Natasha Lyonne is being purposely cryptic about Russian Doll‘s much-anticipated second season.
“It’s definitely a wild ride. It is deep, and deeply off-the-wall,” the series’ star, co-creator, and showrunner teases, promising it’s not in an effort just to seem “interesting.” “I genuinely think the joy of the game is to watch it with fresh eyes as much as you can in order to be taken by the story,” she explains, not wanting to give away too much. Citing one of her childhood favorites, The Neverending Story, as an example of sorts, Lyonne likes the idea of “saddling up with a book in the attic and letting that world take you away on a journey. I do have this dream that people get to do that with this show.”
What she will reveal is that the new season picks up four years after her character, Nadia, and Alan (Charlie Barnett) escaped a deadly time loop. The plot once again explores existential themes as the duo discover a fate even worse than dying over and over, when they must sift through their pasts via an unexpected time portal located in one of Manhattan’s most iconic locales.
In other words, all the humor and sci-fi dramatics from the first season are intact, but the new episodes take it a step further: “We all pushed ourselves to the limit of what we thought we could make happen visually and through the storytelling.”
Netflix Natasha Lyonne and Annie Murphy in ‘Russian Doll’ season 2
The rest of the cast is back for all the twisty action, with Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Annie Murphy joining the festivities as an unexpected “ally” to Nadia. Lyonne describes her as a “core component and the heart of the season” who helps Nadia come to terms with “the nature of mortality.” Or, put another way, “There’s some serious motherf—ers on that Russian Doll show — on a human level — and she’s definitely one of the good guys.”
Fans of the Emmy-winning series can also expect Easter eggs from the original to pop up (“cock-a-roach!” Oatmeal the cat!), plus many new clues about the era-spanning mystery to unpack. “It’s for sure a puzzle box,” Lyonne, again, teases. “With my whole heart, I hope that people watch it all and see where the game goes and lands. I can’t believe we pulled it off.”
Netflix Natasha Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov, and Ákos Orosz as Father Laszlo in ‘Russian Doll’ season 2.
Russian Doll season 2 hits Netflix this spring.
A version of this story appears in the March issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Feb. 18. Don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
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