Hello, Dolly

I finally got around to watching the Netflix miniseries Russian Doll.  Created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland, it stars Lyonne along with Elizabeth Ashley and Charlie Barnett.

The show starts with Nadia (Lyonne) in the bathroom of a New York apartment.  She's unhappily celebrating her 36th birthday with her hip friends.  Before the complications set in, it seems like an annoying variation of This Is Us.  But then the fun starts.

Even explaining the basic premise is a spoiler, though I won't give away anything not in the first episode.  We follow Nadia through her day until she gets hit by a car and dies...and ends up back in the bathroom where she started.  It turns out she repeats from that point every time she checks out. (This includes hearing, over and over, Harry Nilsson's "Gotta Get Up" being played at the party.) Why is this happening, and what can Nadia do about it?

Getting stuck in a time loop isn't exactly a new idea.  The most famous example is Groundhog Day, though that wasn't the first use of such a gimmick.  A more recent and well-done story with a similar plot point is Edge Of Tomorrow.

But Russian Doll has enough tricks up its sleeve to keep you guessing.  And, at eight half-hour episodes, it doesn't overstay its welcome.  It also has a clear ending.  I hear rumors of a season two, though that seems unnecessary.

I wouldn't say anyone stands out in the cast (though I was surprised to see Burt Young pop up--I didn't know he was still acting).  Lyonne does a fine job anchoring the show, though her character isn't that different from what we've seen before in, for example, Orange Is The New Black.

Anyway, well worth checking out.