Kate McKinnon and Billie Eilish Create a Queer Feminist Utopia in ‘SNL’s ‘Tampon Farm’

After retiring from the series in 2022, Kate McKinnon made her triumphant return to host Saturday Night Live for the finale episode of 2023. Judging by her performance throughout the show, McKinnon will no doubt be returning to host in the future. The best episodes of SNL are often hosted by the show’s alumni, with returning favorites and special guests dropping in to join the fun. Last night’s show was no exception, as McKinnon was joined during the monologue by fellow veterans Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig.

The Bridesmaids duo stuck around for the rest of the show, delivering one of the funniest episodes in recent years. McKinnon was a breakout star on SNL, instantly creating beloved characters and delivering terrific impressions. But while the episode could have turned into Kate McKinnon’s Greatest Hits (and honestly, who would complain?), the actress only brought back one signature character: Barbara Dedrew, the cat-loving proprietor of Whiskers R We (with musical guest Billie Eilish as McKinnon’s long-lost daughter).

The episode was filled with strong sketches throughout the night, but one pre-taped music video is destined to be a queer classic. I’m talking, of course, about the country-folk masterpiece “Tampon Farm.”

With the sound of an unreleased Indigo Girls song, McKinnon sings a tender ode to the Tampon Farm, a magical place where women wear burlap, play guitars, and pluck fresh tampons from the dirt and the trees. McKinnon sings, “Women making cotton, cotton for the tampons, tampons for the blood. Tampon farm … women with guitars are singing to the tampons, tampon farm.”

Joining McKinnon and the women of SNL are Rudolph, Wiig, Eilish, former SNL writer and current Girls5eva star Paula Pell, and Barbie director Greta Gerwig. It’s a delightfully silly, very queer sketch, as the women make out in a big pile amongst the tampons.

While “Tampon Farm” was a highlight, last night’s show was firing on all cylinders. Weekend Update hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che did their signature holiday joke swap, and there were plenty of holiday-themed sketches. Wiig and Rudolph joined McKinnon and Bowen Yang as Swedish super group ABBA for an ABBA Christmas album. Wiig and Rudolph singing directly into each other’s faces will never not be hilarious.

McKinnon’s show was a great send-off for 2023. SNL returns on January 20, with host Jacob Elordi (Saltburn, Priscilla) and musical guest (and Mean Girls musical star) Reneé Rapp.

(featured image: screenshot/NBC)