SNL's cold open makes Merrick Garland a whip-cracking legal hero and nods to Tyre Nichols

SNL's cold open had the cast on the hunt for the infamous "classified government documents." Don't worry everyone, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (Mikey Day) is on the case.

This week's Saturday Night Live, hosted by actor Michael B. Jordan, joined the comedic forces of cast members Day, Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, and Bowen Yang, who step up to the press podium to relay an unspoken truth of government officials of past and present: they're all a little incompetent.

Buttressed by humorously timed whip-cracking noises invoking the great TV procedurals of the past, Day plays a shakey but determined Garland. "I may look like I was born in a library, but there's something you should know: Merrick Garland don't play."

The sketch ended with a more serious message, though: justice for the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols. "When we're done playing with these little papers," Thompson's character says, "we're going to head down to Memphis and make sure justice is served down there too, right?" Day's Garland responds, "I sincerely hope so."