This iconic duo stole our hearts once again this festive season
BY EMILY ALICE MOSS, IMAGE BY NBC
Nothing says Christmas like Kate McKinnon and Billie Eilish starring in comedy sketches about cat-obsessed old ladies and creepy country music singers… right?
There was much hype among the girls, gays and theys following the announcement that queer icon Kate would be returning to Saturday Night Live, the US sketch show where she made her name, to host a Christmas special episode, after leaving in 2022. And the excitement only increased with the news that Billie, who recently said that she is “physically attracted” to women as well as men, would be joining her as the musical guest.
For those of us over in the UK committed to watching SNL the day after its US airtime, we were in for a real festive treat – for both longtime fans of the show and newbies only tuning in to see Kate and Billie. Kate started off strong with a superb opening monologue, filled with references to her ten-year history with SNL, where, as she jokes, she often played “the freak next to the hot person”.
In a distinctly un-Kate McKinnon turn, she then launches into song, singing the festive classic I’ll Be Home for Christmas and accompanied by Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, who also became household names thanks to the show. Seeing all of these legends so happy to be back in the place and with the people that made them who they are today is genuinely quite heartwarming, which is not something you expect from a show usually more preoccupied with making you ugly laugh.
All that heartwarming doesn’t last for long, though. Many of the sketches in the festive special are, as is typical of SNL, as sharp and cutting as the scissors you use to cut Christmas wrapping paper and Kate dazzles in nearly all of them.
A memorable highlight was ABBA Christmas, where Kate (accompanied by Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Bowen Yang) dress up as the iconic Swedish pop group and sang comically poor, Christmassy renditions of ABBA classics.
Later on, there is the North Pole News: Killer Whale Attack, where Kate manages to steal the sketch despite only a handful of brief cameo appearances as a grandma (?) armed with a whale harpoon and a slightly questionable northern English accent. It’s a reminder that all you need to do is give Kate McKinnon a wig, and she’ll give us comedy gold.
Billie, as the musical guest, sadly doesn’t feature in as many sketches as we might have liked, but when she does, she gives it her all. In addition to two mesmerising live musical performances of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and of her smash hit single What Was I Made For, she also stars alongside Kate in one of the episode’s best sketches, Whiskers R We.
Co-starring with several cats and even a guinea pig, Kate and Billie play cat-obsessed old lady duo, Barbara DeDrew and Paw-bree Hep-Purrn, who are showing off the adorable pets available for adoption at their animal shelter, before gradually discovering that they may be mother and daughter in a hilarious twist.
Kate and Billie are very much not the only stars in this festive special- there are too many of those to mention. Ultimately, they most definitely are the twinkling angels on top of the SNL Christmas tree and make the episode one not to miss off your holiday watch list.
Saturday Night Live is available to watch on Sky Comedy. Some sketches (including those mentioned in this review) are also available to watch on the SNL Official YouTube channel.
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