Saturday Night Live‘s season finale last night once again saw the long-running sketch comedy series come together remotely, but it still managed to deliver with a timely opening sketch that hits pretty close to reality with a Zoom-hosted virtual graduation ceremony that offered a hilarious (and likely divisive) appearance from Alec Baldwin reprising his take on President Donald Trump, this time as a sort of last resort graduation keynote speaker. The sketch was full of Baldwin’s trump riffing on the pandemic and even taking a fake sip of Clorox bleach but the real surprise came at the end when Baldwin closed the bit, breaking character with “and taped from my home, hone last time, it’s Saturday night,” leaving many to wonder if this was the actor’s last crack at the president.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Baldwin has been playing Trump for Saturday Night Live since the Season 42 premiere on October 8, 2016 in a cold open that spoofed the Trump/Clinton presidential debate. He’s appeared in a large number of episodes as Trump since then — including nearly every episode of Season 42. His impersonation of Trump even won Baldwin a Primetime Emmy Award in 2017, but in June of last year, Baldwin told USA Today that he was “done” playing the character and even suggested that Saturday Night Live find someone else who wanted the role.
“I can’t imagine I would do it again. I just can’t,” he said at the time. “They should find somebody who wants to do it.”
However, Baldwin returned to the role in the Season 45 premiere, telling former Saturday Night Live regular Kevin Nealon during an appearance on Nealon’s YouTube series Hiking with Kevin that while he was still done with the role, he was convinced to return thanks to the impact the impersonation has on fans.
“They’re like, keep going. They need this to manage their pain,” Baldwin said.
If Baldwin’s closing comment in Saturday’s cold open is in reference to his time impersonating the president, given his noted disdain for continuing the role it would make sense. That said, it’s also possible that Baldwin’s comment had additional layers of meaning. Not only was the episode the season finale — meaning that Baldwin’s “last time” could be a reference that it was the last episode of the season, but with the country starting to ease restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, Baldwin could also be referring to the possibility that this would be the last time he’d be filming a Saturday Night Live remotely form his home. Given that 2020 is an election year, it’s hard to imagine that the show’s sketches going into the fall season won’t include whatever shape the campaigns for president take, meaning that we’re likely to see some take on Trump again.
Time will tell if it’s Baldwin’s take or not.
What do you think? Is Baldwin done with impersonating Donald Trump? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
