Who knew that Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump singing Bill Wither’s ‘Just The Two of Us’ was the creepy comic duet we all needed?
Saturday Night Live’s 51st Season came to an end today by beginning with a blistering cold open that had host Ferrell as the ghost of pedophile Epstein amidst a mosaic of Trump’s administration’s worst hit and biggest fools.
“Donnie, just remember, no matter how many wars you start or how bad you tank the economy as a distraction, people will always associate you with me, and that, my dear close friend, that is a beautiful thing,” Ferrell lovingly told the man who has done everything in his considerable power to distract from his long history with convicted sex offender Epstein.
Sliding in cast member Jeremy Culhane as a dismissed VP JD Vance and an exhausted Trump effectively handing Taiwan to China during his recent trip to Beijing, the starting skit was part the Democrats’ wet dream, part the GOP’s worst nightmare and near pure comedy magic.
“Dark, very dark, dark situation,” Johnson’s Trump stated of his crumbling poll numbers and allegations of he and Epstein with minors back in their partying days. “So, what are you up to these days, Jeff. How’s Heaven?” the SNL POTUS asked to change the topic. “It’s really, really hot,” Ferrell’s Epstein replied, making it clear he was residing well south of Heaven. “You know me, I keep busy. Mahjong every Wednesday with Stalin and John Wayne Gacy.”
As usual, the missteps, cruelty and constant reality denial of Trump and his MAGA loyalists provided ample satirical material for SNL. The former Apprentice host’s cap in hand trip to China this past week and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s attempt at bringing down the tensions between the White House and the Vatican (Yes, the Vatican) certainly had a lot to mine for laughs. Even on the night of Netflix’s much hyped Ronda vs. Gina Carano fight, tales of FBI Director Kash Patel taking a VIP snorkel in the hallowed waters of Pearl Harbor recently wrote their own jokes.
Almost all of that made the cut tonight in one way or another.
With SNL alum Ferrell back for a sixth time tonight hosting the show he was a cast member of from 1995 to 2002, the NBC late-nighter cemented it legends-only status for this finale with no less than Paul McCartney as the musical guest.
Can’t say how much cowbell has or hasn’t been in the mix, but Beatle Paul has performed on SNL four times before with his band (no, not that band). McCartney, who has his first new album in six years out on May 29, has made cameos in skits on four other occasions – including the star studded 50th anniversary special.
Looking back over the admittedly chaotically uneven Season 51, SNL’s cold opens have really crashed and burned when they haven’t worked, and soared like an Eagle when they have.
In that context, after 19 episodes over this latest run of the Lorne Michaels-led Not Ready for Primetime Players, the best of the cold opens have generally been when Colin Jost made an appearance as overwrought frat boy/former Fox News host Pete Hegseth.
Whether fundamentally solo as the hopelessly out of his depth Secretary of Defense, the Weekend Update co-anchor brought a fresh bite to the usually stale Trump centric start of the show. Maybe it as in part because Jost so rarely showed up in the spotlight away from the WU desk with Michae Che. Maybe it was because Jost pushed castmate James Austin Johnson’s pompous POTUS to greater extremes and proved a perfect foil to the deep talents of Ashely Padilla. Then, setting a new gold standard, there was the cameos the past fortnight by Aziz Ansari as bug-eyed FBI boss Patel (“The first Indian person to suck at his job!”).
SNL played to those cast members and guest and their flex with a bit of everyone making an appearance of sorts — especially Padilla as ex-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (a gift that will never stop giving long after Noem and her scandals, incompetence and more are hopefully a part of prison lore).
Looking to Season 52, which will bring its own changes and big and small swings, the good bet is SNL will lean into what has been working for them and go more of the same Then again, this being the notoriously unsteady SNL, don’t assume you can make your Polymarket bones on that prediction.
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