Saturday Night Live Recap: Dakota Johnson and Justin Timberlake Return to Studio 8H in a Mixed Episode

Recap of Saturday Night Live: Dakota Johnson and Justin Timberlake make a comeback to Studio 8H, delivering a less-than-impressive episode

By M Muzamil Shami

The actors from "The Social Network" came together again during Johnson's monologue, featuring a special appearance by none other than Jimmy Fallon, portraying the iconic character Barry Gibb.

Greetings, Conehead Nation! Join us for EW's late-night demo as we delve into a review of tonight's SNL episode. This particular installment is both peculiar and captivating. Our host for the evening is Dakota Johnson, making a return after a somewhat questionable-to-poor debut appearance as a host back in season 40. (It's worth noting that she's the daughter of Hollywood royalty Melanie Griffith, who hosted back in season 14, and Don Johnson.) Adding to the intrigue, the buzz around her upcoming superhero film, Madame Web, took an unexpected turn when the trailer's awkward camp and absurdity gained viral attention.

       Dakota Johnson's photo by Rosalind O'Connor, NBC/Getty Images

This week, Johnson gained widespread attention once again—this time due to the promotional material for the show featuring Justin Timberlake, his co-star from "The Social Network" and tonight's musical guest. Oh, did I forget to mention the main point? Justin Timberlake is making a return! His initial appearance on the show dates back to 2000 when he was still part of NSYNC. To put that in perspective, Tim Meadows was still a cast member back then. Despite a remarkable stint as a host in the early 2000s, featuring memorable recurring characters like "The Barry Gibb Talk Show," "Dck in the Box" guys, and "Ville" sketches, Timberlake has been absent for more than a decade. Recent unfavorable publicity, courtesy of his ex, Britney Spears, has shifted public sentiment against JT, just as he cautiously reenters the music scene.

Joining me tonight is former Saturday Night Live cast member Patrick Weathers, who shares an interesting connection with Timberlake. Weathers participated in a table read with Timberlake in New Orleans during the time the burgeoning movie star was filming "Palmer." Coincidentally, Timberlake and Jessica Biel resided in the same building as Weathers at that time.