Finn Wolfhard trades the Upside Down for 30 Rock to ring in the post-Bowen Yang era.
Photo: Esther Kuhn/NBC
Zoom in on Finn Wolfhard’s chin hair. It’s barely there, but it’s there. The Stranger Things actor is ready to reintroduce himself as an adult now that the show’s over. “I gotta tell you, it feels so amazing that 400 million people got to watch me go through puberty,” he says in the monologue. It makes sense, then, for his first time hosting Saturday Night Live to be a way to establish himself outside of being Mike Wheeler. And as far as first-time hosts go, Wolfhard is a good candidate. Outside of Stranger Things, he’s pursued comedy and even, allegedly, helped Bill Hader get cast in It: Chapter Two because he was such a fan. His comedic acting chops are there, as evidenced early on with an effortless spit take onto Marcello Hernandez (the alcohol was “too spicy”).
He did, though, seem a little nervous. When his co-stars Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin joined him at the end of the monologue, you could sense Wolfhard feeling more at ease. That’s not to say that he didn’t do well across characters; in addition to reprising Mike Wheeler (well, sort of) in a Stranger Things pre-taped sketch, he played horny Harry Potter, an annoyed space emperor, and a too-confident child Twitch streamer. But it felt like there was something holding him back from fully taking the reins as host.
This was also the first episode since Bowen Yang left. In my last recap, I mentioned feeling like he was poised to fill the void left by departed cast members — well, I was pretty wrong about that. I miss him! But despite the absence, the episode was pretty strong. The cold open kicked things off by cycling through the brutality of Trump’s cabinet members, like Colin Jost’s fratty, impish Pete Hegseth and Ashley Padilla’s Kristi Noem recruiting ICE agents. (“Is your neck wider than your head? Are you currently wearing a Punisher T-shirt? Have you ever punched a hole in the wall because your son took a dance class?”) The only notable clunker was the last sketch, which was inspired by the Free Solo guy, who I guess is trying to scale a skyscraper this week? Everyone’s New Year’s resolution are different, I guess.
In addition to cameos from Sabrina Carpenter and Jason Momoa, I was pleasantly surprised to see a few featured players get more screentime this week. While I love it when Ashley Padilla dominates an episode, it was nice to see more of Jeremy Culhane, who’s taking over Yang’s JD Vance, and the ever-charming Veronika Slowikowska, who held court as a “guy’s girl” in a character sketch.
Here are the highlights:
Heated Rivalry content is reaching the point of oversaturation, and this parody pleasantly makes it in just under the wire before it would’ve been annoying. (This may be me reflecting my own exhaustion with the show.) This digital pre-tape answers the question, “What if the new Harry Potter TV show strayed so deeply from J.K. Rowling’s vision?” An improvement, I think. Ben Marshall’s Ron Weasley and Wolfhard’s Harry Potter are teammates who can’t keep their hands off of each other, in “the first series written entirely by girls who wear tails.” Plus, a bonus surprise appearance by Jason Momoa as Hagrid: “You’re a homo, Harry.” Side note: Does Lorne just text people to stop in when he sees them near 30 Rock on Find My Friends?
Stranger Things may be over, but that doesn’t mean Netflix can’t cash in on the IP. In this pre-taped sketch, we walk through new sequels, prequels, requels, and spin-offs of the show. Notable inclusions include “The Wheeler Report” (Chloe Fineman’s Nancy Wheeler tumbling out of the back of a van while investigating the OJ trial really made me laugh), and “Oops! All Mike’s Dad.” The best one was “Mike in Manhattan,” a Sex and the City spoof starring Wolfhard’s Stranger Things character, Mike Wheeler. Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin make an appearance again as grown-up Dustin and Lucas, but no Will — he’s still trapped in the never-ending coming-out scene. The last item in the promo even referenced “Conformity Gate,” a conspiracy theory where fans believed that a secret Stranger Things finale would drop on Netflix on January 7th. It didn’t, but at least they got Kenan Thompson as Eleven!
A strong Weekend Update, especially for a week when the news feels hard to laugh at. A ScarJo joke-slash-self-roast from Colin Jost was a highlight. As was this joke delivered by Michael Che: “During a recent podcast appearance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized President Trump’s diet, saying, ‘I don’t know how he is alive.’ Well, I do,” and then, an image of the Trump assassination attempt. “A slight breeze.”
I loved Jane Wickline as Tamara, a woman with a confusing New Year’s resolution about buttons who gets increasingly heated when asked to elaborate. She’s so good at playing quiet, controlled weirdos. My own football ignorance got in the way of getting all of Kam Patterson’s Michael Irvin character, but he’s got an infectious energy (which I can better enjoy when I try to forget about his whole Kill Tony thing).
A space emperor (Wolfhard) sits on a throne by his loyal disciples. But one of them, a passionate servant whose whole job is to feed him snacks (Mikey Day), keeps shoving increasingly distracting space snacks into his mouth. Day’s performance as a nasally, cartoonishly devoted subject is funny on its own, but what’s even more delightful is how much it’s making Wolfhard break. At one point, Day offers him a second marshmallow-like snack, and Wolfhard goes “Okay!” with a level of surprise that almost feels unscripted. I just know some teenager out there is making a fan edit of Day squeezing a bottle of chocolate-syrup-like melted intergalactic fruit into Wolfhard’s mouth.
A hangout for the boys is interrupted when one of the guys (Wolfhard) invites his girlfriend. But no worries. His girlfriend, played by a brash Veronika Slowikowska, is one of the guys. Clad in a Bears jersey, she’s loud, annoying, broey, and still somehow lovable (to us, at least). Her face, her voices (yes, multiple, this bro character has range), and her mile-a-minute escalations are captivating. She’s zigzagging around the room, shotgunning a beer, hiding Wolfhard’s character’s face under her shirt, etc. And I love the lore on how they met: “She pantsed me in a Starbucks. I guess she liked what she saw.”
• Shoutout to whoever styled Wolfhard. Loving the purple suit, navy shirt, and ribbon tie combo during the monologue.
• Danny Elfman and Thundercat joining A$AP Rocky to perform “Punk Rocky” was a nice little surprise!
• I’ve learned too much information about the “Byler” movement against my will. Hoping the Byler and Gaylor communities can provide emotional support to each other.
• “Well, I bought some sweatpants that you can wear to weddings.” A successful 2026 already!
• I rolled my eyes in the moment, but I choose to allow Rihanna’s husband to promote Rap Snacks® during the “Snackhomiez” sketch because he’s got a family to feed. Dare I say recession indicator…
• A Sabrina Carpenter sighting! I would love for Sabrina Carpenter to be this era of SNL’s new Jon Hamm.
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