Jake Gyllenhaal just wants a cookie as he hosts ‘SNL’ season finale

Jake Gyllenhaal did it all as he hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend. He sang. He biked. He solved mysteries with Scooby-Doo and the gang.

This was Gyllenhaal’s third time hosting SNL, so the Road House star was no stranger to Studio 8H. You could tell that Gyllenhaal had confidence in his hosting abilities — and that SNL did too.

Unlike the Dua Lipa episode a few weeks ago where the host was written into the background through supporting roles, Gyllenhaal was front and center in pretty much every sketch. It didn’t matter if he was yelling at Siri while biking up a hill or shoving his fingers down Andrew Dismukes throat, this episode was about Gyllenhaal.

(And, yeah, I’m still trying to figure out “that’s that me espresso” too.)

And that wraps up SNL Season 49. I loved seeing this cast get another season to find itself — especially without the distraction of an onslaught of cameos. (Yes, Scarlett Johansson snuck in there as Katie Britt.)

SNL continued to struggle with political sketches this season, which is going to be a problem when Season 50 needs to tackle a presidential election. The show seems to be stuck with Mikey Day as Joe Biden. (James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump is never an issue.) At least he’s actually a member of the cast unlike Jim Carrey in 2020.

Season 50 is obviously going to be a big one for SNL. Which stars can we expect back? Will this be the moment when Lorne Michaels steps away?

Twenty episodes. Twenty hosts. I’ll be back next week to rank them before closing out Deep SNL Thoughts for Season 49.

COLD OPEN

Summer of Trump

It’s wild that a show that once gave us Dana Carvey as George H.W. Bush and Will Ferrell as George W. Bush is down to just James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump when it comes to reliable political portrayals.

Sure, SNL still has quick political characters. I like Heidi Gardner as Kristi Noem. Devon Walker’s Tim Scott is great. But these aren’t portrayals that’ll launch careers. Thanks to years of allowing guest stars to steal huge political roles, SNL is lost when it comes to political bits.

SNL is extremely lucky to have Johnson as Trump. (They were also lucky to have Johnson as Joe Biden, but I guess the show decided he couldn’t play both major candidates.)

• “Sitting in porn court, hoping I’ll smile at them”: The cold open gave us a chance to see Gardner as Noem, Walker as Scott and Michael Longfellow as Hannibal Lector as the trio all attempted to win Trump’s favor as his vice-presidential pick.

THE MONOLOGUE

I was not expecting a singing monologue from Jake Gyllenhaal. I was definitely not expecting a singing monologue from Jake Gyllenhaal that played off a Boyz II Men song.

It may be the final episode of Season 49, but SNL is already looking ahead to the milestone fiftieth season. (Gyllenhaal insisted that the last episode of Season 49 is basically the same thing as the first episode of Season 50.)