Spitballing ideas for Who is America? must have been immensely fun, as it seems there is no setup too ludicrous for Sacha Baron Cohen to be able to pull off (tonight, quite literally).
Episode 4 kicked off with an office terrorist attack readiness class run by Israeli sergeant Erran Morad and starring Shaun McCutcheon, an 'outspoken conservative commentator' who after tonight will struggle to find work in the outspoken conservative commentary game.
"Here comes pork!" he yelled, brandishing a gammon like a riot shield and running towards a would-be terrorist. These minor conservative activists and Trump supporters are low-hanging fruit, but just too juicy for Cohen to resist.
Mugatu-esque fashion mogul Gig Monaldo returned meanwhile, managing to - get this - successfully negotiate a deal on a mega yacht on behalf of Bashar al-Assad whilst being given a handjob then blowjob by his girlfriend in front of the baffled but still dollar-sign-blinded broker. The yacht wasn't for sunbathing on, by the way, but for attacking Syrian refugees with and expediting human trafficking. See you in Hell, 'Luxury Yacht Sales Company'.
Maybe the most off-the-wall segment this week involved Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the notoriously hard-line jailer who was recently pardoned by none other than President Trump and hopes to run for Senate. He was interviewed by a new character, OMGWhizzBoyOMG!, an enthusiastic Finnish YouTuber with a penchant for unboxings and race wars. Ever the eager media contributor, Arpaio was only too happy to take part in a cutesy unboxing, enthusiastically explaining Second Amendment rights to a minuscule plastic donut toy.
The final sketch tonight saw far-left lecturer and self-loathing cisgender white male Dr. Nira Cain-N'Degeocello talk pornography with David Pyne, the national director of the Utah Republican Assembly. This may have been a bridge too far, and from the second Dr. Nira suggested trying to reclaim the word paedophile, Pyne was out. The encounter still provided some satisfyingly cringe moments as Pyne squirmed in his seat, but it was proof once again that the character needs to be deployed on a Democrat who may not actually be able to say no to Dr. Nira's far-fetched ideas and extreme identity politics, for fear of seeming anything less than impeccably woke.
Still, three out of four ain't bad for the episode, and Cohen's ability to maintain a straight face (a prosthetically-enhanced one at that), an impersonation and an accent all while reacting to whatever the interviewee throws back to his absurdisms, is really quite the feat.
