‘SNL’ Cold Open Combats Russian Disinformation With Memes

Willem Dafoe made his second  last night, hosting the show alongside musical guest Katy Perry. After the Will Forte-hosted episode, which was loaded with special guests and callbacks to old SNL bits, this week’s SNL was a return to form. But before Dafoe stepped on stage, the cold open returned to the world of politics, this time in the White House with President Joe Biden with plenty of confusion about the situation in Ukraine and Tom Brady’s retirement.

Russia’s online hijinks and potential invasion are the main ideas of this cold open, with the staff showing the president some of the horrifying misinformation being spread online. Stories about Ukraine’s border encroaching on their troops, Neil Young threatening to remove his music from Spotify unless Russia invades Ukraine and even a few memes featuring our most beloved figures.

Not focusing on the president, while still making fun of his shortcomings, is perfect territory for the show. It also gives the show a chance to mock several topics, including a rough Ukrainian ad featuring Aaron Rodgers and Jake from State Farm with a thick foreign accent.

To combat this, Mackayla or McKaylah or Mickehlah is added to the White House team as a new secretary, creating America’s own memes to turn the tide of Russian disinformation. “We don’t believe in drone strikes, we believe in breaking own our enemies psychologically.

With the cold open being the sanctum for political jokes outside of Weekend Update, this season has seen a lot of testing waters for what works in the post-Donald Trump world. Is it working? Not sure. But the show is definitely still in a transition between seasons, a pandemic, elections and the career aspirations of its cast.

Still, it is the first season in a while where all the new cast additions are hitting quality marks weekly. And with some cast members out working on other projects, it is a boon to have quality hands.