Pete Davidson made his way back to Saturday Night Live during the Saturday, October 12, episode for his first appearance of season 45. Keep reading for highlights from host David Harbour, musical guest Camila Cabello and more.
Return of the Pete
Harbour admitted that the writers wanted him to do a Stranger Things-themed monologue but he insisted he could “do a lot more.” Instead, they ignored his wishes and made him a portal to the Upside Down, where the actor mistook Aidy Bryant for Barb and found the missing Davidson. The comedian revealed that was where he had been for the previous two weeks but declined to come back and participate in the episode.
However, Davidson later turned up in a “Weekend Update” segment about the resurgence of STDs, during which he again addressed his absence. “I don’t know if you’ve seen the Joker, but I think you should start being way nicer to me,” he told Colin Jost, alluding to his part in Suicide Squad 2.
High Wire
Cabello began by performing “Cry for Me,” complete with an ambitious, theatrical storyline, period costumes and choreography. The songstress toned it down with “Easy” in her second performance of the night.
Star Power
Billy Porter and Lin-Manuel Miranda brought loads of much-needed personality to the cold open in surprise cameos. The Pose actor played himself, which would be welcome in any subsequent sketch, by the way. The Hamilton star, for his part, embodied presidential candidate Julián Castro. Woody Harrelson also stopped by to reprise his role as Vice President Joe Biden.
Grouchier
In the vein of Joker, this trailer imagined a gritty origin story for Oscar the Grouch. “If everyone calls you trash and everyone treats you like trash, why don’t you just become trash?” Harbour’s Oscar asked. Another highlight of the bit included Alex Moffat and Mikey Day’s spot-on representations of Bert and Ernie.
Bye, Bye, Leslie
The show discussed Leslie Jones’ departure for the first time during Heidi Gardner’s teen movie critic segment of “Weekend Update.” Her character told Michael Che, “I know Leslie’s gone and she was like your wife.”
Soulful
A group of fitness fiends — played by Harbour, Gardner, Bowen Yang and Kate McKinnon — auditioned to be SoulCycle instructors. Their motivational tactics were hilarious, to say the least. Yang was the clear standout with his delivery, filled with conviction and oozing humor.
Barking Around
Real dogs made the final sketch of the night plenty entertaining. Cecily Strong somehow powered through as a Dog Court judge while a pug frantically crawled all over her face.
Saturday Night Live airs on NBC Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET.
