<\/p>\n
They knew he was going to break. And they leaned into it.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the only explanation for this week\u2019s Ryan Gosling-hosted episode of \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d which at times felt more like an inside cast joke than a typical \u201cSNL\u201d episode. But maybe it\u2019s the \u201cProject Hail Mary\u201d actor\u2019s innate charm or that there were genuine laughs to be mined from Gosling breaking character again and again throughout the show (as he did just two years ago<\/a>) that made it somehow work.<\/p>\n Gosling kept his cool for the most part in a well-executed monologue that focused on next week\u2019s host and musical guest Harry Styles, who was sitting in the front row and inadvertently driving Gosling to distraction with his coolness. But after that, it was a short trip to Giggle Town as Gosling tried valiantly to play a flamboyantly dressed disruptor at a wedding who keeps tapping his glasses so the bride and groom (and others) will kiss<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a fantasy sketch, he played one of three very dumb cyclops<\/a> who can\u2019t solve easy riddles, much to the dismay of two maidens \u2014 one of them, the usually unflappable Ashley Padilla, caught the giggles from Gosling and couldn\u2019t stop laughing. Padilla and Gosling were a teacher and principal in another sketch reading passed notes out loud<\/a> that, according to text on screen, were swapped out since rehearsal, causing both to crack up uncontrollably. It was the first \u201cSNL\u201d sketch in a long time, not counting \u201cWeekend Update,\u201d that felt like a prank on the performers.<\/p>\n Gosling stayed in character for the most part as an annoyed hotel patron who\u2019s been overcharged for visits from the \u201cGoo Goo Man<\/a>.\u201d And he had less opportunity to lose his cool in some pre-taped sketches, one a violent and sad Willy Wonka parody<\/a>, the other about a sentient and weird treatment for psoriasis, \u201cOtezla<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether you enjoyed the episode would depend a lot on your tolerance for \u201cSNL\u201d performers breaking character and causing cast members to do the same. Gosling may be one of the few hosts who can get away with it since by this point, it\u2019s his fourth time hosting and it\u2019s completely expected.<\/p>\n The show concluded with \u201cLies<\/a>,\u201d a video sketch from Please Don\u2019t Destroy\u2019s Martin Herlihy in which, among other things, Herlihy stole Colin Jost\u2019s identity by wearing a giant head modeled after the \u201cWeekend Update\u201d host.<\/p>\n Musical guests Gorillaz performed their 25-year-old hit \u201cClint Eastwood<\/a>\u201d with Del the Funky Homosapien and new song \u201cThe Moon Cave<\/a>\u201d with Asha Puthli, Anoushka Shankar and Black Thought. A memorial card before the goodbyes honored Sandy Wernick, Adam Sandler\u2019s longtime manager, who died this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n