Saturday Night Live
Inde Navarrette & Gracie Abrams
October 31, 2026
Despite Inde Navarrette not being a household name (yet), she was the perfect choice to host the Halloween episode of Saturday Night Live this year. Navarrette plays the tragic Nikki in the horror sensation, Obsession, and has apparently been recruited to join the Marvel universe as Rogue in an upcoming X-Men movie. She is very pretty, and like most talented horror vixens, has surprising range. But that doesn’t necessarily translate into success navigating a live comedy program. We needn’t have worried, it turns out, because not only was Navarrette clearly very comfortable doing comedy and allowing herself to be goofy, she almost seemed more comfortable, more charged up in the live bits than in the safe pre-taped sketches. In fact, her portrayal as a horny dude might have been the highlight of the episode for me, an episode that also included a surprise appearance from both David S. Pumpkins and Drunk Uncle. I predict Inde Navarette will go on to be a big star, and that we’ll be seeing more of her on SNL in the future. (At least I hope so!)
It’s the first Halloween on a Saturday in a minute, so to celebrate, they bring back David S. Pumpkins, only to have him interrupted by James Austen Johnson’s President Jackass to talk midterms, asses, and make weird noises.
I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, I imagine this irritated a lot of people for whom David S. Pumpkins is (somehow, improbably) their favorite sketch of the past decade. (Personally, he’s never done it for me, but I’m always happy for SNL to find an excuse to bring Bobby Moynihan back.) On the other hand, that’s the larger joke at play: that President Narcissist is constantly ruining and distracting us from the things that bring us joy and making it all about himself. So on that level, this (and all the sketches that JAJ’s President Soggy interrupts) is a very successful bit, even while we’re living it every day.
Grade: B+
Inde Navarette’s opening monologue introduces her to those who might not have any idea who she is, does a playful costume bit with the cast, and manages to land a punch against Shane Gillis and his disastrous monologue from a couple of weeks back. It’s fine, but does not indicate how good she will be in the rest of the episode (which is very).
Grade: B+
A ghost tour visits the haunted ship, the Queen Mary, where a ghost tries to reveal where she has left her stash of diamonds, only to be interrupted by a pair of child ghosts who are very excited about going swimming. It’s an odd bit to open with: it’s not that funny, but Marcello and Navarrette are very committed, and it does bode well for Navarrette’s energy for the rest of the night.
Grade: B
In this pretape, Delta reveals a new class on their planes: “Delta Disruptive,” in which all the crazies, jerks, and otherwise unpleasant passengers must travel. Can we make this really happen, please? United? Want to get on this?
Grade: A
It’s the “Uninterested Woman Game Show,” in which a woman fully uninterested in male attention (a married lesbian running errands) is confronted with three dudes who can’t take a hint. It’s a better sketch than I expected for a couple of reasons: 1. the men are all played by women (and brilliantly so by Navarrette in particular), and 2. Ashley Padilla’s game show host is note perfect, radiating the frustration and irritation that every woman on this planet has experienced having to navigate this game EVERY. GOD. DAMN. DAY. Genuinely, this sketch has Tina and Amy’s DNA.
Grade: A+
The Inventor’s Wife is another pretape with Pixar vibes in which Navarrette plays a widow to an inventor who believes her dead husband loved his inventions more than her. Following his death, she discovers an adorable robot that he left behind, who doesn’t know what its purpose is. We eventually learn the robot’s purpose. To say any more would be to spoil a great gag.
Grade: A
Here, Navarrette and Marcello are telenovela actors tasked with working in a product placement for a Sprite drink. The actors, who decidedly do not like the drink, make some curious choices with their ad libs, and things go off the rails quickly. Points to Navarette for some inspired physical comedy.
Grade: B+
“Weekend Update” takes on President Gaybaiting talking non-stop about senators’ assess (which, I mean, what is going on, guys? how is this real life?), President Islamaphobic’s racism towards Abdul Al-Sayed, Israel’s elections, and Jost delivers an editorial about Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor that Che clearly wrote. It’s got teeth, but it also feels weirdly low energy tonight.
Grade: B+
Pennywise the Clown stops by the Weekend Update desk ostensibly to talk about Gen Z’s wellness trends, but really to orchestrate an intervention for Che.
Grade: B
And the best part of bringing David S. Pumpkins back is that it was an excuse to have Bobby Moynihan bring back Drunk Uncle. Here, Drunk Uncle celebrates the Milwaukee Brewers’ World Series win with the Brewers themselves. Don’t be a stranger, Uncle Drunky!
Grade: A
Sadly, the conceit of the sketch is better than the actual sketch: “Paw Patrol: Special Victims Unit.” I wanted to love this, but it just couldn’t sustain a three and a half minute bit.
Grade: B-
Finally, Padilla is the “cool” friend who doesn’t allow anything to ruffle her feathers, out to dinner with her friends. When the waiter drops a tray of food on her head, she tries to play it off as though it doesn’t bother her to maintain her image. And then she begins farting a lot. This is one of those sketches in which everyone’s mileage will vary, depending mostly on how much you love Ashley Padilla. Or farting.
Grade: B
Final Grade: A-.
Saturday Night Live airs at 10:30/11:30 p.m. Saturdays on NBC and streams on Peacock.