‘SNL’ Cold Open Sees Kate McKinnon Bid Farewell in Sweet Moment

Saturday Night Live once again eschewed expectations by opening an episode without a political sketch, but Lorne Michaels and his team had a very good reason this weekend. Each member of the cast leaving got their moment to shine, and it was only for the inimitable Kate McKinnon’s tribute to come right at the start. McKinnon revived Miss Rafferty for a new edition of the “Close Encounter” sketch and said goodbye as she joined the aliens who really love her “bush.”

The “Final Encounter” began with NSA special agents Morris (Kate McKinnon) and Fitzsimmons (Mikey Day) asking three women about their recent encounters with aliens. While the first two, played by Cecily Strong and guest host Natasha Lyonne, had surprisingly positive experiences, Rafferty was thrown in “third class.” Once there, the aliens became obsessed with her privates, because, “pubically speaking, it’s a jungle down there.” She has “more hair poking outside than a hipster’s beard stuffed into an N-95 [mask].”

Strong and Lyonne’s characters continued sharing all the amazing things they learned from the aliens, but Rafferty was dismissive. “So these two are hanging with Doctor Strange in the multiverse. Meanwhile, I’m stuck with the madness. Back in economy, word is out about my hairy squatter,” Rafferty said.

Rafferty’s pubic hairs became the “must-have item of the season,” leading to the aliens plucking them from her body. “They’re grabbing and plucking, grabbing and plucking, and climbing all over each other like my bush is the last lifeboat on the Titanic,” Rafferty said.

After Rafferty gave her testimony, the NSA agents said the aliens offered technology to the U.S. government, but only if one of the abductees agrees to live with them forever. Rafferty jumped at the change. “I always felt like an alien on this planet anyway,” she said.

The cameras then cut to a door, which opened and looked just like the door from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. “Well, Earth, I love you. Thanks for letting me stay away,” Rafferty said as McKinnon became an emotional and broke character. “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night,” she said as the audience cheered.

The SNL Season 47 finale also served as the last episode for Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, and Kyle Mooney. Bryant had her spotlight appearance during “Weekend Update: Trend Forecasters on Summer Trends,” when she joined Bowen Yang one more time to tell everyone which trends should be sent straight to hell. Davidson had an emotional spot during “Weekend Update” as well.

SNL Season 47 featured the largest cast in the show’s history, with 21 stars at the beginning. Bryant, McKinnon, Davidson, and Mooney were half of the stars with eight or more seasons. Michael Che, Colin Jost, Strong, and Kenan Thompson have also been there for eight or more years. McKinnon, who won two Emmys for her work on SNL, will next be seen in Barbie with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and voices a character in DC League of Super-Pets.