Jason Sudeikis and the 'SNL' Finale: What's Up With That?

More than a day after Saturday Night Live's season finale, and people are still talking about the farewell celebration that departing star Kristen Wiig got. Mick Jagger and Arcade Fire singing She's a Rainbow and Ruby Tuesday. Tributes from all her co-stars. Jon Hamm, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Chris Kattan and Will Forte (yup, he was there too) showing up to say goodbye. You'd think that Wiig was the only one leaving SNL after this season, right?

Well, if you believe the reports, Andy Samberg and Jason Sudeikis are leaving the show too. While Samberg didn't get a musical number, Lazy Sunday 2 most likely served as his sendoff. What about Sudeikis though? No song and dance. No sketch dedicated to one of his characters. Nothing.

Go back and watch Wiig's farewell again. After he dances with Wiig, did Sudeikis even stick around?

So here we have Sudeikis looking on as SNL megaproducer Lorne Michaels dances with Wiig. What's he thinking? "Boy, it would sure be nice to have gotten a sketch of my own? Could we have done Two A-Holes, or something?"

Just biding his time until the show is over now. "I wish it Biden Time instead," he probably thinks. "Could've done that one last time."

As the band starts picking up, everyone moves forward toward Wiig. Except Sudeikis. At first, he just hangs back.

Everyone is now around Wiig, singing along and celebrating the show's female star. Sudeikis, on the other hand, appears to be frozen and looks like he doesn't want to be there.

Chris Kattan is there! Amy Poehler is there! Rachel Dratch is there! Sudeikis is about as far back as he can be. Still not singing along. Even Steve Martin showed up to join in.

Sudeikis must have decided he's had enough, because he begins walking behind the entire cast and crew. Hamm is back out and having a ball.

And he's still working his way away from his castmates.

Still going. Is Sudeikis planning on bailing? He clearly wants no part in this celebration.

Wait ... looks like Sudeikis has stopped on the other side of the stage. Not looking at anyone, not talking to anyone. People are dancing and hugging, and Sudeikis is all by himself.

All alone.

A couple purely speculative theories about Sudeikis and the SNL season finale, in order of probability:

It was Sudeikis' final episode, and he was too emotional to participate
Obviously, this is probably the most likely explanation for Sudeikis' actions during Wiig's farewell celebration. Both Sudeikis and Wiig became cast members at the same time, breaking into SNL in 2005. The two have performed in countless sketches together, including Two A-Holes, which was one of the funniest things SNL had going for it for awhile. The two appear to be close, with Sudeikis' dance with Wiig being a very intimate and quiet one. No jazz hands or twirls. Knowing that they were walking away from the show that made them household names would have been a pretty emotional moment. Maybe Sudeikis didn't want the song and dance.

It wasn't Sudeikis' final episode, and he'll be back
No one, especially not Michaels, has confirmed that Sudeikis, Samberg or even Wiig is leaving (yeah, it's been all but confirmed, but where's the press release from SNL?). Maybe Sudeikis will be back in Studio 8H come the fall, getting suited up as Romney once again. In fact, when SNL writer Jim Downey talked to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd last month, he said to her, “I’m sure [Sudeikis, Wiig and Samberg] would stick around for the pre-election shows." If Sudeikis is planning on returning anyways, especially in the feature role of the GOP presidential nominee, there would have been no reason for a big goodbye this past weekend. As for his strange behavior during Wiig's celebration, I'd refer to the "pretty emotional moment" explanation above.

It was Sudeikis' final episode, and he and Lorne Michaels didn't end on good terms
While I'm guessing that Wiig was featured in probably every other sketch this season, Sudeikis had been suspiciously absent most Saturday nights. If the news of the week called for Mitt Romney or Joe Biden, Sudeikis was there. If those two hadn't made headlines, you might have been able to find Sudeikis as the What's Up With That Dancer or a dive bar piano singer. If Sudeikis and Lorne were having issues, that would explain the lack of Sudeikis this season and why Sudeikis didn't get a grand farewell of any sort.

Whatever the explanation, I hope that Sudeikis leaves the show happy, whenever that time may be. He's been one of the strongest and funniest cast members for the past seven years. If Horrible Bosses is a sign of things to come, it looks like he's going to have a bright future in movies. And if Sudeikis is back on SNL in the fall as Romney, I look forward to that too.