Kate McKinnon Tearfully Says Goodbye to Alien Abduction Character, ‘SNL’ Tenure in Finale Cold Open
22.05.2022 - 18:01
/ usmagazine.com
Her swan song! After it was announced that Kate McKinnon would depart Saturday Night Live after 10 years, her final cold open sketch brought plenty of nostalgia and emotions.
The Saturday, May 21, episode — which also saw the season 47 departure of Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney — kicked off with the Tiger King star, 38, reprising her fan-favorite character of Miss Rafferty. Rafferty was an alien abductee with an admittedly difficult experience in relation to those of her peers.
In Saturday’s opening sketch, McKinnon’s character (alongside episode host Natasha Lyonne and Cecily Strong) were questioned by two government agents at the Pentagon — played by the Shrill alum, 38, and 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.
“I can read the room — it’s me, right?” the Rough Night star quipped 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 audience once more and placed her hand over her heart. 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, who joined the NBC variety series in 2012, is known on the show for uncanny celebrity impressions and unique characters, including Rafferty, Ellen DeGeneres and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“Of all the seasons I worked on Saturday Night Live, [season 46] may have been my favorite