale

The cast turnover has been handled well, with a generally solid roster despite a need for more Black women. Individual performers may be overexposed at times, but they can usually play the roles required. The overall quality of an episode often relies more on writing than on performer strengths, host strengths, or host weaknesses. Will Ferrell returns for his sixth hosting appearance and brings a fun, confident presence, with minimal repetition of old classics. Paul McCartney’s cameo energy adds value even as his voice has changed. However, a mechanic sketch fails because the premise does not develop beyond characters speaking in largely unintelligible terms, leaving little interesting progression.

"The quality of an episode often depends less on the individual players' strengths and weaknesses (or the strengths and weaknesses of the host) and more on the writing."

"This is Will Ferrell's sixth time hosting and technically his first since 2019, though his appearance in the 50th anniversary special is still fresh in my mind. And despite a few minor stumbles, he's still a fun presence to have around. I even appreciate the lack of fan service in repeating old Ferrell classics. You always want to relax while watching an SNL finale, safe in the hands of a reliably funny and confident host, so Ferrell makes sense."

"Ditto Paul McCartney - his voice obviously isn't what it used to be, but it's still nice to see the guy perform. And his distinct energy always adds to a sketch whenever he makes a cameo appearance. That said ... not even McCartney could save the mechanic sketch, a real clunker that never went anywhere interesting."

"The basic premise is that most people have no idea what mechanics are talking about while explaining a car issue, which is true, and that mechanics often quote you a huge price for something you can't even understand, which is also true. But the mechanics played by Ferrell, McCartney, and Marcello Hernández are basically just speaking in gibberish (or Spanish in Marcello's case, which feels a little off), and there's not much else to it."

Read at Vulture