‘SNL’ recap: Season finale with Will Ferrell, Paul McCartney

“SNL” returned to the air for the final episode of its 51st season on Saturday, May 16, with Will Ferrell serving as host and Paul McCartney serving as musical guest.

Ferrell is one of the “SNL” greats, and the show was predictably firing on all cylinders for its season finale. Ferrell was a breakout star almost immediately upon joining the cast in 1995, and has returned to host the show six times and make countless cameos since leaving the cast in 2002.

Right off the bat, Ferrell anchored one of the best cold opens of the season, playing the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein along his “best friend” Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson).

“We had some fun times together, didn’t we Donny?” Ferrell (as Epstein) joked. “We should’ve taken more pictures.”

In an homage to “A Christmas Carol,” the ghost of Epstein showed Trump a future vision of his cabinet. Kristi Noem (Ashley Padilla) is hawking products on Home Shopping Network, while Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost) and Kash Patel (Aziz Ansari) are shilling their own products — Poland Sprung hard water and a signature cologne called Incompetence.

Ansari wasn’t the only celebrity came during the Season 51 finale. Immediately following the cold open, Will Ferrell’s doppelganger, Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer Chad Smith, stepped out for the opening monologue. And early in the episode, Ferrell’s “SNL” castmate Molly Shannon joined him for a sketch.

Then there was McCartney, who was working overtime despite turning 84 next month. McCartney popped up in the monologue, played a British mechanic in a late-in-the-show sketch, and performed three musical numbers.

With Smith joining him on drums, the former Beatle led off with “Days We Left Behind,” a track from his upcoming album “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” before performing “Band on the Run,” a song he also performed on the show in 2010.

Then after the goodnights at 1 a.m., Ferrell threw it back to McCartney, who played “Coming Up” as the cast dance onstage and the credits rolled. (“Saturday Night Live” didn’t post that video on its YouTube channel, but you can see it streaming on Peacock.)

Check out the videos below to see highlights from the season finale of Season 51 of “SNL,” including Ferrell’s opening monologue, a trio of performances from Paul McCartney, and all of the characters visiting the “Weekend Update” desk.

“Saturday Night Live” Cold Open

Will Ferrell Monologue

“SNL” Weekend Update Clips

Paul McCartney Musical Performances

Some of the Best “SNL” Sketches