Russian Doll Theory

 

This is a slightly different post on my blog, but something I've been wanting to do for some time. I'm a huge fan of film analysis and since I have my own little space to process about shows or films I enjoy, so here we go! 

My Russian Doll Analysis... 

The shows premise is about the main character Nadia dying on her birthday in the first episode, she gets stuck in a perpetual Birthday party scene. Instead of Sunny and Cher playing on the alarm clock, after each death she comes back to the mirror in the bathroom at her Birthday Party. The season finale ends with her dancing and walking through a tunnel, leaving the viewer wondering, what just happened and what does it all mean? 

Season 2 just came out, I still haven't started it, but it inspired my hubby and I to rewatch the first and last episode of Season 1 to see if we catch any hints we may have missed when we started the show. I was shocked at the amount of information I didn't catch the first time. In Season 1, I saw so clearly that the show is about a twilight zone- like portal that gets created. Nadia goes down a slide when the perfect place, time, and synchronicity creates a "worm-hole" like Portal. 

The Place: She's in a bathroom with a gigantic magical crystal on the door. Since Season 1, I have become incredibly well-versed in crystals and that was the first thing that caught my eye when I rewatched the first episode. A giant crystal that glows like that, creates some magical energy. As soon as she exits the restroom and talks to her friends, that magical labradorite looking door is the topic of conversation. For the Crystal Collectors like myself out there, we know that a piece like that on a door, is bound to create some portal energy. That is the first huge hint about what opens the Russian Door slide into infinite multiverses. Not just the door, the second topic of conversation, which comments on it being a sacred site; is that it's a Jewish Chapel. Nadia comments to her friends that she can't believe the house used to be a Jewish Chapel and if she wonders if any sacred practices were done there. How did I not catch any of these hints explaining the perfect recipe creating this perpetual Birth/Death Day.

Time: We don't know the exact date, but we do know it's a double special day for our main character. It's' her birthday and dying in the day with all the other factors creates this portal of infinite loops of her birthday. All the other souls that she crosses paths with that die, also have a synchronistic connection to her and they recognize each other's souls. Regardless of the parts they're playing in whatever version of that day they're in... many of the interactions and connections spoke to synchronicity and how that leads to mystical experiences. There's synchronicity and connections between each of them that extends beyond what they know. At the end of the season when they cross the tunnel, the different versions cross and intersect into 1 version where they are all going through the tunnel. 

Crystal doors, being in a Jewish chapel on your birthday, and then dying; opened a portal to the ethereal for our main character Nadia. She gets to experience the same day through the multiverse of possibilities. What do you think? Do you notice anything else I'm forgetting or didn't see? 

Time to start watching Season 2... I love shows that make you think like this. I have no idea what to expect with this season. I anticipate it will start with her back in the Bathroom the night of her birthday with that crystal door glowing behind her with another alternate timeline waiting on the other side.