The best time loop narratives tend to go beyond the sci-fi wonkery of the premise to make the case that we’re very often our own worst enemies, and that we’re ultimately to blame for the ruts we find ourselves in. Just as Dorothy could have gone home whenever she wished, we, too, hold ourselves fast to the places we say we’d rather leave. That’s all here, but it’s very much subtext—Natasha Lyonne’s Nadia, a New York video game designer who finds herself stuck in her own cycle of live, die, repeat, isn’t the reflective type, and the show veers from darkly comedic to deeply poignant as it explores how her tendency to avoid her problems has trapped her in a loops both literal and metaphorical. The show’s inventiveness is always in service of exploring the acerbic, funny, complicated Nadia (and, to a lesser extent, Charlie Barnett’s Alan, a fellower time looper). It’s a triumph of the trope from a powerhouse creative team that includes Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler.
How to escape the loop? No sci-fi trickery here: it’s all about facing your dramas, forging connections, and joining the parade.
Where to stream: Netflix
