Kate McKinnon said goodbye to Saturday Night Live with an epic cold open. The 38-year-old metaphorically acknowledged her last episode at the end of the sketch on Saturday, May 21, which also included Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong and the evening’s host Natasha Lyonne. Cecily, Kate and Natasha were all present at the Pentagon to be interviewed by NSA agent Aidy, who had a series of questions for the ladies about the “third verified alien abduction” in history.
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) May 22, 2022
It turns out the pals were not intending to be abducted by outer beings but were actually trying to enjoy a girls’ weekend. “This is wild because we were just three gals heading to a hot sauce convention,” Cecily explained, as each went on to detail their abduction experiences. Kate, playing Ms. Colleen Rafferty, had a “third class” experience compared to her friends, who described a much more positive interaction with the aliens.
“I was yanked skyward by some claw machine device while I’m popping a squat…I barely managed to pull my wonder wear back up,” Kate’s Colleen said, all while smoking a cigarette. “I call them that because if you saw them because you’d wonder where they been…I see the gray aliens with the big eyes and I say to myself, ‘Colleen, this might be the most stable relationship you’ve ever been in’,” she quipped.
It turns out the aliens had a particular interest in Kate’s “pubic” area. “Not to get too graphic, but pubically speaking — I have more hairs poking out there than a hipster’s beard stuff into an N95,” she joked. “I’m not proud of it, but why clean the house if no one’s coming over?” she hilariously said, explaining that “word” got out about her “hairy squatter and the grays.” One alien, she said, “plucked one right out” and made her “curlies” the “must-have of the season…like my bush was the last lifeline on the Titanic.”
As the sketch came to an end, agent Aidy declared one of the three ladies would have to leave with the aliens — and Kate’s Colleen didn’t hesitate. “Well, Earth I love you — thanks for letting me stay while,” Kate said as she boarded the ship, also a reference to her show departure. The audience clapped and cheered through the entire moment as the longtime star appeared to have tears in her eyes!
News broke of Kate’s departure on Friday, May 20, however, the actress had yet to publicly acknowledge she was leaving the show. The exit comes amid a cast shakeup that also includes Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant and Kyle Mooney taking their final bows after epic, lengthy runs. Notably, Pete was the youngest ever person to join the cast at 20-years-old back in 2013.