Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Contrary to what Lorne Michaels said about not having political candidates as guests Saturday evening live Before the polls close on Tuesday, the biggest surprise of the show’s final episode was… a cameo from Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Harris appeared in the closing minutes of the Cold Open, using an oft-trodden mirror premise. He sat across from Maya Rudolph (who has played the vice president since 2019) and exchanged winking dialogue that added “-ala” to the ends of the words. . “The American people want to stop the chaos,” Rudolph began, before Harris rejoined, “and put an end to the dram-ala.”

The light — and relatively simple — moment contrasted with James Austin Johnson’s burnt-out take on Donald Trump, which cracked open the chill. Johnson denounced the former president’s speech at his rally on Wednesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin, briefly putting aside his impersonation, which regularly consists of Trump jumping from topic to topic without any solid foundation. Instead, he seemed to break the fourth wall: “Get me out of here,” he said, as he slumped over the stage. “Make it stop.” It was hard to tell how much of the sentiment came from the comedian’s Trump character and how much from Johnson himself.

But another sketch last night underscored more sharply the exhaustion of the current political moment — and the way high-stakes rhetoric can repeat itself from election cycle to election cycle. The recurring game show segment “What’s That Name?”, which mocks contestants’ ability to remember the names of minor celebrities but not those of the people they encounter every day, returned for a pageant edition. The piece aired not long after Harris came along, feeling more culturally savvy and bringing in an unexpected political guest star of her own.

The episode’s host, John Mulaney, played a news junkie who was questioned about the more obscure players in the 2024 general election, such as special advisor Jack Smith. The participant was well aware of the goings-on – and was clearly quite proud of it – because, as he preachily put it, “This is the most important election in American history. Democracy is at stake.” In contrast to the roaring excitement that Harris’ guest elicited from the audience moments earlier—cheers that lasted nearly thirty seconds and kept Harris and Rudolph from entering the scene—Mulaney’s character’s line elicited faint applause that hardly qualified as “clapping.” was registered. .”

The sketch upped the ante for such an all-or-nothing verbiage—important, but also familiar—coyly when the game’s host (played by Michael Longfellow, echoing Bill Hader’s original turn) called out Senator Tim Kaine Virginia put forward. Recalling his time as Hillary Clinton’s running mate during the 2016 campaign, Kaine recited a sophisticated takeaway: “At the time, you said it was the most important election in American history, and democracy was at stake. It’s been less than eight years. What’s my name?” Mulaney’s contestant stretched to find an answer that would help him save face, eventually getting the chance to blame Kaine for not being as memorable as current vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz. Longfellow’s game show host, who took pleasure in watching Mulaney’s famous smugness crumble, posted a photo of Kaine next to Walz to show how they not only look alike but also share the same name. “Really? His name was Tim?” Mulaney asked, to which Kaine gave the perfect response: “My name is still Tim. I exist.”

The sketch seemed to be SNL‘s attempt to balance the levity of the cold open with a more biting tone about the exhausting stakes of deciding the nation’s leadership. The show appears to understand this stake better than it did in 2016, when, in a widely criticized move, it invited Trump to host an episode. (Hillary Clinton came on a month before Trump, playing a bartender named Val who listened as Kate McKinnon’s caricature of Clinton shared her concerns about the upcoming election.) By having Harris but not Trump on the show (albeit for a much smaller guest spot than its competitor ever had), SNL It appears it wants to make at least a slightly bigger political claim than it has made in the past — and in a way that has already drawn criticism from one of the FCC’s Republican commissioners for possibly violating the equal-time rule. But with its longer view, “What’s That Name?” brought to light the subtler, more severe point of the evening.