A goodbye that hit all the feels.
Saturday Night Live pulled out all the stops to give Bowen Yang a farewell worthy of his six-and-a-half-season run, sending the beloved cast member off with laughs, tears, and one truly iconic surprise.
The year-end episode was hosted by Yang’s close friend and Wicked co-star Ariana Grande, who immediately brought him into the monologue for a festive duet of “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The crowd erupted the second Yang appeared, setting the tone for a night that felt like a love letter to his time on the show.
Towards the end of the episode, Yang starred in a meta farewell sketch as an airport employee working his final shift. “They’re closing my station, it’s my last shift,” he said, prompting a sympathetic “awww” from the audience. “It’s sad. I’m gonna miss everything about this place. The way it smells, the celebrities who would come through. You know, just last week Josh O’Connor was here.”
Grande appeared again as Yang’s wife, Rhonda, calling to offer encouragement. “I’m so proud of you; all the eggnog you’ve made over the years. Some of it was great, some of it was rotten.”
“And a lot of it got cut,” Yang replied. “You know, I also think eggnog’s kinda like me. It’s not for everyone, but the people who like it are my kind of people.”
When Rhonda said she couldn’t believe he was retiring, Yang explained, “I just wanted to go out on top.”
“Oh, everyone knows you’re a bottom, honey,” she shot back, drawing one of the biggest laughs of the night.
The sketch took a more emotional turn as Yang addressed the audience directly. “I just feel so lucky that I ever got to work here,” he said through tears. “I just wanted to enjoy for a little bit longer, especially the people. I’ve loved every single person who works here because they’ve done so much for me, especially my boss.
