Pete Davidson, Saturday Night Live, and the era of social media.

If one thing has remained constant across Saturday Night Live'S four decades, it's that the whole is, by design, greater than the sum of its individual players. Cast members naturally strive to stand out from the pack, but always within the confines of Lorne Michaels' show, by striving for a breakout character or running sketch. Even when appearing in a hit movie, ideally it's a movie spun off from the show itself. No one is bigger than the show and no one should distract from the show. Remember Norm MacDonald's incessant O.J.-is-actually-a-murderer jokes on "Weekend Update"? They got him fired from the show in 1998. Michaels is famous for his quick ax for ostensibly underperforming players, but SNL also has a zero tolerance position on distraction. Once someone's persona becomes bigger than the show itself, they leave.

Which is why Pete Davidson, more famous for his biography than his comedy, is one of the most unique cast members in SNL'S crowded history. Davidson is now in his fourth season, after a couple of years in the comic salt mines of MTV2 and Comedy Central. His 20-year old skinny stoner stand-up where his father died saving lives on 9/11 and who looked like a composite photo of all three Beastie Boys circa License to Ill. And yet he is now easily recognizable cast member among nonviewers, Davidson is not actually good at SNL, which he freely admits: "I'm not good at sketch comedy. I do not know how to do that, or write it. "He can not do impressions, his attempts at Digital Shorts are weak tea compared to the (admittedly high) standards by Lonely Island, and the closest he's come to a breakout character is his monosyllabic pool-boy homewrecker. He does play a solid sideman-word to Uncle Butt-and makes his mark as a frequent-in-sketch breaker.

In spite of all this, it's taken over Season 44 because of "Weekend Update." While last season's SNL Trump-themed cold opens up, this year has been revived around the personal life of the show's coolest cast member. Davidson spent 3½ minutes self-deprecatingly riffing on his commitment to Ariana Grande, during an episode that was very important for performing "emotional reasons." Great's replacement, Kanye West , ended the episode with a sad, awkward MAGA rant, which Davidson addressed in an "Update" desk a week later, framed by his own struggles with mental illness (which he had previously addressed on the show).

For much of this season, the show has revolved around Pete Davidson, the persona.

After news surfaced that Great and Davidson had split, his "Update" takeover shifted into high gear. Davidson jokingly proposed to Maggie Rogers in a promo for Episode 4, leading to a breakthrough. Davidson reportedly backed out of a skit about his episode, but he still gets to his side of the post-relationship mess. After a hacky "Update" desk where he cracked teen jokes about GOP midterm candidates' faces, he awkwardly and earnestly addressed the breakup. Appropriately, perhaps, with a nod to even about tricking people to vote via celebrity gossip.

Just when it seemed like Davidson was going to turn "Update" into his own weekly op-ed on Great Twitter-savvy pop star liked this trenchant observation from a fan-his serial shifted again. One of the Republicans Davidson attempted to roam in Navy SEAL Dan Crenshaw, who lost his eye in an IED explosion. After a week of Davidson's bad joke circulating a Controversial Political Thing, the snake finally swallowed its own tail this weekend, when Davidson let Crenshaw roast his appearance on "Update," complete with an interruption from Crenshaw's ringing phone, playing the single "Breathin '"By Grande. By the end of this surreal piece, perfectly pegged to Veterans Day, the duo linked to Cronshaw's selfless service with Davidson's father's sui generis sacrifice to the country to one another in the spirit of bipartisanship and supporting the troops. By one estimate, Crenshaw is the GOP 's great millennial hope, and it' s one of that, it 's turned to the camera and earnestly delivered to convention speech in miniature. Another SNL first: Cast member's bombed joke helped launch Republican congressman's national political career.

All in all, the post-show coverage-has revolved around Pete Davidson. And not Pete Davidson, the sketch performer: Pete Davidson, the persona. It's hard to predict where Davidson might go from here; maybe by the end of the season, Davidson will join Eddie Murphy as the only current cast members to host Saturday Night Live. *

Stand-up comedy is always an exaggerated performance of the self SNL Stand-ups have traditionally subsumed their self-examinations for the good of the set. Predecessors Dennis Miller, Colin Quinn, and MacDonald have used "Update" as their own nightclub stage, Davidson's goal of bringing social media to SNL: "Weekend Update" is becoming his status update. Davidson's endearingly awkward self-revelations. Davidson's endearingly awkward self-revelations. Davidson's endearingly awkward self-revelations. Davidson's endearingly awkward self-revelations. Davidson might have deleted Instagram because the internet does not make it feel good-but who needs social media when your personal platform is broadcast live from 30 Rock?