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In the final episodes ofNetflixsRussian Doll, the world starts falling apart.
But they cant celebrate together.
Its the momentRussian Dollbecomes supercharged, turning from a well-made show into something with momentum and depth.
Whatever she may want to believe, Nadia cannot escape her own self-hatred without connecting with someone else.
Alan and Nadia both need to rebalance how they see themselves in the world.
They do it together, through the insight they each get from thinking about someone else.
It also evokes the series title image of nesting dolls.
It feels like an ending, like Alan and Nadia have fixed everything at last.
This is why its so excruciating when, in the final episode, Nadia and Alans timelines split.
Its a huge loss.
Russian Dolls last episode is called Ariadne.
Nadia and Alans final task is to help each other out of the maze.
Alans problems were always a bit simpler, more tied to the present.
You promise if I dont jump, Ill be happy?
Absolutely not, Nadia says, but I can promise you that you will not be alone.
This is enough for him.
Nadia is a harder nut to crack.
Then, when Alan gets Nadia downstairs and listening, he tells her he knows where Oatmeal is.
Nadias worry over her semi-feral deli cat is her ongoing obsession from the first moments of the series.
From the start, Nadia has displaced her feelings abouteverythingonto Oatmeal.
Then, in the very last moments of the finale, the two timelines run in parallel.
It is an amazingly sweet ending for a series that so often bristles with pain and fear.
But the parade also has one more hidden secret.
The multiple Nadias in the parade imply that more than one alternate timeline exists.
She reaches outside herself enough to trust someone else, and to want to save him.
Nadia has had to tear down and reconsider much more of herself, and she does not smile.
But she marches forward anyhow, resolute and overcome and whole.
