Sweet birthday baby

Season 2 of ‘Russian Doll’ promises to be even more Jewish

In new episodes of Netflix show starring Natasha Lyonne, her character will time travel and delve into her Hungarian grandmother’s Holocaust experience

Natasha Lyonne in the trailer for season 2 of "Russian Doll." (Screenshot/Netflix)
Natasha Lyonne in the trailer for season 2 of "Russian Doll." (Screenshot/Netflix)

JTA — In a few short weeks, the excruciating, pandemic-prolonged wait will be over: Season two of “Russian Doll” is finally dropping on Netflix on April 20, 2022.

According to some new and exciting teasers, it seems that the wait will have been well worth it for Jewish fans.

In a recent profile of Natasha Lyonne for the New Yorker, reporter Rachel Syme explained that some of the new “Russian Doll” season will include time travel.

“Through seven episodes, parts of which were filmed on location in Budapest, Nadia keeps barreling into the past, connecting the dots between her own sense of dislocation, her mother’s mental-health problems, and her Hungarian grandmother’s experience of the Holocaust,” Syme wrote.

That’s right — not only will the new season of “Russian Doll” continue to explore Nadia’s Jewishness, but there’s the very distinct possibility we will meet her character’s Hungarian, Holocaust-surviving grandmother whom is based, in part, on Natasha’s real-life maternal grandmother, Ella.

“Lyonne admitted that an earnest exploration of inherited trauma might not resonate with every fan of ‘Russian Doll’’s jaunty first season,” Syme said.

Don’t worry, Natasha — we are very here for any and all exploration of Jewish generational trauma.

The New Yorker profile contained other fascinating Jewish tidbits about Lyonne:

  •  She lives in a converted synagogue. Her Manhattan condo occupies space above an active Orthodox congregation.
  • One of the greatest moments of her life was being invited to read “Coney Island Baby” at the 2013 memorial service for Jewish musical icon Lou Reed.
  • She hangs out with Jewish director Janicza Bravo.
  • During her childhood years in Israel, Lyonne once worked as a “ring girl” at a boxing match in Tel Aviv.
  • One of Lyonne’s currently unfulfilled professional goals is to make a movie about the time she spent in Israel. According to her, it would be like “‘Paper Moon,’ but with Jews.”
  • She described her parents as “rock-and-roll black sheep from conservative Jewish families.”

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