Russian Dolltook Netflix by storm with its first season. An incredible re-imagining of the ever-popular‘Groundhog Day’ dilemma, the series followed two very different people trapped in thesame time loop. Protagonist Nadia, played by Natasha Lyonne, is forced to relive her 36th birthday party while deuteragonist Alan (Charlie Barnett) is stuck repeating one of the most devastating days of his life. The cycle continues until the two find each other and realize that the key to escaping the loop is to work together — in doing so, they manage to drastically change each other’s lives for the better.
Season 2 ofRussian Dollcontinued to deliver with insane laughs, out-of-the-box concepts. and surprisingly emotional moments. Set four years later, Nadia prepares to celebrate her 40th birthday only to realize that she’s been sent back in time — into her pregnant mother’s body, no less. Determined to change her family’s tragic fate, Nadia hunts for the valuable Krugerrands her mother misplaced that year all while carrying herself in-utero. While this season gave us more to enjoy than we could’ve imagined —USA Todaycalled it a “superb adventure” — we’re here to reflect on some of the very best moments fromRussian Doll’ssecond season.
Related:Russian Doll: Best Season 1 Moments of the Netflix Series
7The 6 Train Ride
It doesn’t take long for viewers to realize that things are about to get crazy (again), and Nadia’s initial ride on the 6 Train is an amazing transition into the time travel plot. Her reactions to the inexplicable changes around her paired with the visual intensity of the train speeding up segue perfectly into the shift; by the time Nadia steps onto the platform and is surrounded by panicked passengers fleeing the station, we’re already sold. The way she questions where (and when) she is adds a perfect balance of confusion and humor to the scene.
6Nadia’s Birthday
The driving force behind Season 2’s story is Nadia’s connection to her mother, so it’s interesting to see how she steps into her mother’s shoes as a young, pregnant woman. What’s more, she’s pregnant with herself, and she’s forced to relive her mother’s experience of giving birth to her daughter on the train platform. It’s hard not to stop and wonder, “Is the show gonna go this far? Is thisreallyhappening to her right now?”, but the answer to both quandaries is an undeniable ‘yes’. Nadia’s response to inadvertently birthing herself juxtaposed with her mother’s flashbacks of the event is fascinating, and her maternal instincts kick in swiftly. It’s honestly really sweet to see how gentle and protective she is of her newborn self.
5The Timeline Collision
During a crucial part of the season two story arc, Nadia makes a last-ditch attempt to escape the time-travel loop and set things right by bringing her newborn self into the present day. Naturally, this goes over about as well as you might expect, and things start getting even weirder. What Nadia sees is the convergence of several timelines at once, all showing different possibilities for the course the universe could have taken. From seeing her own cadaver after a deadly bee encounter (a callback to the first season) to finding Ruthie in several wildly different scenarios, the way the creators visually showcase the timeline collision is mind-boggling in the best way.
4Unexplainable Things
At the forefront of Nadia’s most recent adventures in time is her grandmother, Vera Vulvokov. While trying to dig up more information on what happened to her family’s stolen fortune and how to recover it, Vera gives Nadia one of the aptest quotes of the whole show: “There are things in life that cannot be explained.” It’s the perfect description of everythingRussian Dollis, and it’s a great way to sum up what Nadia’s been going through in both seasons thus far.
Related:Russian Doll: What to Watch Next If You Love the Netflix Show
3“More Like When Are We?”
During her search for Vera’s lost Krugerrands, Nadia actually gets her best friend Maxine involved in her battle against time: the two women travel to Budapest in the present day to find Vera’s ancestral home. When the pair arrives in a graveyard, Maxine wonders aloud where they’ve ended up, to which Nadia answers with the classic, “More likewhenare we?” Not one to fully submit to traditional tropes, the creators then treat us to a scene of a seemingly old-world man answering his cell phone, to which Nadia casually gives us, “Nevermind.” Understandably, she’s under a lot of stress, but she just has a great way of delivering humor in unexplainable situations.
2Opening Up to Young Nadia
Like season one, this season ofRussian Dollgives Nadia a chance to check in with her child self, albeit a bit differently. Whereas she mostly saw ghosts and flashbacks of herself growing up in an unstable home, this time she’s in her mother’s shoes and directly interacting with herself at a young age. While she continuously struggles to find some way to fix everything that went wrong for the women in her family, she takes a very poignant opportunity to apologize to herself on her mother’s behalf for behaving the way she did. What gives the scene even more of an impact is that while child Nadia technically sees her mother, grown-up Nadia is essentially apologizing to and forgiving herself at the same time.
Toward the end of the season, Nadia and Alan are hit by a train and both end up in a timeless Void. The fabric of space-time means nothing here, perThe Wrap, and the characters finally get closure on the ghosts plaguing them. In Nadia’s Void, she’s given the ultimatum of chasing after the family fortune or carrying her newborn self as she wades through endless water. In Alan’s Void, he’s granted a heart-to-heart with his beloved grandma, who encourages him to live his life and let go of his fears. Meanwhile, Nadia chooses to embrace self-love and forgo her desperate search for the Krugerrands, simultaneously overcoming her grief. The visualization is stellar, and seeing the two characters finally get through such intense emotional trauma is a fantastic payoff.
