May 22, 2021

May 22, 2021 Season 46 episode


Episode	909
Season Episode	20
Host	Anya Taylor-Joy
Musical Guest(s)	Lil Nas X
Song(s) performed by Musical Guest(s)	"Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" "Sun Goes Down"

Previous Episode
May 15, 2021

Next Episode
October 2, 2021

(Season 47)

The 909th episode and the Season 46 Finale of Saturday Night Live premiered on May 22, 2021, hosted by actress Anya Taylor-Joy, star of BBC One's period crime drama series Peaky Blinders and the Netflix's miniseries The Queen's Gambit, and the hit films, Barry, Split, Thoroguhbreds, Emma, Glass, Playmobil: The Movie, The New Mutants, Here Are the Young Men, Last Night in Soho, The Northmen, Amsterdam and The Menu, with musical guest Lil Nas X, who performed "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and "Sun Goes Down" and appears in the pre-recorded "It's Pride Again" sketch. This was Anya Taylor-Joy's hosting debut and the musical guest debut on SNL for Lil Nas X.

This marked the final episode for longtime cast member Beck Bennett (a cast member since 2013), as he left the show after eight years. This would be also the last episode for first-year featured player Lauren Holt, as she would be let go after only one season.

The goodnights speech for Anya Taylor-Joy is: "Thank You to Lil Nas X and Chris Rock, To All of You for Being Here, This Has Been Unbelievable, Thank You, Thank You So, So Much." (Cheers and applause).

Cast[]

Repertory Players[]

Featured Players[]

Cameo by former cast member Chris Rock; onscreen appearance by production designer Akira Yoshimura

Sketches[]

Cold Open Sketch Pre-recorded Weekend Update Music Performance Other

Title	Image	Summary
Season 46 Finale Cold Open		The SNL cast (Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Cecily Strong, Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, Pete Davidson, Mikey Day, Bowen Yang, Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd, Chloe Fineman, Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, Andrew Dismukes, Punkie Johnson and Lauren Holt) reflects on writing and performing season 46’s sketches during the coronavirus pandemic. Cameos by long time production designer Akira Yoshimura and former cast member Chris Rock.
Opening Montage		Beck Bennett and Lauren Holt's final time being credited as cast members.
Monologue by Anya Taylor-Joy		Hosting for the first time, Anya Taylor-Joy talks about her hit Netflix show The Queen's Gambit and shares a secret to playing chess.
Cancelled Hollywood Squares		On a vintage episode of Hollywood Squares, two contestants compete with celebrities like Baby Spice and Bill Cosby. With Beck Bennett as the host, Aidy Bryant and Chris Redd as contestants, Anya Taylor-Joy as Baby Spice, Kenan Thompson as Bill Cosby, Kyle Mooney as Jared Fogle, Alex Moffatt as Matt Lauer, and Chloe Fineman and Heidi Gardner as the Olsen Twins.
Pictures With Dad		A father (Beck Bennett) accidentally shoots himself in the balls during a family picture of his married daughter (Heidi Gardner) and her husband (Andrew Dismukes). With Aidy Bryant as the mother, Alex Moffat as the doctor and guest host Anya Taylor-Joy as the nurse.
Making Man Prototype		Angels (Kenan Thompson, Beck Bennett, Mikey Day, Chris Redd) try to finalize the design for the Human Man. With Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, Ego Nwodim, and Melissa Villaseñor.
Anya Taylor-Joy, Bowen Yang, Punkie Johnson, Kate McKinnon, and Lil Nas X perform "It's Pride Again"		Friends anticipate this year’s Pride Month celebrations.
Celtic Women		Four Irish women (Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate McKinnon, Aidy Bryant, and Cecily Strong) perform in the musical Celtic Women. With Chris Redd, Chloe Fineman, and Lauren Holt. Last sketch appearance of Lauren Holt as a cast member.
Lil Nas X performs "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)". (He accidentally ripped his pants in this performance)
Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che		Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like President Biden test driving an electric pickup truck and a new pizza vending machine in Rome. Also, they make each other tell jokes they've never seen to close out season 46. With guests Pete Davidson and Jeanine Pirro (Cecily Strong). Also, she sings covers of Frank Sinatra's song "My Way". After the end of Update, a picture of Charles Grodin, who died earlier in the week, is shown.
Enid & Astrid's Brawr Barn		A commercial advertises a new lingerie collection sold by two bra experts (Anya Taylor-Joy, Aidy Bryant). With Heidi Gardner and Chloe Fineman.
NYU Guest Panel		Two NYU students (Aidy Bryant and Anya Taylor-Joy) interview actors (Bowen Yang, Pete Davidson, Punkie Johnson, Heidi Gardner, and Ego Nwodim).
Lil Nas X performs "Sun Goes Down."
AMC Theaters Commercial		Vin Diesel (Beck Bennett) talks about returning to the movies for the summer. With host Anya Taylor-Joy, Kenan Thompson Chris Redd, and Melissa Villaseñor. Final SNL sketch appearance of Beck Bennett as a cast member.
Goodbyes		Anya Taylor-Joy thanked Lil Nas X, Chris Rock, the cast and crew, and to all the people for being here, this is unbelievable. Also, the cast and crew say goodbye to longtime cast member Beck Bennett since this is his final SNL show.

Trivia[]

This was the final episode for longtime writers Fran Gillespie and Sudi Green (both of whom had been with the show since 2015), as they had left the show after six years (though Green has returned for the first-half of the 50th season).
- It was also the final episode for writers Sam Jay and Gary Richardson (who had been writers since 2017), as they had left after four years. (Though Richardson returned for Season 48).
Lastly, this was the final episode for longtime producer Ken Aymong (who had been with the show since 1982), as he retired from the show after 39 years.

Preceded by: May 15, 2021	Saturday Night Live episode	Followed by: October 2, 2021 (Season 47)