Netflix's 'Russian Doll' Season 2 Ending Explained: Time Is Unchangeable

Time travel is a beast most science fiction content grapples with at some point. But for a dramatic comedy like Netflix’s Russian Doll that transcends genres, it is brilliant to see their take on the highly incorporated plot device. In this season, we see our protagonist Nadia Lulvokov (Natasha Lyonne) prepare for a quiet 40th birthday after the shenanigans of her 36th birthday (Time loop of her dying and coming back to life in the same place). When she takes the train to Maxine’s (Greta Lee) place, she finds herself in 80s New York City. Cats is on at the time on Broadway, meanwhile, people with berets run around her. 

This detail is clearly harrowing for her and that’s when realizes that she is stuck in her mother’s body and while everybody thinks it is Lenora Vulvokov (Chloë Sevigny) outside, Nadia is pulling the strings from inside. In an attempt to make things right for herself in the future, she tries to save the Krugerrands from getting stolen or lost. After multiple detective skills were used, personal connections were exhausted and a trip to Budapest ended with a massive DMT trip, Nadia decided to forgo the figuring out the family history part for another time.

It doesn’t help when she lands in the body of her grandmother, this time in ‘44 Germany. Vera Peschauer (Ilona McCrea) is running for her life, her possessions have all been taken away. Nadia in the body of Vera stole all her important belongings from the warehouse where the Nazis were auctioning off their belongings and hid them in an abandoned tunnel. But after she realized that her friend Delia (Athina Papadimitriu) was always going to trade the belongings for the Krugerrands, Nadia felt defeated. 

A similar disappointment takes place in Alan Zaveri’s (Charlie Barnett) life. Till now, he was skeptical if this was happening to him too, but it did. He was in his grandmother, Agnes’ (Carolyn Michelle Smith) body as a graduate student from Ghana in East Berlin. She was helping her boyfriend, Lenny tunnel under the Berlin Wall and go to be with his family. However, Alan tried his best to tell Lenny (Sandor Funtek) that the Berlin wall will come down in a few years for sure. However, this season, both the protagonists realize that changing time doesn’t help because whatever you try, it will work to fit into the timeline that already existed. 

Nadia, unable to accept that, brings the baby version of herself back to 2022, where we see that time has started to collapse around them. Alan is also privy to this catastrophe and begs Nadia to take her back, which she does begrudgingly. Her birthday has long passed, Ruth (Elizabeth Ashley) has passed away and things have changed with Nadia forever. There are moments in the show where we realize that all Nadia tried to do was bridge the gaps between the generations even when they were cruel to her. It was her curiosity to find out about her family history and her mother that pushed this time travel situation. 

Time is fixed, it is our understanding of the events that makes time feel changed. For a similar time travel vibe, the sixth season of Lucifer explores this well, that sometimes things that don’t go well must happen for the betterment of the bigger picture.

Russian Doll Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix.