Rachel Heads to 'SNL' Thanks To Vanessa Bayer

Who needs to watch the Friends reunion? Saturday Night Live just hosted its own. And by "Friends," I mean the SNL parody version of Friends. And by "reunion," I mean there was just one character: Rachel. But it was — to quote another throwback currently returning to pop culture — a really, really, ridiculously good Rachel. Vanessa Bayer does an excellent impression of Jennifer Aniston. She showed up decked out in full '90s gear: overalls, black shirt, full-on Rachel shag haircut and highlights. Her voice sounded even better. As Colin Jost described it, she sounded just like Rachel, meaning that s he sounded surprised by everything she said.

And what did she say? Well, things you'd typically find on Friends. "Phoebe's is going to bring her new boyfriend, and he's not going to fit in," she said of her later plans. She also looked askance at Michael Che, and he had a perfectly reasonable explanation for it: She was from Friends, so she'd never seen an African American person before. (At least, he didn't look anything like Aisha Tyler.) I feel good for Vanessa Bayer, because it's not often that someone gets to do a Jennifer Aniston impression lately — she just hasn't been in the news much — and she seized the opportunity and nailed it.

Next, they have to get an impression of David Schwimmer. He's been killing it as Robert Kardashian over on The People vs. O.J. Simpson. His performance is almost enough to make you forget about Friends, so SNL can definitely stand to make some kind of a reminder. Then again, it'd be hard to live up to Vanessa Bayer's Rachel.

Watch the full video below:

Image: Getty