Nathan VanSteenkiste ‘26, Copy Editor
After a historic 50th anniversary last year, Saturday Night Live returned for its 51st season on Oct. 4. The show featured new cast members, performances from musician Doja Cat, and several actually entertaining moments. Despite having some great moments, some sketches were lackluster, and the show was certainly not a perfect first episode. Here is a detailed review of some of the highlights and lowlights from the SNL premiere:
HIGHLIGHT: Bad Bunny’s Monologue
Hosting SNL for his second time, musician, Happy Gilmore 2 actor, and recently announced Super Bowl LX halftime performer, Bad Bunny, opened the show with a powerful, pointed monologue. The Puerto Rican laughed off critics of the NFL’s decision to select him as next year’s headliner—numerous people, especially conservatives, have critiqued Bad Bunny’s selection, calling it not “American” enough for football.
Despite being born in a U.S. territory, making him a U.S. citizen, people have been outraged, and President Trump and his administration have even threatened that they will send Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the game set to take place at Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8, 2026.
Nevertheless, Bad Bunny refused to entertain haters or racism. Instead, he challenged his adversaries, speaking a portion of his monologue in Spanish and then telling the audience that they have “four months to learn” what he just said.
He added, “I’m very happy, and I think everyone is happy about [the NFL’s decision]. Even Fox News,” before a montage of edited clips of conservative anchors played, saying, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician, and he should be the next president.” The singer’s monologue was not only a fair response to the mass amount of hate he’s received online, but it was vulnerable, humorous, and encouraging to his Latin American, and more specifically, Puerto Rican fans.
LOWLIGHT: The Lack of Female Comedians
After a series of cast shake-ups, with Michael Longfellow, Emil Wakim, and Devon Walker all exiting the show, and veteran comedians Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim retiring, SNL’s 51st season looks vastly different. And not in a good way—well, at least so far. The absence of Gardner and Nwodim was blatant, as now only two of the 10 repertory cast members are women: Chloe Fineman and Sarah Sherman. While both were solid in the opening show, they were overused at times. For example, in back-to-back scenes, Fineman and Sherman played middle-aged women and sat next to each other at a dining table. It quickly became repetitive, and the two sketches blended together.
One of the highlights from last season, featured player Ashley Padilla, is back for her second year on SNL. Though she was only in one scene, and the sketch was not the most well-written, she was by far the stand-out comedian in “Parent-Teacher Conference,” making it far more enjoyable to watch. More of Padilla could have made the evening’s sketches more enjoyable for viewers.
Another returning and featured player, Jane Wickline, was noticeably absent from the night’s sketches—though she was present at the very end of the show. Meanwhile, one of SNL’s new featured players, Veronika Slowikowska, was in the first sketch of the night but barely had any lines. SNL needs to correct its imbalance of female to male comedians and find better ways to get them involved in scenes—more specifically, in ways that are not repetitive.
HIGHLIGHT: Dobby the House Elf on J.K. Rowling
One of the funniest moments of the night was delivered by SNL veteran Bowen Yang, who portrayed Dobby, a house-elf from the Harry Potter series, during a Weekend Update segment. Poking fun at the series’ author, J.K. Rowling, and her recent quarrels with Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in the original films, for not supporting her anti-trans hate speech, Yang took a satirical approach to the situation.
When asked why he was on the show by anchor Michael Che, Yang said, “Dobby’s just about to publicly weigh in on trans people… Master sent Dobby,” implying that Rowling herself had sent Dobby to advocate on her behalf.
Fully committed to the bit, Yang banged his head against the Weekend Update desk several times, mimicking how Dobby would commit self-punishments in the original series. Yang thrashed against the table so forcefully that his costume snapped, with the right shoulder of his outfit coming entirely detached.
Yang exclaimed, while remaining fully in character, “Dobby’s come undone,” to hollering laughter from the SNL crowd. Yang awkwardly had to hold his outfit together throughout the rest of the sketch, which included more head-banging and thrashing about. He ended the scene by leaping over the desk to repeatedly bang his head against the camera before pulling out a shirt that Rowling received in her mail—it read “They K. Rowling.”
Realizing that he had been gifted a piece of clothing, Yang, still holding his withered Dobby costume, hopped around triumphantly as he realized he was free from Rowling; in the books, when a house elf receives a piece of clothing, they are free, thus what Yang was parodying in his sketch.
Known for his elaborate Weekend Update shenanigans—from “The Iceberg” to “Moo Deng,” Yang delivered another SNL classic.
LOWLIGHT: Repetitive, Unoriginal Sketches
Although SNL is typically original and creative when it comes to their writing and sketch crafting, the premiere felt lackluster in terms of content—especially since the writers had the entire summer to come up with fresh ideas. The show began with a Jeopardy! segment, and although it was enjoyable, with Bad Bunny contributing appealing acting, repeating a sketch that had already been done numerous times felt not only unoriginal but also like a bad omen for the rest of the show.
Even the sketches that were unique to the episode, like “El Chavo Del Ocho,” which was based on a Mexican television sitcom of the same name, were a fun concept for SNL, but it was executed poorly. While entertaining and likely funny to Latin American viewers, it was not laugh-out-loud funny. And it did not take a unique lens or make a critique on which the viewers could take a stance. Perhaps if there was some satire in this sketch or if it related to a newsworthy issue in some way, it may seem less like a low light.
Even when the show tried to relate to current trends, they seemed misplaced. For example, HUNTR/X, the creators of “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters, made an appearance, performing during one of the sketches. While it was nice to see SNL tap into something that is popular, the sketch could have been so much better if it had actually pertained to the film; centering a whole dinner scene on a K-Pop film was an odd choice.
Overall: The premiere was a rollercoaster, with many funny scenes and strong contributions from Bad Bunny; however, at times, the show felt repetitive, while also lacking diversity and originality. As season 51 progresses, it will be interesting to see what new concepts SNL’s writers will introduce, how the cast will mesh, and if the show can rebound from a lackluster start.
Lyon Life 