Tonight's Episode: Dakota Johnson and Turnstile
Saturday Night Live Season 52 continues tonight with its second episode. Dakota Johnson returns to host for the third time, putting her halfway to the Five Timers Club. She first hosted in 2015 to promote Fifty Shades of Grey and returned nine years later for Madame Web. This time, she is promoting Verity, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover's novel that also stars Anne Hathaway and Josh Hartnett. Johnson may also mention her friend Taylor Swift, as she is set to appear in the music video for Patient Zero, a track from Swift's The Life of A Showgirl: The Encore deluxe album.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7][S8]
Turnstile takes the stage as this week's musical act, marking the rock group's first-ever appearance on the show. The band came together in 2010, with Brendan Yates on lead vocals, Franz Lyons on bass, Daniel Fang on drums, and Pat McCrory and Meg Mills on guitar. Their profile rose during the 2020s: they picked up initial Grammy nods in the rock and metal fields in 2023, then claimed their first two Grammy wins in 2026. Tonight they are scheduled for two performances.[S1]
Cast Changes and Last Week's Premiere
Season 52 has seen cast changes: Chloe Fineman and Martin Herlihy have left the show, and TikTok stars Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter have joined. Both new cast members made their debut in last week's prerecorded sketches, Dream Academy with Katseye and Young Rell's Crew with Jalen Brunson. They are still finding their footing on the show.[S1]
For the season opener, New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson took on hosting duties, extending the city's celebration following his role in the team's 2026 NBA title run. Katseye appeared as that episode's musical act.[S1]
Next Week and How to Watch
Next week's episode will have Shane Gillis as host for the third consecutive year. Gillis was fired from SNL in 2019 after a video resurfaced of him using racial slurs, but he has since become a successful comedian and stars in Tires. Rosalía will be the musical guest; she has performed on the show once before.[S1]
Viewers can watch SNL on NBC starting at 11:30 p.m. Eastern, 10:30 p.m. Central, and 8:30 p.m. Pacific. Peacock carries a live stream of the episode and makes the complete episode available Sunday morning. Individual clips also show up on YouTube, but watching the full episode calls for a Peacock subscription.[S1]
