‘Saturday Night Live’ Recap: Nate Bargatze Is Outshined by the Return of the Lonely Island

Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer reunite for a brand new digital short titled "Sushi Glory Hole" that reminds us why they're "SNL" MVP.

Comedian Nate Bargatze is definitely one of the better hosts “Saturday Night Live” has recruited over the last few years, with his performance last year earning at least one viral hit, the sketch “Washington’s Dream.” It saw Bargatze as General George Washington as he tries to rouse troops during the Revolutionary War by offering them a vision of the future, one in which we use different words for the same thing and have multiple forms of measurement. During his second round in Studio 8H, Bargatze, of course, reprised the sketch concept for a sequel entitled “Washington’s Dream 2,” which was equally as funny as the original, perfectly capitalizing on the comedian’s deadpan style and sharp timing. However, the real standout from last night’s episode didn’t come from the host or even members of the main cast.

Last week’s season premiere revealed that Andy Samberg would be playing presidential hopeful Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff. Now, in this week’s episode, we’ve come to find out that Samberg may be contributing more to this special 50th season than just political satire. Reuniting with fellow member of The Lonely Island Akiva Shaffer, the two unveiled a brand new digital short called “Sushi Glory Hole” that reminded viewers and audience in the crowd why they’re work on the long-running comedy series continues to be some of the best. The sketch sees them as two suspendered entrepreneurs that look like they stepped out of a Wall Street boiler room from the ’80s or ’90s pitching a business opportunity to a panel that includes Bowen Yang, Maya Rudolph, and Kenan Thompson. And of course, it wouldn’t be The Lonely Island if they weren’t pitching via a highly intricate and ridiculous rap.

“Sushi. Glory. Hole. Makes too much sense not to do it,” Samberg raps, explaining how their business would work. “Fish through a hole, you know it ain’t nothing to it.”

The short cuts between Samberg and Shaffer rapping and “SNL” cast members James Austin Johnson, Andrew Dismukes, Devon Walker, and Chloe Fineman dropping to their knees inside bathroom stalls and being fed rice and fish through a small hole in the wall. This image and notion that this is something people would actually do proves absolutely hilarious as Samberg and Shaffer keep pushing their bonkers idea on investors desperate to remove themselves from the situation.

“And no gimmicky roles. Just strictly nigiri coming out of the holes,” raps Shaffer, with Samberg then picking it up and singing, “And no substitutions or special requests. And no sex. And no sex. That’s two stalls over, so you’re gonna wanna make sure you come in sober, cause none of them are labeled and full disclosure, there’s a chance you’re gonna get a d**k… But it’s worth it for the quality of fish.”

Watch the full digital short below.