Every so often, Saturday Night Live produces a sketch that is truly transcendent, a sketch that suggests a rich world of depth beyond what can be conveyed in four minutes. “Midwife,†from last night’s episode hosted by Quinta Brunson, is one such sketch. It is a nonlinear story of the bonds we make and break, the resentments that we form and carry through life, and, ultimately, the power of hair. Bowen Yang stars as the titular midwife, a fully realized character who you have to hear pronounce the word “curious.†When we first meet the midwife, he’s upset with Brunson’s doctor for not recognizing him, but it’s not until we jump back and forth in time that the full story comes into focus, like so many small points in a Seurat painting. By the time Yang’s midwife emerges in a wig from the Grudge movies, the implicit has become explicit: Both he and we are somehow reborn. Watch the full sketch above.
Bowen Yang Holds a Grudge in SNL’s ‘Midwife’
