Last week, “Saturday Night Live” drew criticism for giving scant attention to the killing of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis only hours before the show aired. Instead of addressing the incident directly, the program opened with a lighthearted political sketch featuring James Austin Johnson reprising his familiar impersonation of former President Donald Trump, a choice many viewers felt was tone-deaf under the circumstances.

That controversy appeared to shape the tone of this weekend’s broadcast, which began with a very different cold open. Set in Minneapolis, the sketch made no use of Johnson’s Trump character at all. Instead, the episode—hosted by Alexander Skarsgard with musical guest Cardi B—opened with Pete Davidson portraying Tom Homan, the White House border czar, as he addressed a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers about the purpose of their mission.

Standing before them, Davidson’s Homan acknowledged recent upheaval within the agency. He joked that the previous official, Greg Bovino, had not been dismissed for incompetence or for publicly misleading the press about the shooting of an American citizen, nor even for being photographed in attire reminiscent of Nazi symbolism. Rather, he suggested, Bovino’s real mistake was simply being caught on camera.

The sketch then turned into a satirical training session. When Homan asked one officer, played by Kenan Thompson, to describe his objective, Thompson replied only, “Pass.” Another agent, portrayed by Johnson, guessed that their role might involve military operations. Davidson corrected him, explaining that their true task was to detain and deport undocumented immigrants who had committed crimes.

Andrew Dismukes, also playing an ICE agent, reacted with surprise, remarking that this was the first time he had heard such a clarification. The exchange continued in this vein, with Homan repeatedly questioning the officers’ understanding of their duties, only to receive increasingly absurd or cynical answers.

At one point, when asked what America needed protection from, Johnson jokingly suggested “Don Lemon.” Finally, Davidson pressed the group on what lesson they had learned. Johnson responded that perhaps the agency had deliberately recruited aggressive, undertrained men and armed them, implying that violent outcomes were inevitable.

Homan urged his team to exercise restraint and respect Americans’ rights, asking if they were capable of doing so. Thompson bluntly replied, “No.” Davidson conceded that at least he had tried, adding wryly that they should simply avoid being filmed.

Beyond politics, “S.N.L.” also delivered a domestic satire centered on a suburban family dinner. In the sketch, Ashley Padilla played a mother struggling to reveal that she was reconsidering her long-standing support for President Trump. Though her confession was relatively mild, it triggered heated reactions from her adult children, portrayed by Andrew Dismukes, Sarah Sherman, Tommy Brennan, and Jane Wickline. Their loud objections only frustrated Padilla further, as she lamented that she had not arrived “early enough” to their ideological purity.

Alexander Skarsgard appeared as the detached father, largely indifferent to the argument and more concerned with getting to his birthday dinner at Red Robin. The scene effectively poked fun at both sides of political polarization without taking a moralizing stance.

In a pleasant surprise, Alexander Skarsgard was joined by his father, Stellan Skarsgard, who participated in several sketches throughout the night. The elder Skarsgard appeared in a recurring parody of Scandinavian cinema as well as in a new segment of the “Immigrant Dad Talk Show.” Though primarily known for dramatic roles, he demonstrated a relaxed comedic presence that contrasted sharply with his more serious past performances.

The episode concluded on a somber note with an on-screen tribute to Catherine O’Hara, who had passed away on Friday. Best known for her roles in “Home Alone,” “Schitt’s Creek,” and “The Studio,” O’Hara was originally hired by “S.N.L.” in 1980 but ultimately returned to the Canadian series “SCTV” without ever appearing as a regular cast member. She later hosted “S.N.L.” twice in the early 1990s, leaving behind a lasting comedic legacy.