We already knew Bowen Yang had range. This is a Saturday Night Live staple who has brought us such characters as the Iceberg Who Sank Titanic, a proud gay Oompa Loompa, and now-ex congressman George Santos. But for SNL’s season 50 premiere on September 28, Yang proved he could do almost anything, playing three summer-defining figures in a single night: the originator of Brat summer Charli XCX, the anti-LGBTQ+ Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, and perhaps most memorably, the glistening baby hippo Moo Deng.
Yang showing up as Vance was an unexpected moment in the cold open, appearing after Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan’s expert portrayals of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz. The SNL cast member was not on our list of LGBTQ+ actors we thought might show up to play the famous enemy of “childless cat ladies,” and after five seconds of watching Yang nail Vance’s obsequious energy, I realized what a gross oversight that was. He was perfect at playing the historically unpopular Republican suck-up, complete with a mention of the perhaps even more unpopular Project 2025 policy agenda.
Oddly enough, Yang reappearing as megaviral two-month-old hippopotamus Moo Deng on Weekend Update was somehow more expected given his history of playing internet-famous figures on the recurring fake news segment, no matter how abstract the portrayal. The real stroke of genius here was using the Moo Deng moment to comment on the boundaries that pop stars like Chappell Roan have been asking for in an era of hyper-parasocial fandom. (Yang’s delivery of “I’m your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo, and I’m thirsty thirsty — HOSE!” will live in my mind forever.)
But instead of taking a well-deserved break backstage, Yang reappeared a third time as Charli XCX for a satirical panel show called Talk Talk, DJed by none other than a laconic Troye Sivan saying “naur.” In addition to absolutely nailing the way Charli stands in the “360” video, Yang’s spin on the pop star delivered an expert breakdown of what was “brat” or “nat.” Amy Adams in Nightbitch is indeed brat, and New York City mayor Eric Adams’ indictment is indeed nat.
Thank you, Bowen Yang, for your service — and for the lesson in bratology.
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