Netflix has renewed the ‘Groundhog’s Day’-esque suspense comedy ‘Russian Doll’ for a second eight-episode season. The news was delivered by Netflix content VP Cindy Holland and star Natasha Lyonne at a Q&A held at Recode’s annual Code Conference.
“Want to do a season two, Natasha?” Holland asked.
Lyonne replied:
“Me, Cindy? Same show, just weirder? Are you sure? Nadia Vulvokov is a coder, as you know, so I guess it would be somewhat appropriate to maybe have this be the time and place to say yes, very much so, I would love to do that, Cindy.”
Lyonne co-created and executive produces ‘Russian Doll’ along with Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland. Lyonne portrays coder Nadia Vulvokov, whose life keeps resetting as she is attending a party. Shortly afterward, she dies but finds herself back at the party, reliving the same events. She retains her memories but invariably, she winds up dead again, only to pop back to the same time and place. Nadia leans into this situation and is shown numerous times intentionally dying, knowing that she will wind up back at the party and able to take things in a different direction. Things take a twist when Nadia encounters Alan Zaveri (Charlie Barnett), a man she discovers is also stuck in a time loop.
‘Russian Doll’ premiered last February and was greeted with acclaim from critics, but it doesn’t sound like it’s the biggest hit, as Holland referred to it as “a hit relative to its cost.” Indeed, the show doesn’t feature any splashy effects, so there isn’t as much pressure to deliver massive streams.
Lyonne first gained notice in the ’90s, in the film ‘The Slums of Beverly Hills’, then in projects like the ‘American Pie’ movies, but she tended to favor more alternative indie films. She rose to new levels of awareness on the breakout hit ‘Orange is the New Black’, which helped pave the way for ‘Russian Doll’.
As she explained:
“I would describe my career before Orange is the New Black as nowheresville. I was having a dark day at home when Amy [Poehler] called… I said, Do you think we should make a TV show about that? I was doing nothing else and I was thrilled to work with Amy.”
Considering that the second season was just announced, it may be a while before the episodes are released.
Did you enjoy ‘Russian Doll’ Season 1? Are you glad to get a chance to relive it with a second season?
If you’d like to watch all of Holland and Lyonne’s interview, it is below:
Source: Deadline
