SNL season finale embraced the existential anxiety over coronavirus with a "darker and weirder" SNL At Home episode

The Atlantic

"The novelty of living amid the crisis has worn off, and the tedium of coping with the lockdown has given way to the uncomfortable reality that life will remain abnormal for the foreseeable future," says Shirley Li of the third SNL At Home episode, which served as the finale for Season 45. "If the first episode offered 'surreal comforts” and the second attempted to make a standard collection of SNL sketches, the third looked to the future—and realized the unnerving truth that the end isn’t near. The standout moments of the evening all focused on that feeling, that this—this pandemic-induced pressure, this burden, this fear—won’t be over soon," says Li, adding: "This is a Saturday Night Live that couldn’t care less about offering reassurance—a far cry from the first at-home edition, which had a can-do, show-must-go-on attitude spearheaded by its everyman host, Tom Hanks. For the most part, the finale, hosted by the SNL alum Kristen Wiig, was darker and weirder: As she signed off and bid viewers good night, Wiig put on her 'sleep wig' and curled up in bed—only to toss and turn like many struggling to cope with the seemingly never-ending threat of the coronavirus, while the credits rolled over her flailing body. Yes, the show must go on—it will go on, as Wiig promised to 'see ya in September.' But, SNL made clear, it’s going to take time to get there. For now, it’s okay to notice the stress, to let it in, and to try to laugh about how much there is. That’s not the most comforting piece of advice, but it’s a necessary one to take in."

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