Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon say heartfelt goodbyes to ‘SNL’ with iconic characters
Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon bid farewell to "Saturday Night Live" on last night's season finale in the best way they know how — by making us laugh.
Both longtime cast members, along with Pete Davidson, said goodbye to the show, and the women both found emotional moments in playing their classic characters we've come to know and love.
In the cold open, Kate McKinnon reprised her role as Miss Rafferty, an alien abductee who has some rather strange encounters with extraterrestrial visitors.
In last night's "Close Encounter" sketch, McKinnon describes her alien abduction in very raunchy detail, at one point hilariously demonstrating a very invasive procedure she says she endured on show host Natasha Lyonne.
By the end of the sketch, the government agents who are interviewing her (played by Aidy Bryant and Mikey Day) explain that in exchange for access to technology, they need someone to go with the aliens on a permanent basis.
McKinnon volunteers herself, saying, "I always felt like kind of an alien on this planet anyway."
Next, we see her enter the doorway of a spaceship and McKinnon takes a deep breath, clearly moved by the enormity of the moment.
"Well, Earth, I love you. Thanks for letting me stay a while," she says, holding her hand to her chest as the audience applauds and she's flanked by aliens.
"Live from New York, it's Saturday night," she says, her voice shaking as she delivers the classic line before the ship's door closes.
On "Weekend Update," Aidy Bryant had a perfectly apt goodbye as she and Bowen Yang reprised the trend forecaster characters they've been playing with a special flair this season.
The duo let us know what's in this season for fruit (grapes with seeds, tying a cherry stem with tongue and Harry Styles' "Watermelon Sugar") and what's out ("navel orange, ew! Why do you have belly button, you're a fruit!").
By the end of the skit, Bryant declares "10 nice years" as "in" while Yang cites "A friend I couldn't have done this without."
Bryant gets flowers and "my best guys kissing me" as Yang and Weekend Update anchor Michael Che each plant one on her cheeks.
It was an emotional night as Pete Davidson also signed off from the show, thanking "SNL" producer Lorne Michaels for hiring him in 2014.
“I appreciate ‘SNL’ always having my back and allowing me to work on myself and grow,” Davidson said on the Weekend Update, while fellow star Colin Jost looked emotional at his side. “Thank you to Lorne for never giving up on me or judging me even when everyone else was, and for believing in me and allowing me to have a place I could call home with memories that will last a lifetime.”
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