Former Disney Channel star Selena Gomez was the host of the penultimate episode of Saturday Night Live Season 47, with Post Malone appearing as musical guest. As is usual, Gomez partook in many of this Saturday's episode sketches, and in one of these, she played one of three princesses who are going to be selected to be betrothed to the dragon-slaying prince.
The way in which the skit opened is reminiscent of how the first Shrek film began, with the protagonist reading from a fairytale book. Just like Shrek, the plot of this sketch hinges on a prince defeating a dragon, but that’s where most similarities end.
Prince Edmund, played by cast member Mikey Day, is welcomed into the throne room – the same set as last week’s cold open - by the King, portrayed by Kenan Thompson. As a reward for slaying the dragon - even though no one technically asked him to - Edmund can choose to marry one of the King's three daughters.
The three princesses, played by Gomez, Kate McKinnon, and Ego Nwodim, waltz into the room and from each of their expressions we can tell that they are very different from one another. Although the set-up is different, this medieval scene reminds one of a Shakespearean play like King Lear, with a very different kind of humor of course.
“Fair Maidens! So cool to see.” Day greets the trio. They all greet him back, one at a time, and their tone and manner are all very distinct. It also becomes clear that, as they each reveal a little about themselves, that there isn't actually anything distinctively wrong with any of them, which Prince Edmund insists is usually his experience. However, Blondelia's responses seem to captivate the prince the most even if he feels suspicious that there is not something outrageously wrong with any of them.
To try to reach a verdict, Prince Edmund requests that the three ladies dance, and they comply by comically improvising, out of sync with one another. Then, the Prince tries to ask them to show him their laughs, and once again, they are all pretty weird, ranging from sounding like Goofy to being uncomfortably boisterous.
In the end, “before the clock strikes midnight”, Edmund ends up choosing Blondelia despite his fears that there is some sort of catch. And as it turns out, his fears were completely justified. Check out the clip below to see what McKinnon’s strange trait is: