Saturday Night Live began its second episode of the current season with Dakota Johnson serving as host. The program opened with a cold open set at Republican National Committee headquarters, depicting campaign strategists recording political advertisements ahead of midterm elections. The sketch featured various political figures, including portrayals of Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, and President Trump, each delivering comedic takes on campaign messaging and strategy. Critics noted this opening segment performed better than the previous week’s cold open, though the sketch still fell somewhat short of expectations.
Johnson’s monologue centered on self-deprecating humor regarding her past romantic relationships with musicians. The segment took an unexpected turn when Taylor Swift appeared on stage to participate in the bit, drawing an enthusiastic response from the studio audience. Despite Swift’s participation, the jokes generated only modest audience laughter.
The episode included numerous sketches of mixed quality. Johnson portrayed Elizabeth Banks hosting a game show called Press Your Luck, in another sketch she played a character in a Game of Thrones spin-off, and she appeared in several other segments showcasing different comedic styles. Other sketches featured a hospital cafeteria gossip scene, a commercial parody for a novelty product, and a middle school sleepover sketch involving TikTok influencers. The musical guest Turnstile performed during the episode.
Weekend Update, the show’s news satire segment, featured appearances from video game characters promoting new Grand Theft Auto and Zelda titles, performer Kam Patterson discussing the return of Glee, and cast member Sarah Sherman appearing as a matchmaker character. The episode concluded with a final sketch featuring a young girl attempting to wake her comatose father through song.
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