Russian Doll, Natasha Lyonne's wildly popular time-bending sci-fi series that made the multi-hyphenate one of the United States' most acclaimed creatives, is finally getting a sequel series — almost three years after it was initially renewed by Netflix. What a concept! The streamer revealed the season two release date to be April 20 in a short video that offered a partial glimpse at what the new series has to offer — and yep, that includes more of Lyonne's terrific quips.
"When the universe f*cks with you," Lyonne's protagonist Nadia says, raising a glass, "Let it." We also get a look at the blue, shimmering reset point — kinda like a portal — that sets off the time-looping adventure for both Nadia and her love interest, also caught in the loop, Alan (Charlie Barnett). Russian Doll was a remarkably self-contained show, not something that conceptually leaned into sequel fare: you'll remember that, at the end of season one, the loop was closed with both Nadia and Alan finding themselves in alternate realities wherein they saved one another's lives. How Russian Doll will pick up again — with both Nadia and Alan back as our central characters — is anyone's question.
Then again, as self-contained as the first season might've felt, Lyonne says she always conceived of Russian Doll to be a "three season" idea. In conversation with The Hollywood Reporter back in 2019, she said: “We definitely pitched it as this three-season idea and yet it’s so interesting to think about how that shapes and morphs in the time since making it. [...] Who knows if we’ll be lucky enough to go back down the rabbit hole. That’s tomorrow’s question. But I think we have some ideas.” Well, we're certainly back down the rabbit hole — and we can't wait to see how it plays out.
Lyonne serves as showrunner and executive producer on the show. It also stars Barnett, Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, Elizabeth Ashley, and newly added for season two, Annie Murphy. Russian Doll comes back on April 20. Catch the date announcement video below:
Here's the official synopsis for Russian Doll season two:
"Set four years after Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) and Alan (Charlie Barnett) escaped mortality’s time loop together, season two of Russian Doll will continue to explore existential thematics through an often humorous and sci-fi lens. Discovering a fate even worse than endless death, this season finds Nadia and Alan delving deeper into their pasts through an unexpected time portal located in one of Manhattan’s most notorious locations. At first, they experience this as an ever-expanding, era-spanning, intergenerational adventure, but they soon discover this extraordinary event might be more than they bargained for and, together, must search for a way out."