Glen Powell leads Slay Division; MacGruber, Ashley Padilla and ‘Update’ tackle the Epstein Files

Deep SNL Thoughts is now The Cold Open. New name. Same extensive SNL coverage.

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I had high hopes for Glen Powell’s first time hosting SNL, and his episode didn’t disappoint.

The Running Man star was in the mix with almost every sketch, with Powell showing off a Norwegian accent, flaunting a severe bob and even offering his take on Liam Neeson in Taken.

This episode hauled.

I take notes while watching SNL and try to loop back and write during commercial breaks and the musical performances, but it felt like I never had a chance to catch my breath during Powell’s episode. The show bounced from live sketch to pretape to — and who would’ve expected this in 2025 — new MacGruber segments.

(Things moved so fast, there somehow wasn’t time for guests during Weekend Update.)

Overall, Powell was just what the show needed after last week’s episode stalled out. The cast felt engaged. The sketches were fun. (Most of them would’ve earned Best Sketch honors had their aired during Nikki Glaser’s episode.) I can’t imagine this will be the last time we see Powell hosting SNL.

COLD OPEN

Epstein White House Briefing Cold Open

You had gold here, SNL … and you let it slip away. Kicking off an episode with Ashley Padilla as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was the spark these cold opens needed. The show’s rising star tackling the news story of the moment in its opening minutes!

But then we got Donald Trump again.

I’m sorry, James Austin Johnson, it isn’t you. We’re just all tired of Trump in the cold opens. It’s been too much for too long. Padilla as Leavitt was a fresh break. You had it! You found a new cold open! And then we were back to Trump.

• “You know you suck, right?” How hasn’t Padilla been promoted from being a featured player at this point?
• “Oh, she’s pretty, who’s that?” How incredibly refreshing is it to see SNL let an actual cast member play a political figure like the White House press secretary instead of bringing a celebrity ringer. (Do we think we’ll see Melissa McCarthy’s Sean Spicer face off against Padilla’s Leavitt in a few weeks?)

THE MONOLOGUE

This was a delightful monologue. Powell was incredibly natural and at ease on the stage. He didn’t rely on gimmicks like taking questions from the audience or singing. He just chatted about how much hosting SNL meant to him — and how he had that chance taken away from him four years ago after Covid delayed the release of Top Gun: Maverick.

Big night for Mitch, the UPS driver, too.