The universe finally lets Sabrina Carpenter host ‘SNL’ — and she brings Domingo with her

Over the past few years, it felt like the universe was willing into existence this moment when Sabrina Carpenter hosted SNL. She was the musical guest when Jake Gyllenhaal closed out Season 49. She opened SNL50 alongside Paul Simon in February before mixing it up with Pedro Pascal and Marcello Hernandez in a Domingo sketch later in that milestone special. She even popped up during Quinta Brunson’s monologue toward the end of last season.

This episode was fated to happen. Did it live up to the moment?

I think Carpenter fans will be pleased with how she pulled off her episode. She was a natural on stage, never awkwardly relying on the cue cards. No bumps or hiccups. But it’s hard to say that Carpenter was the star of her own episode.

Yes, Carpenter was in almost every sketch. (She was missing from “Social Experiment,” a pretaped sketch that closed out the episode.) But while Carpenter was enthusiastically playing her role in those sketches, those roles were rarely the main role. “Domingo Cold Open” is a group sketch. “Surprise” and “Appliance Store” were driven by cast members like Ashley Padilla and Andrew Dismukes. “Boys Podcast” was James Austin Johnson. I’ll give Carpenter “Girlboss Seminar” as one that lived or died by her performance, but it was also aided by some intensive prop work.

But this is often the case when SNL has a host pull double duty as an episode’s musical guest. The two-pronged challenge can often spread them too thin, which results in an episode where the host doesn’t have to carry the weight of the sketches they’re in. That said, I’d absolutely welcome Carpenter back to host SNL again. None of the sketches in her episode were a dud.

This is totally a side note, but it’d also be awesome if we could solve the issue of a college football game that goes long, delaying local news on the East Coast and pushing SNL back. I dunno, pause the game and resume it after SNL? Send it to Peacock? You knew SNL starts at 11:30 p.m. when you decided to put a football game before it.

COLD OPEN

Domingo Cold Open

With Carpenter hosting, it seemed like a no-brainer that we’d get a Domingo sketch tonight. The original Domingo sketch was based around her song “Espresso.” Then Carpenter appeared in Hernandez’s reprise of the character during SNL50. It just felt like it would happen again this episode.

I didn’t expect, though, for SNL to skip politics during the cold open (but not for the entire show) and go straight to Domingo, reuniting Chloe Fineman, Dismukes, Hernandez, Carpenter and a Kel Squad that now consists of Sarah Sherman, Padilla and Veronika Slowikowska.

Yes, SNL is still doing Domingo sketches despite Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim no longer being on the show. (The show desperately needs to add more female cast members, with “Domingo Cold Open” using every woman in the show except Jane Wickline.) Padilla and Slowikowska replaced Garner and Nwodim in the Kel Squad.

• “I know you took a vow, but I am so well endowed”: OK, now Dismuke’s character is serious. This is strike six. There’s no way Domingo will ever happen again.

THE MONOLOGUE

Carpenter breezed through her monologue, explaining that the controversial cover to her album Man’s Best Friend was actually just a close crop of Bowen Yang helping her up (by the hair) after Carpenter was pushed down by Martin Short as he sought out quiches at the SNL50 buffet.