Jake Gyllenhaal’s full-throttle singing gave the Saturday Night Live Season 49 finale its clearest through-line, but the May 18, 2024 episode split critics on whether strong performances could lift uneven sketches. Sabrina Carpenter supplied two musical performances, while the night’s strongest material included a fast-fashion parody and the musical revue “Beautiful Boys.”
What happened in the SNL Season 49 finale?
The May 18, 2024 installment was Saturday Night Live Season 49, Episode 20, the season finale. Jake Gyllenhaal hosted for a third time, with Sabrina Carpenter as musical guest. Apple TV lists a 41-minute selected-sketch package; that is the listing’s runtime, not a measure of the full live broadcast or audience response. Apple TV’s episode listing identifies the episode and its segments.
The episode moved from a Donald Trump cold open to Gyllenhaal’s musical monologue, then through filmed sketches, Weekend Update, and a closing country-western bar sketch. Carpenter performed “Espresso” and a medley of “Feather” and “Nonsense,” according to the Los Angeles Times recap.
How did Gyllenhaal turn the monologue into a musical number?
Gyllenhaal began by joking that he had been booked for the Season 49 finale rather than the Season 50 premiere. He then sang a version of Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road,” reshaping the breakup song into a farewell to the season and a joke about other stars who had turned down the hosting slot. The monologue’s premise gave the finale a built-in sendoff, and Gyllenhaal committed to the vocal performance rather than treating the singing as a brief gag. The verified SNL monologue listing identifies his third hosting appearance.
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Which sketches stood out?
“Beautiful Boys” made the most of Gyllenhaal’s singing
The revue begins with a showgirl-style musical number before Gyllenhaal introduces deliberately ordinary-looking “beautiful boys.” The joke depends on the contrast between grand presentation and plain subject matter, and both the Los Angeles Times and The Guardian singled out the sketch’s silliness and singing.
“Fast Fashion Ad” aimed its satire at a fictional retailer
The mock commercial for “Xiemu,” a fictional retailer evoking Temu and Shein, grows more suspicious as its claims about labor and product safety accumulate. The absurdity is the target: those claims belong to the sketch and should not be read as factual findings about the real companies. The Los Angeles Times called it the night’s best sketch; The Guardian also praised its critique of exploitative fast fashion.
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“Scooby-Doo” took a gross-out turn
Gyllenhaal played Fred, Sarah Sherman played Velma, Mikey Day played Shaggy, and Carpenter played Daphne, alongside a CGI Scooby. The parody shifts into grotesque territory after the villain is unmasked. The Guardian described that turn as part of the bit’s appeal, while the Los Angeles Times found the filmed sketch more gross than funny.
“Dad Has a Cookie” and “Bike Trail” leaned on Gyllenhaal’s character work
In “Dad Has a Cookie,” Gyllenhaal plays a father who becomes menacing when his daughter’s boyfriend may reveal that he stole a cookie before dinner. “Bike Trail” casts him as a loud mountain biker interrupting a couple’s conversation. The Guardian found the biker’s buffoonish commitment endearing but thought the sketch ran long; the Los Angeles Times counted it among the weaker pieces.
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“Canceling a Flight” escalated customer-service frustration
Gyllenhaal plays a traveler trying to change a flight through increasingly unhelpful Southwest customer service. The sketch builds its comedy through the successive support characters and the growing difficulty of a basic request, as The Guardian noted.
“NYPD Press Conference” and “Snake Eyes” closed the sketch lineup
In “NYPD Press Conference,” Gyllenhaal plays a police official addressing assaults on character actors, with Jon Hamm appearing as himself. Both reviews regarded it as one of the more successful sketches. The closing “Snake Eyes” moves to a country-western bar; The Guardian highlighted James Austin Johnson’s distinctive accent as the sketch’s saving feature.
Rank #4
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What happened on Weekend Update?
Colin Jost and Michael Che brought back their joke swap, in which each reads material written by the other, alongside a segment about cicadas. Both reviewers noted the swap’s deliberately provocative jokes and punchlines. The Guardian praised the Weekend Update material, while the Los Angeles Times’ broader reaction to the episode was more reserved.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why did critics disagree about the finale?
The reviews published May 19, 2024, reached sharply different episode-level verdicts. Los Angeles Times critic Omar L. Gallaga found the finale disappointing overall, citing flat deliveries and muted audience response, despite praising “Beautiful Boys,” the NYPD press conference, and especially the fast-fashion parody. Gallaga wrote, “The season finale was rough, folks, and not because of giggles or any technical problems.” That is his critical assessment, not a reported ratings figure or an independently established measure of audience reaction.
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The Guardian’s Zach Vasquez saw a rebound after weaker episodes and called the finale the season’s strongest. Vasquez praised Gyllenhaal’s commitment, the writing, “Beautiful Boys,” the fast-fashion satire, and Weekend Update. The two accounts overlap on Gyllenhaal’s energy and the musical revue, but differ on how consistently the sketches worked. One review weighs execution and unevenness more heavily; the other sees enough standout writing to make the episode a season-ending high point. Neither verdict cancels out the other: the host’s enthusiasm was more consistent than the material’s success.
Apple TV’s listed sequence is: Trump press-conference cold open; Gyllenhaal monologue; “Dad Has a Cookie”; “Scooby Doo”; “Beautiful Boys”; “Bike Trail”; “Fast Fashion Ad”; “Weekend Update”; “Cancelling a Flight”; “NYPD Press Conference”; “Snake Eyes”; and goodnights and credits. Some reviews style segment titles differently. The episode is listed by Apple TV, and Peacock published an official recap, but current streaming access may vary by region.
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