Phoebe Waller-Bridge overcame SNL's attempt to her squander her as host

The A.V. Club

"Look, SNL tried to pigeonhole Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the Fleabag creator and star just wasn’t having it," says Dennis Perkins. "Sure, they crammed her into the Claire Foy box with that letters home from war sketch, apparently now a go-to rite of passage for talented British actresses. And she had to play straight-woman in an inevitable royal family sketch, since, again, she is British. But Waller-Bridge staked out her territory in a longer than usual for a non-standup monologue and hurled herself into every opportunity to go big in her first Saturday Night Live showcase. Unsurprisingly, PWB was impressively bold, right up to and including her turn as one of a quartet of female barroom rowdies in the ten-to-one sketch, going belly-laugh to belly-laugh with champion buffoons Aidy, Kate, and Cecily. There were some wheezy sketches—recurring and 'new' —which was baffling, considering who the show had on hand. But Waller-Bridge seemed to relish the chance to have fun, while anchoring even the flimsiest premises with the expected cheeky aplomb."

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