As I said here on the blog, I LOVE Russian Doll the Netflix series that in the pre-pandemic phase enchanted us with its originality. A kind of Groundhog Day with a spin, we are trapped, like Nadia, in a strange loop that leads her to the same place, to the sound of the same song, Gotta Get Up, by Harry Nilsson. It doesn’t take long to realize the reality…

Nadia, played by the wonderful Natasha Lyonne, is…dead. In a series of small events that seem disconnected, she needs to put the pieces together to understand how she got where she got to and, more importantly, get out of there. It’s the second chance thing that’s harder than it looks.

In this heavy but fun trajectory, Natasha painfully reviews her mistakes and gradually realizes that there is indeed an interference that can change, even if minimally, the facts. They are timelines that intersect in parallel and co-dependent universes. In her path, enters Alan (Charlie Barnett), the only one who can interact with the “real” Nadia. He, another SPOILER ALERT, is also dead, having taken his own life after a love rejection.

In a well-constructed and emotional connection between (again, literally) lost souls, they try to deal with past traumas, forgive, and be forgiven so that they can break free. The evolution of the two, who end up acting as mutual angels, is one of the great secrets of Russian Doll. We said goodbye to both of them with a new problem. They are no longer on the same timeline, each is with the unevolved version of the other, in two parallel realities that influence each other. Nadia and Alan must help each other, overcome and save other friends from a fate where they don’t exist. It’s amazing.

The narrative of the series, created by Natasha, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland, is not done in episodes, but in time loops that happen vertically as well as horizontally. There is an intricate map to not stick to any details and in fact, there are no flaws. Among its originality is to avoid the obvious young lady and good guy roles. Nadia is not a nice person and the solution for her and Alan is not to truly fall in love. Evolution is much deeper and more complicated.

Russian Doll was a critical and award-winning success in 2019. It was supposed to return in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the recordings until March 2021, and now, on April 20, Natasha Lyonne comes back.

Set four years after Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett) managed to escape the deadly time loop that bound them together, now the existential question that the show’s heart breaks elsewhere as the two discover a fate worse than countless deaths. that tormented them. The adventure now takes them through an unexpected time portal, located in one of Manhattan’s most famous locations, bringing people from other eras and generations. Once again they will have to find a way out together. The new cast brings in the talented Anne Murphy. It should be exciting!