The basic premise (repeatedly dying and coming back, meeting fellow "looper" etc) is somewhat reminiscent of the fantastic book "Replay" by Ken Grimwood, although with a shorter time span between death and resurrection.

The big difference is that in "Russian Doll" you don't really know much about the main character, that is delivered in tidbits during the course of the show, but by then you are three hours in, which is far too late.

The main problem is that I don't feel anything for Nadia and her New York hipster friends (one mandatory lesbian, one mandatory minority, add a generous dash of Jew by having them live in an old yeshiva).

I don't have to like the characters, some of the best characters are the ones you hate, but if I don't feel anything for them since I barely know anything about them, I don't care what happens to them. I could care less if Nadia is stuck in that time loop forever looking for her runaway cat.

The acting isn't very good, especially the main character. I haven't seen "Orange is the New Black", so I have no idea if Natasha Lyonne was any good in that show. I have seen her in other projects that she apparently has been in, but in that case she made zero impression on me. So I really only know her from Russian Doll, and I cringe every time she's on screen. "Poseur" is the best word I can think of. Which connects to my next point.

The show tries so unbelievably hard to be edgy (Excessive drug use! An orgy! Hee hee a strap-on dildo! Aren't we cool??) but the end result is that I feel embarrassed for the show for its lazy shorthand. I'm reminded of the Steve Buscemi in 30 Rock "How do you do, fellow kids?" meme.

The one positive thing I can say about the show is that the episodes are only half an hour long, and the season has only 8 episodes. If it had followed the usual Netflix formula with 10 one-hour long episodes per season there is no way I would have finished this show. At any rate, it's not likely I'll watch the second season.