The ‘Obsession’ star went undefeated in the best episode of season 52, with Gracie Abrams delivering two knockout performances.
Inde Navarrette did not just host Saturday Night Live. She owned it. The Obsession star’s Halloween hosting debut was the best episode of season 52 so far, a night when the host went for broke in every single sketch, Gracie Abrams delivered two knockout musical performances and a horror breakout made a convincing case that she is one of the most versatile young actors working today.
Hosting debuts usually come with a learning curve. Navarrette skipped it. She threw herself over a couch in a telenovela, played a dudebro bachelor, channeled Mariska Hargitay opposite a cartoon dog and delivered the funniest pretape of the season, all without ever looking like she was working. Even the sketches that did not quite land had her firing at full commitment.
It also came at exactly the right moment. Obsession, the $750,000 indie horror film that crossed $400 million worldwide this summer, has made her an awards-season contender for her role as Nikki. A great SNL episode is the kind of national showcase that can turn a breakout into a front-runner. Here is every sketch from Saturday night, ranked from best to worst.
1. The Inventor’s Wife
The episode’s crown jewel, and the best pretaped short of the season. Navarrette plays a grieving widow whose eccentric inventor husband leaves her a cute, WALL-E-like robot called PD-44. Six years later, she finally goes on a date with Ben Marshall’s nice guy, brings him home and learns, in the most graphic way possible, what PD stands for. The genius is in Navarrette’s performance. She plays the widow’s loneliness with total sincerity, so the bloody, joyful twist lands like a punch. Watch for her face at the end, drenched and delighted, convinced her husband loved her after all.
2. El Corazon Que No Siente
A farcical taping of a Mexican soap opera, with Kenan Thompson as the director and Navarrette and Marcello Hernandez as star-crossed lovers, interrupted by soda reps (Mikey Day and Ashley Padilla) forcing in product placement for a Sprite Cherry Lime Habanero. It is one of the strongest live sketches of the season, and it showcased the physical comedy Navarrette had been hiding. When Hernandez’s character slaps her, she launches herself over a couch with the abandon of a stunt performer. The escalating absurdity of the sponsor notes, and the way Navarrette and Hernandez play them completely straight, made this the episode’s biggest live laugh.
3. The Uninterested Woman Game Show
Ashley Padilla hosts a dating show where Saidah Belo-Osagie’s contestant is plainly not interested in any of her bachelors, played by Navarrette, Sarah Sherman and Jane Wickline as a trio of hopeless dudebros. It is sharp, specific satire of guys who refuse to take a hint, and the makeup and prosthetic work on the bachelors’ facial hair and forearms deserves its own Emmy. Navarrette’s swaggering bro was a total transformation.
4. Paw Patrol: Special Victims Unit
The kind of premise that sounds like a dare: the Paw Patrol pups as a gritty Law and Order: SVU squad. Navarrette leads the unit in a dead-on Olivia Benson, with James Austin Johnson as the villain and a quick Kam Patterson cameo. The tongue-twisting dialogue got the best of her at one point, and her break only made it funnier. It ends with a puppet-on-human shooting that should not work and absolutely does.
5. Delta Disruptive
A pretaped commercial for a new airline section for unruly passengers, staffed by what Padilla’s spokeswoman describes as the toughest ex-Spirit Airlines employees in the business. Sarah Sherman’s duct-taped Karen was a highlight, and the parody is the kind of thing that will travel well online for anyone who has ever survived a delayed flight.
6. The Monologue
Navarrette opened with a joke about training for her upcoming Marvel role, a playful swipe at Shane Gillis, whose own monologue in October sparked a backlash over a gym joke. The cast showed off their Halloween costumes, including Kam Patterson as Elizabeth Holmes, a timely nod to You Can See Everything, the Nathan Fielder documentary that has been one of the fall’s biggest box office surprises.
7. The Cold Open: Tombs of Doom
A Halloween fright ride guided by Kenan Thompson became a surprise return for Tom Hanks‘ David S. Pumpkins, complete with his skeleton dancers, before James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump crashed the party. Hanks remains a delight, and Johnson’s Trump had a few great lines, but the open was crowded with too many ideas. Saidah Belo-Osagie also debuted her Nicki Minaj.
8. Ghosts of the Queen Mary Tour
A spooky cruise tour conjures the ghost of a 1930s movie star, played by Sarah Sherman, who hid her jewels aboard the ship. It is a solid ensemble piece with a lot of moving parts, and Navarrette’s eye-crossing enthusiasm kept it lively. It just never built to a big finish.
9. Denise Goes to Dinner
The night’s one real misfire, and not because of the host. Padilla plays an oddball coworker at a work dinner whose evening goes from awkward to gross, ending in a string of bodily-function gags. It ran out of steam fast. It was also the last sketch of the night, which tells you how strong the rest of the episode was.
Weekend Update
Colin Jost and Michael Che kept it tight, and the segment’s two big swings both landed. Bobby Moynihan brought back Drunk Uncle to celebrate the Milwaukee Brewers’ championship, with a walk-on from Brewers players and manager Pat Murphy, and Ben Marshall’s Pennywise pitching an AI startup was the kind of weird left turn that had no business working.
Gracie Abrams
Abrams was the perfect musical guest for the night, delivering two powerful, theatrical performances of “Hit the Wall” and “Here You Come, There You Go,” both staged with a Romeo and Juliet theme, angel wings and all. Her voice was in remarkable form, and the pairing of two of the year’s rising stars gave the whole episode an event feel.
The Awards Picture
This was more than a fun night of television. It was a campaign stop. Navarrette has been in the awards conversation since Obsession became a phenomenon, and our Golden Globes predictions already had the film in the comedy race. Saturday proved what voters will want to see: range. In one night, Navarrette showed she can be terrifying, ridiculous, physical and genuinely touching. If she keeps this momentum, a best actress nomination for Nikki looks very real, and a win no longer sounds like a long shot.
