The Amber Ruffin Show talks vaccinations, Matt Gaetz, and more

After taking a three-week break, The Amber Ruffin Show returned last night for viewers on Peacock with a brand new episode. Ruffin brings back the late-night variety show with even funnier sketches, in-depth segments, and more musical entertainment for everyone to enjoy.

Ruffin starts the show by letting viewers know that this is the “only late night show that is written entirely in crayon” with an image of the show’s name being shown in crayon font. Ruffin’s sidekick Tarik Davis announces that he baked a cake for his elderly neighbor while Ruffin reveals that she baked a cake and ate it herself. A classic move for Ruffin.

In her monologue, Ruffin goes over what’s happened in the week including criticism of Pete Buttigieg’s comments surrounding President Biden’s infrastructure plan, Congress returning from a break, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s possible run for the presidency, and Will Smith’s upcoming movie being moved out of Georgia due to the state’s voting law. Another part of the monologue shows Ruffin having some “technical issues” with a graphic that doesn’t match the story that she’s talking about.

Late Night with Seth Meyers writer Mike Scollins appears as a crew member on the show who seems hesitant to get the vaccine. Ruffin explains that she came up with a motive to encourage people to get the vaccine. Her motive is having your name entered into a raffle where one winner will be given “the N-word pass”. Viewers will see the “N-word” pass being lowered ceremoniously onto Ruffin’s desk.

Afterward, Ruffin and Davis discuss why Ruffin has been having a particularly rough week due to the Derek Chauvin trial and the multiple shootings that have happened recently. Ruffin and Davis use this time as an opportunity to sing about their weeks and the discomforts they had to endure such as watching the local news and the changing weather. The end of the song tells viewers that they might hit a wall and that next week will be better.

Watch the full video below:

Amber Ruffin discusses police brutality in her segment “How Did We Get Here?”

"After every incident of police brutality, we have all these conversations about racism, qualified immunity, police funding, resisting arrest and how Ben Crump gets on the scene so quickly. Seriously, is he Batman? He might be Batman."

In this recurring segment, Ruffin takes the time to dissect current events in more detail, specifically when they relate to underrepresented communities. Ruffin explains that “policing in America is more about debt collection than enforcing the law.”

Ruffin continues to talk about the act of “criminalizing poverty” which means that fees and fines are attached to petty crimes. Police are encouraged to enforce these crimes to get more money from those who can’t pay, therefore making them incur debt. There are multiple examples that Ruffin mentions in the show and goes even more in-depth to help viewers understand what’s going on behind the scenes of the policing system.

Watch the full video below:

Amber Ruffin goes all out to satirize political news this week

Scollins appears as the apparent “fly on the wall” in Representative Matt Gaetz’s office and claims to have heard everything. He continues to talk about the allegations against Gaetz as well as the fly’s disgusting habits. It seems as if, for Ruffin, talking to the “fly” about its undesirable bodily functions is gross enough, but according to the “fly”, that’s “nothing compared to the stuff in Matt Gaetz office last week” and goes on to give more news about the Florida politician.

Watch the full video below:

Afterward, Ruffin mentions the news that President Biden introduced gun control measures that target “ghost guns”. Ruffin breaks into song and dance to the tune of the Ghostbuster’s theme song with her own lyrics to promote awareness of what ghost guns are. Davis, initially very impressed, then starts to get annoyed only to join Ruffin in her performance

In the last sketch of the night, Scollins appears once again as the crew member from the beginning of the show who gets the vaccine to have the “N-word” pass. This time, he appears visibly distressed after proclaiming that he got multiple shots of the vaccine from all three of the major pharmaceutical companies: Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson. Ruffin asks if he’s okay and he replies that he’ll be fine and says that it’ll all be worth it to “sing the song ‘Gold Digger’ the real way.” Ruffin, following through on her promise to have a raffle, brings out a bowl with a bunch of cards and pulls out one card with Davis’ name and announces that he gets the “N-word” pass. Davis declines which prompts Ruffin to rip the “N-word” pass up making the already-sorrowful Scollins get more upset that the pass is no longer being handed out. He then passes out into the seats in the audience.

To close out the episode, multi-hyphenate Issa Rae appears on screen to remind viewers to tune in to next week’s episode of The Amber Ruffin Show, call their moms, and floss.

I was very happy to see another brilliantly made episode of The Amber Ruffin Show, which was bound to happen. Last night’s episode was the 22nd episode of the season and Ruffin came back strong with regular segments, brand new sketches, and of course, important and poignant commentary on the world’s current events.

You can watch The Amber Ruffin Show when episodes premiere on NBC’s Peacock website and app Fridays at 9:00 P.M. EST.