Our lives are just spectacles. We are like dolls, in a sense, to be observed and played with – often with cruel and deceitful intentions – in an unreal world.
— Kathryn Lasky
For me, Russian Doll season one became one of those series where everyone seemed to love it but me. It’s not that I disliked it, per se, but my issues with it stemmed from a personal reaction to its very plot mechanics. I just don’t like repetition in stories. Even intentional repetition as with Russian Doll‘s Natasha Lyonne living the same day over and over. It’s the same reason I don’t like Groundhog Day. I recognize they’re well crafted pieces of art. They’re just not for me. The idea of re-living the same day over and over and over — even if there are very specific variations — is just something with which I cannot get on board. Keep moving forward, that’s what I say.
Happily, Russian Doll season two avoids that season one mechanic completely. Rather than become some kind of awful meta commentary, the series changes the mystical events impacting Lyonne’s Nadia Vulvokov. Instead of reliving the same day, she enters a specific New York subway and travels back in time, inhabiting the body of her mother (Chloë Sevigny) shortly before her own birth. That shift brings an incredibly successful breath of fresh air into the series, and even if not everything works as smoothly as season one, Russian Doll season two takes such huge swings that you can’t help but love it.
The general idea involves Nadia righting the wrongs of the past to improve aspects of the future. Any more specificity would bring us into spoiler territory, and that won’t work. Russian Doll remains a series that benefits immensely from the unknown. From the sense of discovery around every corner. You may not know or even really understand exactly where you’re going. Yet, in this case, the fun is all in the journey because you’re in the hands of a team who does know exactly what they’re doing.
The anchor of the series remains Natasha Lyonne in a fully committed, funny, emotional, and revelatory performance. Just when you think you’ve had enough, she and her team of writers find ways to bring you back in through unexpectedly emotional content. This season, perhaps more so than in season one, uses its quirky plot device (repeating the same day, time travel) to deepen the bonds between its characters. Nadia knows what’s coming, and she does literally everything she can (science and logic be damned) to avoid that future. But fate remains fate. It’s a bittersweet message ultimately, but it goes down well thanks to the often acidic nature of Lyonne’s excellent performance.
Will Russian Doll remain a contender in the 2022 Emmy race? It’s a tough call, but I’m veering on the side of yes. Season one was unexpectedly popular with the Television Academy, and the creative team’s ability to avoid unnecessary repetition provides a finished product that can be celebrated on its own as nearly an entirely new entity. Comedy Series will be tough considering the massive titles in play this year, but Natasha Lyonne’s boldly accomplished and vaguely philosophical performance will most certainly factor into the comedy actress race.
She’s just too good to ignore.
Russian Doll season 2 drops Wednesday, April 20, on Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvEyUOoLehI
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