Saturday Night Live began last night’s (4 February) episode with a sketch dedicated to the week’s “spy balloon” drama.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down by the US military on Saturday off the South Carolina coast, prompting a stern response from the Chinese government.
In an episode of SNL that aired that night Bowen Yang played a talking version of the balloon after it had been shot down.
“Well, ya got me! Congrats, you shot a balloon,” said Yang, dressed as “the remains of the balloon”. “I entertained you people for four days and then I get shot by Biden?
“I can’t believe I’m Joe’s Osama.”
“The balloon” was then asked why it was flying over Montana, to which it replied: “I loved the show Yellowstone, so was just there. It’s like Succession… but outside. Now I’m all wet, so… what a day!”
Other SNL regulars also appeared in the sketch, satirising reactions to the incident from across the political spectrum.
Kenan Thompson played a Pentagon official, who was interviewed on the fake news segment.
“The balloon was somehow able to get past our West Coast anti-balloon defense system, the Seattle Space Needle,” he said. “But once it was here, we were able to keep an eye on it with our sophisticated tracking technology of going like this [looks up].”
“And I want everyone to know that we will not tolerate any form of Chinese spying,” Thompson added. “But to be honest, they already have everything they need from TikTok, so scroll away, kids!”
The episode was hosted by Pedro Pascal, who is currently starring in the hit HBO drama The Last of Us.
For the night’s most well-recieved sketch, Pascal starred in a parody trailer for a hypothetical Mario Kart film, designed to mimic The Last of Us’s dark, gritty aesthetic.
