Dua Lipa has been on “Saturday Night Live” before, but only as a musical guest. Pulling double duty this time allowed her to stretch her acting muscles more than every before, even more than her supporting role in “Argylle.” The good news is that, despite her limited acting experience, Dua Lipa was actually a solid host. She was willing to put on a variety of voices and accents, even when it wasn’t really required, which especially worked in the Jingle Pitch sketch that topped this episode. 

At the same time, her monologue was pretty basic, lasting only a few minutes. Dua Lipa was willing to poke fun at herself by referring to her famous nickname (Dula Peep, courtesy of Wendy Williams), while also addressing some of the criticism she’s received for her unimpressive dancing (which has improved in recent years). Along with that self-deprecating humor came a bit of defense though, as she mentioned giving people one of the best memes ever, before promising the audience that she was going to give them everything during this episode. I’m pretty sure that one of her dance moves during her musical performances was a direct reference to that meme. 

So congrats to Dua Lipa for bringing the goods to “SNL,” even if the overall episode was just okay. It’s not entirely her fault, since Ryan Gosling’s previous episode will go down as an all-timer. We’ll be back after the next episode on May 11, when “SNL” veteran Maya Rudolph returns to host for a third time. For more on “SNL,” stay tuned to The Ten to One Podcast after every new episode.