I am very excited about Russian Doll! It’s fast, it’s interesting and well, I figured I needed to go back and watch a couple to get up to speed, hence the delay but I STILL didn’t have time! Since this was recommended by a dear friend, I shall tarry no more. Without further ado, I present: Russian Doll S1:E03 after the break!

We wake up with a hungover Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne) struggling her way out of a pile of cushions, not unlike the “f*ck pile* her pal Lizzy (Rebecca Henderson) is tucked into on a couch opposite, but with less mostly naked women.

There’s the wire from a champagne bottle entangled in Nadia’s flaming hair, she looks confused but I got that beat! I once woke up with my red hair missing a large chunk on one side, which confused me as I distinctly remembered beating away flames on the OTHER side the night before. Well. “Remembered”

She makes her way into the trippiest/coolest bathroom ever where she literally walks up on a guy peeing. This is Fred (Branden Wellington) and he’s as weirded out by Nadia’s approach as I am. I’m trying to remember if I’ve seen him before because everything is on purpose on this show! But I’m drawing a blank. Nadia is off with a “F**king clues abound!”

She tentatively approaches the Stairs of Persistent Death, the site of many, many of her previous fatal accidents then abandons them to head “downsie wownsie” the fire escape.

Fortified with coffee and watermelon, she heads back where the party was held, maybe it wasn’t the ketamine that had her hallucinating that she died eleventy thousand times in the same night! Maybe it was the yeshiva! She climbs up the fire escape again to find Lizzy and Maxine (Greta Lee who is AWESOME) enjoying some breakfast.

She asks about the history of the building, Lizzy doesn’t understand. Isn’t Nadia “Jewish-y”? Not by choice! Nadia thinks religion is racist and sexist and without monetary value. I agree with most of that. She tries to get Maxine’s take on the writing over the door but messages keep coming in to distract. Ooooh, Nadia’s ex John (Yul Vasquez) wants his blanket back! By that he means his coat and by that Nadia suggests he do something illegal to his mother.

Dolores Huerta is going to figure at some point, they keep saying her name.

Maxine is able to read the inscription over the door and directs Nadia to the Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue. Nadia is creepy as fuck, overly friendly and dragging a mango out of the depths of her pockets to make friends with Shifra (Tami Sagher), the first person she meets inside. Shifra grudgingly takes the mango while steaming the Rabbi’s jacket, then walks Nadia backwards out of the office.

A hilarious standoff ensues, Shifra isn’t about to let some single woman in to see the Rabbi, who’s going to Great Neck today and doesn’t have time for Nadia to try and sleep with him.

Nadia only has until 1:45 to wrest knowledge from our Rabbi, so she calls John for backup and offers a beej in exchange for his support as her fictional husband. To be clear: she would **** him anyway, but the transactional nature of this exchange might be fun!

Role play: it’s everywhere!

John is super helpful right away.

Nadia is not allowed into the Rabbi’s inner sanctum, only John and his XY chromosomes are but I’m not sure he’s going to be able to pull this off. Nadia amuses herself by bracing Shifra on her commitment to the synagogue and asking for a prayer of protection.

Meanwhile, John’s explaining his love life to the Rabbi (Jonathan Hadary), apparently he was having an affair with Nadia, left his wife and Nadia decided that was too much pressure and broke up with him. His daughter hates him, what should he do? He’s distracting himself with her to avoid the abyss. And about the building?

Amen.

John isn’t so willing to listen to Nadia’s bullshit after his chat, they have it out on the sidewalk. He blew up his life, and that’s on him, but if she could acknowledge that it happened, he’s appreciate it. She does and he looks as though he can breathe again.

He wiggles the champagne cork wire out of her hair in bed, then turns it into a miniature bistro chair and makes a super gross sales pitch. Maybe it won’t be exciting because he’s not cheating, but maybe it’s something and hey: they’re not going to do any better, so? How about it? If your relationship proposal can be summed up as: A Warm Body, maybe just…don’t.

John finally realises: they are not getting back together. Right before she taunts him by saying that they WILL be together and John and I decide she is a complete fucking asshole.

He leaves and she walks the street, drinking and calling for her cat Oatmeal. Hey, she hasn’t died yet! This is the longest we’ve gone in an episode so far without her dying! It seems to coincide with her seeing Oatmeal, so stay away from the kitty! Pretty much what the Rabbi told John.

She gets into a verbal altercation with a bunch of guys walking by, I am looking very carefully at all their faces!!

She runs into the same homeless man Horse (Brendon Sexton III whom you might remember from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri or Boys Don’t Cry but he will always be Warren from Empire Records and I love him) who asks if she’s wearing a wig or a hat? He’s missing his shoes now, he’d like to cut her hair, okay? She drunkenly laughs and agrees, I’m looking for a bus to hit her right now. Preferably before the haircut.

He pulls out a bag o’tools, including several unsanitary looking knives. “You’re gonna kill me.” “No, I’m not” “You can change your mind!” “Okay.”

I might prefer death.

Nadia thinks she looks like her mom. Is that a good thing? They curl up under a blanket from the Downtown Mission, she kisses his dirty, dirty face before crashing.

And wakes up in the Bathroom of Our Sainted Repeating, she and Horse froze to death! Aww man. She needs to find out if she can save Horse today before he dies tomorrow but she’s not sure if it counts in yesterday and if only her deaths are arranged and IT’S VERY COMPLICATED, MAXINE.

She wanders the street looking for Horse, John calls just as she finds Horse’s stash of stuff. She urges John to sleep with another partygoer but he wants to see her. She gives him a final goodbye, she looks at peace before heading off to the Downtown Mission to find Horse.

She finds him preparing for bed by removing his shoes, she’ll be standing guard over the shoes allll night.

Time for the Monday morning 11:30 Code Review meeting! In the elevator she stands next to a handsome but nervous young man Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett) with a ring box. It’s just she and Alan left standing up when the elevator fails and starts to plunge everyone to their inevitable deaths, Nadia and I are intrigued. Wait. He dies all the time too! How many groundhogs are there on this day anyway??

We’re oot! Until next time! Cheers