Key & Peele
“Y’all Ready For This?”
Season 5, Episode 1
Chad White
‘Cause ho is disrespectful, yo!
Key & Peele is in a weird position for Comedy Central. The show, marked by its titular leading men Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele, is poised to eclipse the network’s previous attempts at a black led sketch show with its latest season but CC isn’t being straightforward with the episode order. Originally, Key & Peele was given a twenty episode season four renewal which would also include two “best ofs.” Now, the latest episode to air is under season five. It’s a small, strange thing that really only bothers me but I felt it necessary to point it out. That being said, this season looks to be the biggest yet if prereleased sketches are to be believed. They seem to tackle everything that is eclipsing today’s media like gay rights, black rights, and everything else that’s been plaguing the headlines these days. What’s more, the writers for the show come off as magicians as it was revealed by one of their writers that the sketches were written over a year ago.
The cold open is big for this episode as a football team readies itself for a game. Key and Peele pump the team up by shouting one liners as they hit each other. They trade blows which leads to a guerilla shot sequence that has Peele escaping via smoke bomb and Key finding a yakuza sword with the intent to kill his teammate. The ending is appropriate due to its escalation. Seeing Peele pull off in a limo with the final line made for a good punchline.
Another Barack Obama and Luther sketch follows as the two meet Hilary Clinton and her anger translator Savannah (played by fellow Mad TV alum Stephnie Weir. They trade lines which makes for great banter (Luther responds “You a nasty ass bitch” when he sees she can go toe to toe with him). Weir’s Savannah is a wonderful addition to the anger translator line up. Hopefully, as the election rolls around, we’ll see Chris Christie’s and maybe even Donald Trumps’.
Another weird terrorism sketch, different from the one last season, features Malcolm Barrett (Better Off Ted) as the unlucky man who has to sit next to Key and Peele’s two terrorist hunting characters. The makeup here is on point as the characters’ facial hair is disgustingly appropriate. The comedians should also get props for their extremely creepy performances. All they want to do is capture some terries that are trying to get froggy! Even their explanations are as outlandish. Continuing with that theme, there is a pirate sketch that has a group of pirates (including another Mad TV friend Will Sasso) sing about treating women with respect. They’re like feminist pirates…femipirates?
Should you watch “Y’all Ready For This?”
Key & Peele is remarkable knowing what I know now about the process of this show. They aim to make timeless sketches and it seems the idea is taking off. For the foreseeable future, we’ll always have problems with race, gender and accepting others. With that in mind, Key & Peele’s first episode for this new season cements the guys as top performers in their field. This episode was great.