In the “Future Self” skit, 15-year-old Trent worries he’ll always be “a scrawny loser” forever but is reassured by his 25-year-old self that he’ll totally have a girlfriend someday. Enter Tishy, a Four Loko-swilling 47-year-old woman in a bra top and sagging wide-leg pants that look as if they haven’t been washed since their appearance in the “Hit Me Baby One More Time” video. As young Trent struggles to understand what older Trent sees in Tishy, she promises that she’s “got that good goo goo,” which is “not what you think.” Sandra Oh’s comedic timing and commitment to the sheer silliness of the sketch is a fecking delight, and Twitter is going to be quoting Tishy for a while yet.
Another bizarrely charming sketch was “Cheques.” Sure Venmo and debit cards are simple, but what if you need to furiously scribble off some hush money in order to make Mildred forget whatever she thinks she saw last night by the gazebo? If anyone wants to get a petition started to make Cheques a BBC series, just let me know where to sign.
But one of the most satisfying moments of the night came during the closing credits, when Oh wore an “It’s an honor just to be Asian” shirt, quoting herself from the 2018 Emmys, and hugged Kate McKinnon, who was still dressed as Jordan Catalano from an earlier sketch. It was the intersection of so many things that are right at a time when so much is patently wrong. The whole episode was an argument for making SNL silly again and bringing back Oh as Tishy posthaste.