Russian Doll: Season 2 – Netflix Review

RUSSIAN DOLL season 2 is out on Netflix. The time loop plot is now time travel plot focused. Well, sort of! It’s not quite as simple as that, but it is still very entertaining. You won’t get the death scenes of season 1 and there is one episode less in the season. Read our full Russian Doll  Season 2 review here!

RUSSIAN DOLL season 2 is on Netflix and it’s almost four years later for our main protagonist, Nadia (Natasha Lyonne). This time around, the time loop plot has been switched up to a time travel plot. Obviously, it isn’t “just” a time travel story and the characters can’t control things much more now than they could in season 1.

Season 2 continues to be entertaining, but it’s also deeper and darker in many ways. The season has seven episodes (still half-hour episodes) and we’ve watched them all for this review. Season 1 had eight episodes, so we get one less this time around. But it works, so there’s no need to drag things out more.

Continue reading our Russian Doll  Season 2 review below. It’s out on Netflix from April 20, 2022.

Who do you think you are… time travel edition!

Time travel will inevitably show you things that you can’t really know. Even if you’re told facts, seeing and experiencing them is something else entirely. And Nadia will end up learning a lot about her family. In fact, she even finds out who she was named after – and she isn’t impressed.

Of course, Alan (Charlie Barnett) is also still around. Nadia and Alan have become good friends in the past four years. Having both survived the groundhog day that was Nadia’s 36th birthday, which had them die over and over again, they have a certain bond. To say the least. And yes, Alan will also get sucked into the whole time travel deal.

However, in true Russian Doll form, they won’t exactly land on the same “page”. The time travel plot revolves around their own family members which takes them in very different directions.

Less humor and death

Obviously, season 2 of Russian Doll won’t deliver the death scenes and humor of a classic horror-comedy that season 1 did. Instead, this follow-up season has us looking at the classic sci-fi question: “Can you change the past?”. Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) starts time traveling by way of the subway just days shy of her 40th birthday, and she is convinced that she can change things.

Alan (Charlie Barnett) is smarter about it. Well, until he gets his own selfish reasons for wanting to change things. This just goes to show that everyone can be convinced to compromise on their belief. If only the possible gain is interesting enough. For some people, it’s money or power. For others, it’s love.

If you’ve watched season 1, you’ll surely know which character is drawn to either.

Along with the returning cast members from season 1, we get a few new actors on board. Sometimes in familiar roles, due to the time travel aspect. Annie Murphy (Kevin Can F**k Himself) and Sharlto Copley (The Last Days of American Crime) are the two new cast members I have to highlight.

From season 1, we still see Chloë Sevigny, Greta Lee, Rebecca Henderson, Elizabeth Ashley, and Brendan Sexton III. All of them continue to be perfectly cast!

Watch season 2 of Russian Doll on Netflix!

The creators of the Netflix series Russian Doll continue to be Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation), and the star of the series, Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black). Supposedly, it was pitched as a three-season series, so hopefully, we have another season coming. Who knows what might happen in a third season?!

Natasha Lyonne is directing this second season – she also directed an episode in season 1. For me, this is one of those darkly funny, yet brutally serious, series that actually has something to say. I love that! The same with a Netflix series like Dead to Me which stars Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini (The Curse of La Llorona).

However, I do also recognize that if you loved the many crazy death scenes and Final Destination vibe of season 1, you might not enjoy season 2 as much. Unlike Happy Death Day which essentially continues very much along the same lines with its second installment, Russian Doll goes in a very different direction. I liked it, but I did still miss the craziness of the first season as well.

Russian Doll season 2 is out on Netflix from April 20, 2022.

Details

Creators: Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler
Cast: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Annie Murphy, Sharlto Copley, Greta Lee, Rebecca Henderson, Elizabeth Ashley, Carolyn Michelle Smith