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Review: Russian Doll - Season 1 (2019)

Russian Doll - Season 1 (2019)

I had been meaning to watch Russian Doll, Netflix's newest critical darling, when it released in February, however, life got in the way a bit (as it always does) and I just finished the show's incredible inaugural season a few days ago. Created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland, Russian Doll is the newest incarnation of the 'Groundhog Day' formula, that is, a plot revolving around a character being stuck in a time loop. In this case, it is Nadia (Lyonne), a gregarious, headstrong young female living in New York City. The catch, in this case, is that Nadia's time loop restarts every time that she dies - which just so happens to be quite often.
For the first two-thirds of the show, the series plays out more as a comedy, with much of the humour stemming from Nadia's in-your-face and eccentric antics as well as her attempts at staying alive to not restart her loop. What makes this series special though is the slow reveal of the much darker and intimate narrative underlying the show's premise. This is not played so much as a twist as a natural progression as Nadia slowly uncovers what exactly is happening to her. There is an actual twist about halfway through the series that drastically changes its course that eventually builds into one of the central theme of the series. It is a universal and affecting message and, perhaps, one I will visit as a separate post in the future so that this post does remain so cryptic and vague.

Russian Doll is an expertly crafted show that is as entertaining as it is important. It relays messages and discusses themes that too many people have to deal with on a day-to-day basis and the show does all of this in a creative, respectful and uniquely entertaining way. Lyonne is a tour de force as Nadia in the series and is a reason to watch unto itself. Charlie Barnett is also a fantastically strong presence, as is the rest of the supporting cast. It has recently been announced that a new season of the show is coming. Although this is surprising due to the closure found in the finale, Lyonne has gone on record to say that the show was conceived as a three-season story. Here is hoping that the future of Russian Doll is just as strong as the truly incredible first season. I implore everyone to go out and watch it.
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