It was her swan song After it was revealed that Kate McKinnonWould you like to depart? Saturday Night Live After ten years, her last cold open sketch brought back many memories and emotions.
The Saturday, May 21, episode — which also saw the season 47 departure of Pete Davidson, Aidy BryantAnd Kyle Mooney — kicked off with the Tiger King Star, 38, reprises her fan-favorite role of Miss Rafferty. Rafferty, an alien abductee, had an admittedly difficult experience relative to her peers.
In Saturday’s opening sketch, McKinnon’s character (alongside episode host Natasha LyonneAnd Cecily Strong) were questioned by two government agents at the Pentagon — played by the Shrill 38-year-old alum Mikey Day — about their experiences. After she vividly detailed her albeit-raunchy third extraterrestrial encounter, Bryant and Day reveal that one of the abductees must return to the alien spaceship “permanently” in exchange for crucial intel about their technologies. McKinnon’s Rafferty volunteered as tribute for the gig.
Kate McKinnon, Natasha Lyonne and Cecily Strong at the Final Encounter cold opening on Saturday, May 21, 2022 Will Heath/NBC
“I can read the room — it’s me, right?” the Rough Night Star laughed on Saturday. “Sure, why not. I kind of felt like an alien on this planet anyway.”
McKinnon, walking toward the “spaceship,” spun back around to marvel at the SNL She reached out to her heart and placed her hand over the audience again. She added, breaking down in tears: “Well, Earth, I love you, thanks for letting me stay awhile. Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
The New York native joined the NBC variety show in 2012 and is well-known for her uncanny celebrity impressions as well as unique characters like Rafferty. Ellen DeGeneresRuth Bader Ginsburg, the late
Kate McKinnon plays Ms. Rafferty at the Final Encounter cold opening on Saturday, May 21, 2022. Will Heath/NBC
“Of all the seasons I worked on Saturday Night Live, [season 46] may have been my favorite because it helped me to feel less alone,” she told Variety The mid-pandemic year ended last year. “I felt a sense of communion with the audience in the studio and the audience at home. [Being able to]My year was made bearable by sharing in the absurdity and pain of what we all went through. If I hadn’t been able to commune with people through a TV screen this year, I really would have been in bad shape.”
McKinnon had been on the show for 10+ years.
“People can kind of come and go,” show alum Ana GasteyerOnly told Us Weekly In November 2021, she noted that neither she nor Rachel DratchIf the rumors were true, she knew. “And so, I don’t see any reason why someone like Kate would leave unless she had something else she wanted to go do, because if you can kind of hop in and out, that’s the ideal reality.”
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
Watch the above cold open video for more information!
