The second season of Russian Doll is on Netflix, but first I’ll watch the first season again. I don’t have a strong recollection of the show, but I recognize the twist in rewatching a show about repeating the same evening. Like Groundhog Day, but not.

I originally binged the show on my second return from Hong Kong in 2019, during an in-flight endless twilight with windows down and lights dimmed, trying to stay awake or at least jumble my circadian rhythm to flip back the circle of the world from night to day, or day to night. On my first flight out I could look out the window and marvel at the vast white expanse of Siberia. On this second return back, along a shorter geodesic to Vancouver, I was in a middle seat and could only see the media I had downloaded: films and series set in Hong Kong; Russian Doll. But now I remember little of the show because I was half-dreaming while hurtling through the stratosphere.

Not that my memory is always that great anyhow, especially when it comes to programs that I watch on my own, sometimes while performing other tasks, and then barely discuss afterwards. This month I watched Stranger Things again, because the fourth season will be out next month. I noticed more on this second watch: the excellence of the acting, the attention to detail to the time period. I also realized that Suzie’s insistence on singing the “Neverending Story” duet with Dustin caused just enough of a delay for Hopper and Billy to meet tragic ends. I suppose that was obvious in retrospect.