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Russian Doll (Review)
No, the Orange Menace thankfully has nothing to do with this, despite the title. This Netflix show deserves all the immediate good press it got. Yes, it’s a timeloop tale, told in eight episodes which each take half an hour, written and produced by women, with Natasha Lyonne playing our heroine, Nadja, doomed to repeat her 36th birthday until she can break the loop.
Most of the reviews I’ve seen make the obvious Groundhog Day comparison, but really, time loop stories have entered so many different tv shows that it’s more unusual that neither Nadja nor her eventually discovered fellow looper Alan quote any of the relevant fantasy and sci fi examples while trying to figure out what’s going on. (This despite the fact she designs computer games and he plays (some of) them.) But that’s really the only complaint I have, and it’s not really one. I’m good with Nadja first considering a drug trip gone bad or ghosts as possible explanations.
Now, any take on a popular trope depends on how well and how original this particular version manages to be for its success. Nadja starting out disaffected, unabashedly selfish, aggressively not dealing with past issues und with a ruthless wit; if you’ve seen more than one take on the time loop trope you’ll know that some of this will change before the end (though not all). But Nadja, in the show’s big twist to the trope, turns out not to be alone in her loop. Most „Groundhog Day“ type of stories put their looper through the additional angst (or benefit, depending) that any meaningful conversations about what’s happening to them will be erased in the memory of whoever they confided in. Nadja goes through three episodes of that, which is why she’s more than relieved to discover the other looper, despite the fact he’s not her kind of person at all – younger, undiagnosedly obsessive-compulsive, and because he keeps going through a terrible break-up ad infinitum, sunk in despair and self pity. In short, Nadja and Alan are both messes, but different types of messes, and there isn’t just one answer to whether or not they’ll manage to help each other once they figured out they’re not alone in this.
Another particular to this version of the trope twist is that while there’s a lot of black humor in the show, including the manner of Nadja’s various deaths, they’re also taken very seriously in how they impact her. After repeatedly falling down a particular set of stairs, she’s truly scared of doing so again, which doesn’t change for the remainder of the show. Watching her foster mother die along with her (because of a gas leak) is horrifying and stays with her till the rest of the season as well. This helps create an emotional reality in this fantastical situation.
The supporting cast of characters – Nadja’s friends, her one night stand (who turns out to be relevant to Alan’s story as well), her ex, her foster mother, a homeless guy, Alan’s soon to be ex – the audience gets to know them from various angles as well, and they all feel vivid and real. And there are a lot of early clues which pay off later, which is fun from a solving puzzles pov. But if the odd couple buddyness between Nadja and Alan would not work, the show would fail: it does work, beautifully, and the actors are superb. When we at a certain point see the characters again as we’ve initially encountered them, the difference to the later versions is startling, and yet while watching the change is subtle and slow.
As an ode to human connection clad in a brash, cynical veneer, Russian Doll turns out to be incredibly charming. Highly recommended.
Most of the reviews I’ve seen make the obvious Groundhog Day comparison, but really, time loop stories have entered so many different tv shows that it’s more unusual that neither Nadja nor her eventually discovered fellow looper Alan quote any of the relevant fantasy and sci fi examples while trying to figure out what’s going on. (This despite the fact she designs computer games and he plays (some of) them.) But that’s really the only complaint I have, and it’s not really one. I’m good with Nadja first considering a drug trip gone bad or ghosts as possible explanations.
Now, any take on a popular trope depends on how well and how original this particular version manages to be for its success. Nadja starting out disaffected, unabashedly selfish, aggressively not dealing with past issues und with a ruthless wit; if you’ve seen more than one take on the time loop trope you’ll know that some of this will change before the end (though not all). But Nadja, in the show’s big twist to the trope, turns out not to be alone in her loop. Most „Groundhog Day“ type of stories put their looper through the additional angst (or benefit, depending) that any meaningful conversations about what’s happening to them will be erased in the memory of whoever they confided in. Nadja goes through three episodes of that, which is why she’s more than relieved to discover the other looper, despite the fact he’s not her kind of person at all – younger, undiagnosedly obsessive-compulsive, and because he keeps going through a terrible break-up ad infinitum, sunk in despair and self pity. In short, Nadja and Alan are both messes, but different types of messes, and there isn’t just one answer to whether or not they’ll manage to help each other once they figured out they’re not alone in this.
Another particular to this version of the trope twist is that while there’s a lot of black humor in the show, including the manner of Nadja’s various deaths, they’re also taken very seriously in how they impact her. After repeatedly falling down a particular set of stairs, she’s truly scared of doing so again, which doesn’t change for the remainder of the show. Watching her foster mother die along with her (because of a gas leak) is horrifying and stays with her till the rest of the season as well. This helps create an emotional reality in this fantastical situation.
The supporting cast of characters – Nadja’s friends, her one night stand (who turns out to be relevant to Alan’s story as well), her ex, her foster mother, a homeless guy, Alan’s soon to be ex – the audience gets to know them from various angles as well, and they all feel vivid and real. And there are a lot of early clues which pay off later, which is fun from a solving puzzles pov. But if the odd couple buddyness between Nadja and Alan would not work, the show would fail: it does work, beautifully, and the actors are superb. When we at a certain point see the characters again as we’ve initially encountered them, the difference to the later versions is startling, and yet while watching the change is subtle and slow.
As an ode to human connection clad in a brash, cynical veneer, Russian Doll turns out to be incredibly charming. Highly recommended.
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