Review: Russian Doll Season 2 -- Directed by Amy Poehler, Leslye Headland, and Natasha Lyonne
As I mentioned before, I would be writing a review of the second season of Russian Doll. For reasons, this one was more interesting to me than the previous. It takes place a couple months before Nadia's 40th birthday, and begins to take off when--after encountering a health scare with her godmother--- she boards the 6 train and finds herself traveling back to the eighties. To her surprise, she realizes that she is reliving the experiences of her mother. This is of course a time of contention for her. While 1982 was the year that Nadia was born, it was also the year where the family fortune went missing.
With the newfound knowledge of how the family fortune was lost...Nadia begins a quest to regain her family's fortune and to ultimately prevent the psychological breakdown and death of her mother. Meanwhile, Alan travels back in time and learns about the struggles his Grandmother-- a Ghanian graduate student in 1982 East Germany-- and finds himself reliving the tense political landscape she navigated.
The story itself is definitely not for the faint of heart. Family legacy, purpose, the relativity of time, human constructs, and generational trauma are all themes that are explored. As Nadia wades into her past she finds herself often being left with more questions. Every moment she witnesses reveals to her how her destiny was intricately linked with those of her family members. While Season 2 sees the return of several beloved characters such as Alan, Maxine, and Ruth...it also introduces us to a new cast. We meet a younger Ruth Brenner (played by Canadian actress Annie Murphy), as well as Nadia's mother. Two other minor characters with roles include her stern but resourceful grandmother and her best friend, a Romani woman named Delia.
Natasha Lyonne was among the best parts of the entire show...but the story itself definitely allows her to break out her acting chops. In the true nature of a babushka, Nadia gets to experience their lives and the realities that her family members endured. Not only was she there when she witnessed her mother's pregnancy but also while her grandmother struggled to maintain what was left of the family fortune. The show does an amazing job exploring the complexities of the characters and showing the ambiguity that comes from their journeys. Even when we are presented with the temptation to completely write off or to "cancel" certain characters...we learn more about their stories and the motivations they had behind them.
For me, this season invited the viewers to really sit down and discuss the legacy of our own family's histories and how they shaped us as people. At the same time, it is also an invitation to discuss the risks our ancestors took and the odds they overcame. It is also an intimate look at the legacy of trauma and how it is passed on from generation to generation.
One of my favorite quotes from the show goes like this:
In the end, only we can absolve ourselves.
You can watch a trailer for the second season of Russian Doll here.
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