Watch John Krasinski Take a Stand Against Bullying on "SNL"

Saturday Night Live returned to the airwaves this week, with John Krasinski as host and Machine Gun Kelly as the episode’s musical guest. Krasinski’s comedic bona fides are undeniable, and the episode gave him a variety of ways to showcase them. One came in a filmed sketch in which Krasinski played the older brother of a bullied teen played by Andrew Dismukes.

The gist of the sketch was straightforward: Krasinski’s method of defending his brother ended up being far more mortifying than anything the group of bullies was saying. The way the sketch unfolded wasn’t all that surprising, but Krasinski’s earnestness helped sell it.

Structurally, it wasn’t too far removed from last November’s sketch about the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros, in which one of the interviewees revealed way too much about a horrific injury his friend suffered while heading to the store to pick up a copy of the video game in question.

Like that sketch, this one abounded with oversharing for comic effect, with a few genuinely unnerving details thrown in. (The reference to practice kissing is particularly unsettling.) Does it break fresh comedy ground or go to a particularly bizarre place? No, but it takes a particular style of humor and does it especially well. For 3 minutes, that’s not bad for a solid array of laughs.