'SNL' Can't Decide If It Wants to Mock or Defend Lana Del Rey

Saturday Night Live returned after a three-week hiatus, milking comedy out of the Lana Del Rey debacle.

Saturday Night Live returned from a short hiatus last night with a show hosted by Channing Tatum and musical performance by Bon Iver. The mellow ecstasy of the latter's "Holocene" was almost enough to wipe away the memory of the last artist who took that stage. You know where this is heading: Yes, Ms. Lana Del Rey, whose infamous performance provided the series with some comedy fodder.  After an off-camera caterwauling interrupted Seth Meyers' Weekend Update monologue, series MVP Kristen Wiig glided onto the set dressed exactly like the singer had three weeks prior.

You get the feeling Wiig would have created Lana Del Rey if she didn't already exist in real life. Stroking his hair and pinching at her surgically enhanced lips, the Stepford pop star defended herself against critics ("I failed to hit the high bar reached by Bubba Sparxxx, the Baha Men, and Shaggy"), while explaining why she came off as stiff, distant and weird ("I'm stiff, distant and weird"). In case the teasing came off as a little mean-spirited, the segment ended with Meyers saying, "Lana, just so you know, I stood up for you and I think that you're great."

That said, ouch. Ashlee Simpson's Milli Vanilli moment didn't even get it so harsh. And she was doing so well, too.

And as a palate cleanser, here is Bon Iver's "Holocene":