Saturday Night Live has been going at full speed since the new season began, and it shows no signs of slowing down. While elements like Jim Carrey’s portrayal of former Vice President Joe Biden have received somewhat mixed reception, most seem to be pretty high on Kate McKinnon’s performance, especially when she stole the show last week as Rudy Giuliani. This week was, of course, SNL’s Halloween episode, and the cold open, the last before Tuesday’s election, was appropriately spooky. The opening featured a number of notable SNL stars, but it was arguably Maya Rudolph who stole the show during the cold open and in the episode as a whole.
The cold open sees presidential hopeful Joe Biden discussing the upcoming election with viewers and attempting to ease viewers’ nerves ahead of this week’s election. To do so, he reads a scary story, inspired by Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Raven.” As he reads, numerous characters appear to help illustrate the tale, including Kate McKinnon’s Hillary Clinton and Kenan Thompson’s Ice Cube. However, near the end, Maya Rudolph appears and delivers some of the night’s best lines. Check it out below:
Maya Rudolph has always been entertaining in the role of Senator Kamala Harris and, even though her presence in the open was brief, she still packed a comedic punch with the screen time she had. And the internet is taking notice, especially when it comes to one line:
Aside from her appearances as Kamala Harris, Maya Rudolph has been appearing on her former show quite often. Last night, she also stole the show in another key sketch in which she played the Statue of Liberty and sang “I’m Still Here.” This left a number of viewers floored:
Needless to say, fans have been impressed with Rudolph’s return to SNL this season as Kamala Harris and other characters, so much so that many are wondering if she should just be considered a regular cast member again:
It’s an interesting question, and one that is worth acknowledging. Rudolph has arguably been around more than any other SNL alum has since departing the show. With the amount of work she’s been doing so far, she’s honestly earned a spot in the opening credits. And depending on how things turn out with the election, she may or may not be sticking around even longer. Could she gain honorary cast member status? It’s not impossible, but the chances of it occurring are somewhat slim.
Regardless of what happens, it’s honestly just nice to see Rudolph back to doing what she does best at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, and it’s been sheer joy to see her mix it up with Jim Carrey and other stars. We’ll see what the future holds for her at SNL.
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