'SNL' Satirizes a Politically Divided Family Trying to Talk

"Ashley Padilla's gradual star turn on Saturday Night Live has been thrilling to watch. Since she joined the show as a featured player in 2024, on the cusp of its big 50th anniversary season, Padilla has reliably transformed innocuous-seeming characters-notably, moms-into character studies that pluck at eccentricities lurking just below the surface. In last night's episode, Padilla's performance as a mother admitting a change of heart in her political views marked one of her strongest roles to date."

"In a sketch entitled "Mom Confession," Padilla and her husband (played by this week's delightfully zany host, Alexander Skarsgård) were about to head to dinner with their four children, who were visiting from afar. As they all got up to leave, Padilla told her children that she first needed to share a "shocking" development with them-but wouldn't reveal what it was unless they promised not to react."

"She anxiously did a couple of practice rounds to ensure they wouldn't, announcing that she ate bugs and that her butt had fallen off: "Can't find it," she said sternly. She then revealed her confession in between staccato breaths: "What I have to tell you ... is I may have changed my mind ... about Trump." "Mom Confession" was one of several sketches in the episode that nodded to the latest developments in national news."

Ashley Padilla emerged as a rising star on Saturday Night Live after joining as a featured player in 2024, consistently turning innocuous-seeming roles into distinct character studies. Padilla excels at portraying mothers whose eccentricities surface through small behavioral details and emotional ticks. In the "Mom Confession" sketch, she hesitates through practice reveals before admitting, in halting breaths, that she may have changed her mind about Trump. The episode also referenced current national news, including ICE-related material in the cold open and sketches such as Marcello Hernández's "Immigrant Dad Talk Show," which addressed deportations directly.

Read at The Atlantic