Brain Dead

Nadia wakes up in the hospital, and is confused as to why she’s there. She soon realizes that she’s in a time loop, and has been going back and forth between 1982 and 2017 for the past three episodes. Nadia must figure out how to break the loop before it destroys her mind or her life, as it has done to Ruthie. ..

Nadia has now adopted Lenora’s identity, so she can understand Hungarian. The doctor’s concerns about getting rest and taking it easy are only made worse by Nadia’s ramblings about the future. Naturally, she is sent to stay with her grandmother for a while. ..

Nadia finds hidden documents, a wad of money and a passport hidden behind the different photographs in the room. Snatching all of these up in her bag, Nadia makes her way into the library.

Nadia leaves her name and number to the unenthusiastic librarian before heading back to Nora’s flat. She does also have a run-in with Crazy Eddie but honestly, nothing really happens with this plotline, hence it’s omission from this recap.

Nora’s flat is in a state of chaos. Nadia’s hands are covered in mold, she smashed a mirror and then started itching her arm uncontrollably. Then, out of nowhere, there’s an insect crawling out of her arm.

Nadia leaves the room in a huff, but soon re-enters and starts talking to Nora. This conversation turns into research as Nadia pours over the hidden documents she found earlier in the episode. ..

Nadia is researching a train that may have originated from the Schutzstaffel, which was used to evacuate possessions of Hungarian Jews during World War II. She finds information about the train on Ethel Sorter’s phone call from the library. It appears that the train was lost in 1945, but it’s possible that soldiers took it and kept it for themselves. Nadia sets out to find the train, but there is a problem. ..

Nadia is seen by the police as being in a state of mental health crisis and they are called in to help. Nadia is naturally locked up and it’s not clear what’s going on inside her head. Given that she’s seeing her mother who the doctor confirms isn’t actually next to her, it seems like Nadia is having a breakdown. It’s possible that this is the same breakdown we know Lenora had in the past, one can assume. That seems to be the general thinking here as Nadia escapes from the hospital and heads on the train back to 2022.

Nadia returns to her home country of Hungary in 2022 and discovers a hidden document that she had previously overlooked behind a photo frame. The document is a signed off receipt for a gold train, which Nadia quickly realizes is meant for her. She decides to travel to Budapest to find the gold and right the wrongs of the past. ..

The Episode Review

The third episode of Russian Doll continues to explore the connections between Nadia and her past. In this installment, she is sent back in time to 1982, where she discovers a fabled gold train. This discovery seems to be leading up to a larger story arc, and Nadia will have to decide whether or not to change the past in order to save her mother’s life. The ramifications of this decision will affect not only Nadia and her family, but also the entire Russian Doll community. ..

It seems that everything is connected and that this is how it happened, especially if Nora’s mental breakdown is anything to go by. It’s a clever way of tying everything up and making good use of the time travel which, so far at least, has been worked effectively into the story without too many plot contrivances. ..

The first season of “Stranger Things” was a lot of fun, but it wasn’t quite as tightly woven as the second season. This one is more fun, but it’s fair to say that it’s not quite as tightly woven as the first season.