Saturday Night Live is about to wrap up Season 51 on the 2026 TV schedule, and while I think the talented cast deserves a break just as much as any other show, I will miss them these coming months. That's especially true after seeing Michael Che and Colin Jost troll each other on Weekend Update, with the same goofy joke tied to a classic summertime game.
Che and Jost had their usual banter during Weekend Update, but rather than do something like a joke swap, it turned into a somewhat dumb joke that kept getting better as the segment continued. It started when Colin Jost did a joke about Secretary of State Marco Rubio going to visit the pope, the transcript of which could be read below:
- Colin Jost: "This week secretary of state Marco..."
- Michael Che: "RUBIO!"
- Jost: "Marco Rubio traveled to Italy to meet Pope Leo in an attempt to repair U.S. relations after the pope requested anyone but J.D. Vance. During their meeting, Marco...
- Che: "RUBIO!"
For those who don't get it, Che was responding in the same way a person would reply when playing the game "Marco Polo." For the uninitiated (there's gotta be at least one), it's a game of tag in which the person who is "it" has to wander the pool with their eyes closed. To seek out the people in the pool they shout "Marco" to which everyone else playing will yell "Polo" back in response giving them an idea of where to swim.
It was a goofy joke, but I never would've expected it to come back into play later. After a few jokes, Colin Jost got his revenge by cutting into the middle of the intro to one of Michael Che's jokes, to keep the bit going:
- Che: "FBI director Kash..."
- Jost: "PATEL!"
A rarer win for Colin Jost, who I feel like is often willingly the butt of the joke for the sake of comedy. Admittedly, I'm still wondering if the entire bit was something they scripted into this episode, or if it was something they just did on the spot and kept it going.
I'm not sure it matters either way, because they absolutely killed it with the final joke in the sequence. Colin Jost kicked off a joke about Jeffrey Epstein, but Che wasn't about to take the bait:
- Jost: "Jeffrey...[waits]"
- Che: "Even I have limits."
Che likely remembered the backlash Nikki Glaser received after her hosting stint on Saturday Night Live for invoking Epstein's name, and didn't want any part of that. Either that, or it was the ultimate way to end the joke on a high note, and redeem it from how forgettable it might've been had it ended with the first exchange.
Ultimately, it was a great installment of Weekend Update, and one I imagine will be hard to top as we press onward to the upcoming season finale for SNL. Not that it's a rule that the last Weekend Update of the season has to be the best, but you'd think they'd want to go out with the energy we saw in this latest episode:
I like to think Michael Che and Colin Jost were swinging for the fences this week, as rising star cast member Jeremy Culhane also popped up to reprise his role as Tucker Carlson on Weekend Update. "Carlson" sharing his thoughts on the Met Gala was even better than the initial skit in which he dismantled the Oscars.
Overall, it was a strong episode for Matt Damon, who had some memorable sketches that'll stand the test of time. He may only be a three-time host, and The Odyssey is nowhere close to its release date at the time of hosting, but this will be one that people will appreciate when they're hanging out with friends and talking about some of the funnier bits.
As mentioned, Saturday Night Live will close out Season 51 on May 16th with Will Ferrell and Paul McCartney. I'm excited for the season finale and to see if there are still any surprises in store for this closer before the break.
