Russian Doll

On one hand, I don't think Netflix did a very good job marketing this show. On the other hand, it's a hard show to market without just saying, we're doing a Groundhogs Day TV show.

The short review, Russian Doll is Groundhogs Day the show. And there's really nothing wrong with that. The concept behind someone repeating the same day over and over again is not a bad concept. Look at Edge of Tomorrow for confirmation of that. I don't think Groundhogs Day has a patent on shows exploring this concept and what can be done with it. However, just like Edge of Tomorrow, my thing was that Russian Doll needed to do something with it in order to get me really invested.

Russian Doll follows the story of Nadia Vulvokov (played by Natasha Lyonne). On her 36th birthday she is at a party being thrown for her in her friend's apartment in New York City. As you discover in the 8 30 minute episodes (and I will talk about how much I loved that format) is that there is a lot of stuff going on with this hoarse voiced, short, almost stereotypical Jewish woman's life but the night ends with her being hit by a car and dying.

And then she wakes up in the bathroom of that same night, in the same apartment where her same 36th birthday party is happening and its rinse and repeat Groundhogs Day as she tries to comprehend what is happening and what has put her in this loop. Nadia continues to die several elaborate and comical ways and she always returns to that bathroom at the same moment during that birthday.

I think the thing I appreciated about this show was that it never divulged into the comedic death montage that you saw in Groundhogs Day and Edge of Tomorrow. Don't get me wrong, I do think those moments are funny but I think one way that Russian Doll distinguishes itself from those other films is that it kind of treats death as a limited resource. Where Bill Murray and Space Jumpsuit Tom Cruise probably died several hundreds of times, Nadia probably less than 30 times in the whole show and there's a reason for that. She doesn't get enough retries to memorize every single detail about the routines that people get into, and the loop only starts over when she dies, not necessarily in a 24 hour window like the other movies did. It's not a huge difference and its not anything that distinguishes the concept too much, but it's enough to keep me interested.

The more interesting distinguishing element is that Nadia meets someone else going through the same repeating loop that she is and they work to solve their problems together.

Charlie Barnett plays Alan, a guy down on his luck with probably a form of OCD, who actually starts to find peace with the circumstances he found himself in, allowing him to try and fix the things in his life that didn't go well, especially if he knew exactly what was going to happen. The two are pretty diametrically opposed and it really works for the story and the development of their relationship. And while I wasn't sure if I was really going to like these two going into the show with the little advertisements I saw for it, I actually really ended up enjoying both their performances and the character's stories.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this show as the pace. The show understands that while the TV medium allows for different elements of the Groundhogs Day story line to be explored, it also recognized that even in Groundhogs day, the novelty of reliving a day over and over again can get stale if you don't get to the point and start figuring things out. This show could have easily taken its time and gotten really down in the weeds with 10-13 hour long episodes but I don't think it would have had the same effect.

Instead the show contains itself to 8 quick thirty minute episodes that makes the season very digestible in two days, one if you've got nothing better to do.

The show also has a tight leash over its tone. It runs the gambit of comedy to cerebral to dramatic to even a little gruesome at times, but nothing feels over done. I never felt like the show got too heavy or too light. I could have done with some more of the cerebral science fiction/paranormal elements of the show, but at the same time, it kept itself grounded and not too far up its own ass.

I think there were two reasons why I hadn't checked the show out until now and the first one is that, for one reason or another, Natasha Lyonne didn't exactly sell the idea for me when I saw advertisements for the show, or even at the beginning.

This section might come off as judgmental and too stuck in the past of what is traditionally thought of for a show to be successful, but initially I didn't see Natasha Lyonne as a compelling lead.

I only remembered she was in Orange is the New Black after looking her up and regardless, she's an unique choice. It didn't work for me initially but once you kind of get the idea of the kind of show and environment the show is in, it makes a little more sense. This is New York in 2019 in a counter culture that I have seen before. It's a unique setting, diverging once again from the conventions of Groundhogs Day. The Edge of Tomorrow set itself in a science fiction alien invasion future. Russian Doll shares more in common with Groundhogs Day then Edge of Tomorrow so there needed to be a complete change of setting and counter culture New York is a pretty good divergence. However, it does take a little bit to get used to.

Probably by the end of the first episode and for sure the second episode, I did start to like Nadia's character more but it does take a little bit and I have to give Natasha Lyonne credit for that. She does a good job in this show. She's funny and a little off kilter, but at the same time you do identify with her and when it comes to the more dramatic and personal moments, they do work really well.

The second reason I don't think I checked it out until now was because I had no idea what this show was about. I had heard it was like Groundhogs Day but that's not a great pitch, especially since I've seen Groundhogs Day, why would I want to just re-watch something I've already seen?

And that's tough because a lot of factors work against Netflix in this situation. The season is so short that its hard to advertise a whole lot without giving anything away. I didn't see the barrage of advertisements for this show the way I did for Always Be My Maybe because it probably didn't have the same budget, and it didn't want to give anything away.

In fact, one of the main reasons I got into the show was due to a spoiler in the advertisement where they show Charlie Barnett's character, who doesn't even show up until episode 3.

And now that it's done, I'm not really sure where we go from here. Apparently the show has been renewed for a second season but again, these Groundhogs Day stories are usually pretty concise and wrap up after some time loop shenanigans. I'm almost more interested in seeing how they are able to continue this story rather than being actually interested in seeing the story continue.

Overall, Russian Doll is a pretty unique show while not really feeling that new at all. I will for sure check out a second season because it follows interesting characters and I'm interested to see where the story could go from here. But overall, it doesn't do a whole lot new with the Groundhogs Day formula. That's not totally a bad thing, I just think the shows strengths are more in the characters and the potential for some really interesting cerebral supernatural elements rather than what is really given to us in the show. The first season tees up some really interesting ideas, especially about time, the soul, and the way we run our lives, but I'd like to see the second season dig a little deeper before I mark this one down as one of the Netflix greats.

But have you seen Russian Doll? Did you watch it when it came out earlier this year? What do you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for other TV shows or movies I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!