DIE ANOTHER DAY
Russian Doll NETWORK Netflix AIR DATE February 1st 4
“The universe is trying to fuck with me, and I refuse to engage,” Natasha Lyonne says in this delightful blend of Groundhog Day and your favorite quirky, hyperarticulate indie movie. The Orange Is the New Black co-star created the series — where she plays a video-game designer who keeps dying after her 36th-birthday party, only to live it over again and again — with Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland, and she’s written herself a better, more fitting role than anyone else has. Lyonne is a tornado of nervous yet ballsy energy as she looks for ways out of her predicament, and out of the entanglements of friends and lovers she’s tried to hold at arm’s length. Russian Doll is at times hilariously absurd, at others profoundly sad, and throughout it feels thrilling. Hopefully, Lyonne gets to keep making more projects like this — or other creators watch and finally understand all of the things she can do in one part.