Matryoshka
Does Nadia go back to 1982?
Nadia’s actions in Episode 7 of Russian Doll Season 2 have caused Alan to be incredulous. He points out that she’s collapsed time to the point where they’re back where they started from. They’re stuck, with Alan angry and annoyed that while he’s “followed the rules of the train”, she’s succeeded in doing no such thing, collapsing time and causing absolute havoc for them all.
Nadia is pessimistic and believes that they should explore all their options. With all the people around them collapsing into pure chaos, Nadia urges Alan not to be so selfish and head back.
Nadia’s whole army of Ruthie’s are heading up the stairwell. Nadia realizes what she’s done, as she’s stuck in this loop and everything is just going to spiral into an existential crisis that she may not be able to escape. Eventually Alan convinces her to head back to the 80s and bring the baby back. But there’s another problem.
What happens with Horse? Why has the train stopped?
A group of people were waiting for the subway train to arrive, but when they noticed a worker in the distance, they followed him. They found out that he was actually Horse and he told them that the train they were waiting for had been stopped for 30 minutes now. They decided to board Horse’s train instead and it turned out to be the right model. However, the train had been stopped for a reason and they soon found out what it was. ..
Nadia is on the train to Ruth’s funeral. She is shocked that time has passed. “Grief doesn’t move you in a straight line” Lizzy says, but realizing that Ruth is going to die alone is enough for Nadia to head for the train carriage and try to make sense of what’s happening. Interestingly, the train starts moving again when she walks with Alan. It would appear that the train stopping is more to do with Nadia, allowing her to “catch up” with events that have currently occurred with Ruth’s death.
Alan tries to convince Nadia not to let grief consume her, bringing up his own journey about trying (and failing) to save Lenny from his fate in Berlin. Interestingly enough, Nadia uses that Coney Island metaphor Chez originally told her, but as they both confront their own fates, we’re given a similar split-screen experience to season 1 when a train fast approaches and appears to hit them both. ..
How do Alan and Nadia escape The Void?
Nadia and Alan find themselves thrown out of their respective timelines and into a place called The Void, a sort of gateway between life and death. Their watches aren’t working and Nadia (plus her baby self) are stuck. Alan is also stuck too, but he ends up speaking to his own grandmother, who appears and offers him some encouraging words to take forward with him. Agnes points out that she helped Lenny escape. She encourages Alan to find happiness himself, and stop living in fear. Agnes tells him to follow the blue light and make his way out of this perpetual limbo. ..
Nadia is given a choice between the bag of gold or baby Nadia and the future of time itself. A tough choice! Anyway, Nadia eventually realizes what’s really important as she finds herself on the train carriage once more. All the family are there, in various stages of their lives, as Nora sits and talks to her daughter about fate.
In Nadia’s version of The Void, she’s asked about her own family and whether she’d choose them if she had the choice. Looking around at the other family members, Nadia makes her choice and decides that yes, she absolutely would.
Nadia wakes up in 2022 to find the lights flicker and frazzle, eventually coming back on as she finds herself back in 2022. She looks out the window and sees a horse grazing in the street. Nadia is excited to see the horse and heads outside to pet it.
How does Russian Doll season 2 end?
Nadia makes it to Maxine and Lizzy’s place, where a crowd have gathered for Ruthie’s wake. A beautiful montage is playing up from the projector, while Alan is there too. Nadia and Alan give each other a knowing glance. For Nadia, she heads into the bathroom and finds herself back where she started at season 1, only this time with far more understanding and appreciation for her family.
The Episode Review
This season of Russian Doll was messy and somewhat turbulent, but it came to a satisfying conclusion with a nice way of tying everything together. Sure, some contrivances involving the train and some uncertainty over how this time traveling train actually works were sacrificed for the sake of the story, but it was still a satisfying watch. The mix of sci-fi, drama and comedy made for another decent watch all the same.
Nadia’s experience seeing all the dead versions of herself was a nice way of contextualizing the first season’s time loop, although I must confess I thought they’d tie that into this season a bit more. However, the main theme here is family and for that, Russian Doll does a good job with Nadia’s storyline. Alan though? Not so much.
Alan’s story feels like an afterthought here. We were never really told about the rules of the train early on either, and how Nadia ended up in Budapest is a bit of a stretch too. I guess, Alan’s reveal that they’ve “leveled up” seems to ring true?
Russian Doll season 2 is not as exciting as the first season, but it’s still a compelling watch. It also leaves the door open for a potential third season, should Netflix decide to renew this one. For now, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the future has in store for our characters.
