"SNL" Explained Why You Probably Shouldn't Argue in Traffic

Whether you’re driving down the highway or stuck in an epic traffic jam, tempers can run high when you’re behind the wheel. Losing your temper while driving is never fun; neither is being the target of someone else’s temper. And it’s not surprising that lost tempers behind the wheel have inspired writers of both drama and comedy — with the upcoming Netflix series Beef taking a moment of road rage as its inciting incident.

It’s not the only recent take on the subject. On last night’s Saturday Night Live, one sketch featured Mikey Day and guest host Quinta Brunson as two drivers stuck in traffic whose efforts to communicate their frustrations become increasingly ornate and absurd.

It was at about the point when Day and Brunson shifted from criticizing each other’s driving to criticizing each other’s gestures that this sketch clicked into place. Chloe Fineman, playing Day’s increasingly mortified daughter, winds up accelerating the weirdness to another level. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: weird SNL is often the best SNL.

Cecily Strong Was an All-Time “SNL” Great

Strong, the longest-running female cast member in its history, took her final “SNL” bow on Saturday

Some sketches make their structure pretty clear from the outset. This one took a little longer for its rhythms to lock into place, but once they did, it found its footing well. This is the second SNL sketch in a month to situate its cast in a car, which begs the question: can a Toonces appearance be far away?

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…