Olivia Rodrigo wants her ex back as Aziz Ansari brings Kash Patel to ‘SNL’

SNL has been gone since early April, but it feels like the show has been on hiatus for longer. With the end of Season 51 looming, the break loomed large. Thankfully, we had Olivia Rodrigo to snap the drought.

While Rodrigo has been the musical guest before, this episode was her hosting debut. She was a natural, though.

This was a perfectly acceptable episode of SNL. Rodrigo knew how to blend into a sketch. She was never sidelined, but she never stole a sketch. (After Ryan Gosling’s episode, I don’t expect anyone else to run away with an episode this season.) At the same time, Rodrigo was present enough to not give a single cast member the opportunity to turn the episode into a personal showcase.

I liked Rodrigo as a host! She seemed to enjoy the experience. I’d love to see what she could do again now that she has a hosting gig already checked off.

Rodrigo also ended a six-episode run of dudes hosting the SNL. The first half of Season 51 was perfectly balanced between men and women, but after Teyana Taylor hosted the eleventh episode, Lorne Michaels put up the “No Girls Allowed” sign. Season 51 will close out with Matt Damon and Will Ferrell.

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COLD OPEN

Hegseth and Patel Iran Press Briefing Cold Open

There are a bunch of things we could talk about when it comes to this episode’s cold open. Ashley Padilla as Karoline Leavitt. Colin Jost’s continued and ecstatic enthusiasm at playing Pete Hegseth. But the latter half of the cold open is what everyone is going to be talking about.

Aziz Ansari as Kash Patel.

The former Parks and Recreation star made his first appearance on SNL since hosting the show in January 2017. (I totally forgot this happened.) I’m going to allow this cameo for two reasons: It kept SNL from forcing James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump again. And the show doesn’t have a cast member who can play Patel.

If you’re like me, you watched Ansari become a star. I saw him perform standup at RIT in Rochester back in 2011. I was a huge Parks and Rec fan. I loved Master of None. But then Ansari went away for a bit.

There was a real timeline disconnect seeing Ansari on SNL in 2026. I appreciate that his version of Patel is traveling the country with his girlfriend on the government dime to compare Buffalo Wild Wings locations.

• “The man, the myth, the liability”: Does Jost enjoy playing Hegseth too much?

THE MONOLOGUE

Yes, yes ... Rodrigo is young enough so that the SNL cast she grew up watching is still the cast of SNL.