Dakota Johnson took the NBC stage as the second host of Saturday Night Live 52 on Saturday, Oct. 3, with musical guest Turnstile.
The actress began the night with the traditional monologue, promoting her upcoming film “Verity.” Johnson poked fun at her own tendency to date musicians and her recent breakups with Coldplay’s Chris Martin and singer-songwriter Role Model.
To the audience’s surprise, Taylor Swift then joined her on stage. The pair, who recently starred in Swift’s new music video “Patient Zero,” joked that Swift served as Johnson’s makeshift therapist after her breakups. Swift also returned during the “goodnights” with a birthday cake for Johnson, who turned 37 years old at midnight during the show.
Her third time hosting SNL, Johnson shone most in the sketch “Mean, Scary Girlfriend.” The writers expertly utilized her iconic dry sense of humor in the parody advertisement for a brutally honest partner.
Rock band Turnstile performed its song “Birds,” as well as a medley of “I Care” and “Dull;” all from their 2025 album “Never Enough.” The band’s set was energetic and unique, despite this being its first SNL performance. “Birds” opened with a 40-second solo from drummer Daniel Fang, which perfectly set the mood for their lively performance.
“Weekend Update” was notably long this week, with three segments visiting the desk. First were Mikey Day and Marcello Hernández, a particularly underrated SNL duo. After their viral collaboration last season as emojis “Red Heart” and “Aerial Tramway,” the two returned as another unlikely pair: Jason and Link, characters from the upcoming video games “Grand Theft Auto VI” and “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.” Despite many breaks and a prop malfunction, Day and Hernández are two players who can use hiccups to make a sketch even better with their improvisation skills and excellent comedic chemistry.
Next at the desk was Kam Patterson to discuss his take on the upcoming “Glee” reboot. While many fans found Patterson’s start at SNL quite rocky, I believe he really found his footing at the “Weekend Update” desk. As usual, he and Michael Che have excellent banter, joking that white writers pitched him the sketch idea despite him never having seen an episode of “Glee.”
After Patterson was Sarah Sherman as matchmaker, Debbie Mush, who tried to help Che find a date. Sherman is a frequent “Weekend Update” guest and can always be relied on for great character work and excellent chemistry with either host.
Once again, Jeremy Culhane led the best sketch of the night in “Hospital Gossip.” Culhane, as “Eric from legal,” attempted to gossip with a group of nurses, but instead only revealed sad details of his own life.
In another unsurprisingly hilarious performance, Ashley Padilla was terrific as Sherri, a contestant on “Press Your Luck,” who continuously gambled away millions. Despite this only being Padilla’s third season on the show, she has quickly become not only a fan favorite but an essential member of the cast.
Fans can tune in again next week on Saturday, Oct. 10, to see comedian Shane Gillis host with musical guest Rosalía. The season will then go on a three-week break until its Halloween episode hosted by Inde Navarrette.