Russian Doll is a Netflix original sci-fi comedy series that I loved and consider to be one of the best sci-fi series Netflix has ever done. I was so excited and into that first season, that I binged watched all of the second season over the weekend it aired. Now, this is a show that is very, very hard to talk about without spoiling things, but I am going to try my very best.
How to Download Russian Doll
You can download or stream the film from Netflix. Click on the Download button at the end of this review. If you like time travel shows, check out also our review of Dark.
The Movie Review
To be honest, it is not surprising that this turned out to be such a fantastic show when you look at the people behind it. Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, and Leslye Headland were the creative geniuses that conceived this show. Three ladies that are just immensely talented and have been in or been behind the scenes of fantastic stuff over the years.
What we have here with Russian Doll is a sci-fi show that deals with time travel and time loops, two things that my geek mind just loves. The first season of the show is about a time loop whereas the second season is about straight-up time travel. We have the very talented Natasha Lyonne as Nadia and Charlie Barnett as Alan as our two main leads.
The premise of the first season is that Nadia is at a party celebrating her birthday when she dies and then wakes up again at the party! At first, she thinks that she is all messed up from some rather strange drugs her friend gave her, but she eventually realizes that she is stuck in a time loop and each time she dies, she appears back at her party.
She tries to figure out what is going on and this is a lot of fun. However, one night, Nadia comes across a man called Alan who is also stuck in a time loop where he also constantly dies and ends up back at the same place. I think that Russian Doll manages to mix comedy and sci-fi very well and the whole show makes you wonder what is going on.
Eventually, Nadia and Alan start to work together as they try to not just figure out what is happening, but also figure out how to break this time loop so that they can get on with their lives. The first season just zooms by as after you watch one episode, you want to jump straight into the next to see what is happening.
In season two of Russian Doll, we once again have Nadia and Alan as our time warriors. However, Russian Doll season 2 is dealing with straight-up time travel as there is a wormhole that is on a subway line! When Nadia travels through this wormhole, she ends up back in the 60s in the body of her pregnant mother.
Alan also ends up being able to time travel. Alan also ends up in the 60s, but in Germany and he is in the body of his grandmother. No spoilers here, but this time instead of trying to break the time loop, they are trying to fix the timeline and put back the things that they messed up.
I certainly feel like the stakes in season 2 are higher as we are dealing with actual time travel and the consequences of it, but I do also really like season 1 as well. This is one of those shows that is just so addictive. I will say that if you decide you are going to watch this, give it all your attention, no messing on your phone or doing anything else when you are watching it.
