It’s Ben a good time (CREDIT: NBC/Screenshot)

Jeff “jmunney” Malone watches every new episode of Saturday Night Live and then reviews all the sketches and segments according to a “wacky” theme.

When Matthew Paige Damon hosts Saturday Night Live, it’s a relatively rare occurrence but generally worth tuning into. So that’s what I’ve done for his third outing as SNL Host. (Of course, I watch all new SNL episodes anyway, so you can’t reasonably claim that you’re surprised that I’m doing this.)

During the previous two times that Damon hosted, the musical guests were Bruce Springsteen & the E Street and Mark Ronson/Miley Cyrus, respectively. This time around, however, it’s Noah Kahan, which honestly isn’t a huge shift in terms of tempo and genre.

For my Review Gimmick for this episode, I shall take inspiration from my favorite thing that Matt Damon has ever done (i.e., his lead turn in the film The Talented Mr. Ripley) and examine how each sketch and segment demonstrated the ways in which the performers are Talented.

Martin’s Tavern: Regarding the names for those new drink combos (Reverse Irish Car Bomb, 6-3 Decision): that’s some Talented Writing.

Matt Damon’s Monologue: When Matt said that he’s “old enough to know what I’m doing, young enough to do it well,” that was a pretty good summation of his Talents.

Godzilla King of the Monsters 2: Dawn of the King of All Monsters: I bet that Mikey was feeling a little chilly while covered in all this fluids, so he did a Talented Job of maintaining his composure.

Mom The Movie: An alternate title for this trailer parody could have been “The Talented Ms. Padilla.”

Block Party: Is Kenan Thompson a Talented Magician? Because he hid that quarter pretty well.

Tidy Care: You know, SNL really knows how to book the Most Talented Dog Actors Around, and this commercial parody is just the latest example.

Noah Kahan, “The Great Divide”: Whoever designed the music set must be really Talented, because it reminded me of the bug alien sketch from last week’s episode.

Weekend Update: The Jokes: The “Kash-” “Patel!” gag displayed Michael and Colin’s Talent for Timing.
Weekend Update: Tucker Carlson: Is this rendition enough to put Jeremy Culhane in the conversation for Most Talented SNL Impressionist of All Time? Or is it way too early for that?
Weekend Update: Kamikaze Dolphins: Definitely some Talented Punnery on display here.
Weekend Update: Jane Wickline: Is Jane talented enough to justify her selfishness? Discuss.

Substitute Teacher: Sometimes Gumption matters more than Talent.

Noah Kahan, “Doors”: Noah and his band have Talented Circle Timing.

The Crumbling Marriage of Two Auctioneers: To maintain this sort of energy so close to 1:00 AM, is it more important to be Talented or to just have the right type of Circadian Rhythm?

Well, I hope I displayed some talents of my own while assembling this review! Looking ahead, we’re less than a week away from the Season 51 finale, and OMG, what a lineup we’ve got for that, with the notably talented Will Ferrell as host and Paul McCartney as musical guest.