Inde Navarrette’s remarkable year now includes a ratings milestone. The actress, who broke out as Nikki in the horror hit Obsession, made her Saturday Night Live hosting debut on Halloween night, and the episode drew 5.2 million viewers, the largest audience of the show’s 52nd season so far. The crowd skewed young, too: 1.3 million viewers were adults 18 to 49, the show’s biggest number in that group since November 2, 2024, when John Mulaney hosted with musical guest Chappell Roan.
The Halloween episode cleared the season’s previous high of 4.6 million, set by the season opener hosted by Jalen Brunson, and it rose 17 percent in total viewers and 19 percent among adults 18 to 49 over the show’s most recent new episode, the October 10 installment hosted by Shane Gillis. Its total audience was also the show’s largest since last December’s holiday episode hosted by Ariana Grande.
Viewers had plenty to show up for. Tom Hanks returned in the cold open as David S. Pumpkins, Gracie Abrams handled the music, and Navarrette anchored the night’s most talked-about piece, the filmed short “The Inventor’s Wife,” as a widow who discovers her late husband’s final invention is far more devoted than it first appears. We walked through the whole night, from the monologue to the goodnights, in our recap of her debut.
The episode kept growing after the broadcast. It was the most-watched episode of the season on Peacock, and the show’s biggest streaming audience since Harry Styles pulled double duty in March. Clips from the night have racked up 325 million views across YouTube, Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok as of Tuesday morning, another season high, according to NBC’s numbers reported by TheWrap.
From a horror breakout to a Studio 8H takeover to the season’s biggest audience, it has been quite a run, and the episode is easy to revisit. It is streaming now on Peacock, and Saturday Night Live airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.