Russian Doll season two on Netflix swaps time loops for time travel – it’s ‘How do I stop living’, not ‘How do I stop dying’, lead actress Natasha Lyonne says

Season two of Russian Doll on Netflix sees protagonist Nadia Vulvokov time-travel via a New York subway as she tries to change her family’s past

Natasha Lyonne, who stars as Nadia, says the series is about what happens when life changes – and that she loves getting older

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Natasha Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov in an episode of Russian Doll. Season two of the Netflix series ditches time loops for time travel. Photo: Netflix

Published: 4:15am, 23 Apr 2022Updated: 4:59am, 23 Apr 2022

If the first season of Russian Doll was protagonist Nadia Vulvokov’s own personal Groundhog Day, the second season is Back to the Future.

More than three years after Harry Nilsson’s track Gotta Get Up was permanently seared into your brain as it played repeatedly during the first season, the Netflix dark comedy has returned for its second. This time, instead of outrunning death at a party, Nadia is outrunning her own history.

“In season one, it’s about how do I stop dying. In season two, it’s a question of how do I stop living,” says Natasha Lyonne, who stars as Nadia – in season one, a woman caught in a deadly time loop at a birthday party – and has taken over as executive producer.

“It’s a double-edged coin of mortality. Season two is on the nature of time in the present moment.”

Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov and Greta Lee as Maxine in a still from Russian Doll. Photo: Netflix

Jumping back and forth between the 1980s and the present – using the New York subway station Astor Place, which has mysteriously turned into a time portal – Nadia chases her own tail as the show ditches time loops for time travel.