“What’s that, some kind of 80’s flash mob?”
The trailer for Russian Doll season 2, which aired Thursday, fills in some of the blanks around what Natasha Lyonne has in store for the return of her Emmy-winning Netflix series.
After trapping Lyonne’s leading lady Nadia and her sidekick Alan (Charlie Barnett) in a mortality time warp in the acclaimed first season of the existential sci-fi comedy, Russian Doll travels back to the 1980s – via the New York City subway two to take care of some unfinished business.
This time around, as Nadia notes in the footage, the universe appears to have found “something worse than death” for the pair, who, when last seen in the 2019 finale, successfully broke the dying-and-resurrection loop by both found others and form a real connection.
Now, says Nadia. “I broke time.”
The trippy and perfectly composed footage signals a wild ride into the future as Nadia confirms that she’s a time traveler — actually a “time prisoner” — and becoming more immersed in her family history after arriving in the ’80s.
The misadventures show her showing up at a party, in a straitjacket in a hospital, doing research in a library, and waking up in a cemetery. In one scene, she and Alan are seen floating through the air. In another, she’s back in the memorable bathroom from her never-ending 36th birthday party.
“Unexplainable things happening are my whole modus operandi,” she notes.
Netflix’s description of the second season takes place four years after the events of the first, and says that Nadia and Alan will “dive deeper into their past” through the unexpected subway time portal for an “ever-expanding, era-spanning adventure between the… Generations” to experience. ” Once again, they will find themselves searching for a way out.
The cast also includes Greta Lee, Chloë Sevigny, Elizabeth Ashley, Brendan Sexton III and Rebecca Henderson, with Annie Murphy, Sharlto Copley and Irén Bordan in new roles.
Lyonne, who writes and directs several episodes, serves as showrunner and executive producer this season along with director Alex Buono, co-creators Amy Poehler (Paper Kite Productions) and Leslye Headland, Lilly Burns and Tony Hernandez (Jax Media), Dave Becky (3 Arts), Kate Arend (Paper Kite Productions), Regina Corrado and Allison Silverman.
Russian Doll is also produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
The seven-part second season will be released on April 20th.