Station to Station

**Station to Station** is the fourth episode of the Season Two of *Russian Doll* and the twelfth episode of the series overall.

## Synopsis

*Alan gets in touch with his roots in Berlin. On a trip to Budapest, Nadia and Maxine wind up at a mind-bending house party*.

## Plot

In 1962, Berlin, Alan is blissfully soaking in a bathtub. Someone knocks on his door, and Alan opens it to Lenny who refers to him as “Agnes,” who happens to be his grandmother. Agnes also happens to be having a fling with this Lenny fella, and they’re in university. Interestingly enough, Alan looks quite smitten with Lenny himself.

Next, Alan is waltzing through Berlin, cheerfully greeting everyone who walks past him. Agnes appears on reflective surfaces as Alan returns home to 2022.

Later, Alan partakes in a rousing chess game in the park with Nadia and regales her with his 1960s adventures in Germany. His grandmother hailed from Ghana and moved to Berlin to study. Nadia asks him what he has to “fix”, but Alan sternly advises against meddling with anything in the past. That is what sci-fi warns us about, as tampering with history can have devastating repercussions.

He insists on merely enjoying his time in the past, while gaining insight regarding his grandmother, whom he never met.

Then, Nadia shows Ruth the itemized receipt she found among Nora’s belongings. She doesn’t disclose where she stumbled upon her findings (a.k.a. 1982), but Nadia asserts it’s proof that the Nazis looted her grandmother’s possessions, the Krugerrands, in 1944.

Ruth suggests Nadia make the trek to Budapest. Perhaps she could take Maxine with her. Later, Maxine and Nadia arrive in Budapest. Nadia’s enthusiastic about diving headfirst into researching the whereabouts of her family’s missing gold, while Maxine wants to sleep with a Hungarian, but first, she wants to sleep with herself as jetlag is the worst.

Meanwhile, Alan revisits 1962 and heads over to Lenny’s for a get-together. He learns that Agnes is instrumental in a plan that involves digging a tunnel underneath the Berlin Wall. It’s dangerous, to be sure, but Lenny and his friends seem hellbent on reuniting with their families. When Alan shows reluctance to participate in the plan, Lenny’s pals wonder if he’s trustworthy.

Next, while Maxine slumbers, Nadia digs deep into the lineage of the Nazi who signed her grandfather’s itemized receipt. She finds his great-great-grandson, Kristóf Halász, who is the owner of an art gallery in Budapest.

Elsewhere, Alan attempts to persuade Lenny to abandon the Berlin Wall tunnel plan. His previous reservations about meddling with history are out of the window. Alan reassures Lenny that the wall won’t exist forever; it’ll be a thing of the past come 1989. So, if Lenny holds out for 27 years, he can reunite with his family in due time.

As result, Lenny starts believing Alan as Agnes is an informant. He cites Agnes’ intense drive for a better life and that she’ll do whatever it takes to succeed. Lenny then asks Alan to leave his humble abode.

Nadia and Maxine wander through the streets of Budapest while en route to Kristóf’s gallery. While Maxine explains how time zones affect us biologically, Nadia utters, “time zones. What a concept”.

Maxine and Nadia meet Kristóf, who doesn’t know much about his Nazi grandfather’s doings. He blatantly condemns his ties to that dark time in history. Kristóf then asks Nadia and Maxine if they want to accompany him to a party with his friends.

At the party, Maxine flirts with Kristóf, who reciprocates the flirtation. He doesn’t seem keen on answering Nadia’s questions about the missing gold, so he wanders off to have some fun with Maxine. Nadia rummages through Kristóf’s belongings, stumbling upon a box filled with Nazi items.

Meanwhile, Alan calls his mom, Dr. Zaveri, who asks him what happened to the date she set for him. Alan asks questions about his grandmother’s time in Berlin and her dalliances, but his mother doesn’t know much about that.

Alan returns to 1962 in the hopes of preventing Lenny from digging that tunnel, but he’s too late.

Next, Nadia confronts Kristóf about the Nazi stuff in his room; however, he’s too preoccupied with snogging Maxine. Kristóf does reveal that his father inherited the items when his grandfather passed, and it’s a shameful part of their family history.

Kristóf offers DMT to Nadia, which she inhales through a pipe. Suddenly, Nadia embarks on her drug-fueled journey. Her mom is there, as well as Alan with Lenny. Nadia also witnesses herself die from falling down the stairs and getting struck by a taxi years earlier when she was stuck in the time loop.

Later, Nadia and Maxine wake in a cemetery with no recollection of their arrival. After returning to New York, Nadia and Ruth chat on the phone. Nadia feels she didn’t find anything in Budapest, but Ruth reminds her that breakthroughs can happen internally. So, Nadia decides to revisit 1982.

She is sitting in the subway, waiting to arrive in the past. Instead, Nadia wakes in a much different time — 1944 Budapest. The train pulls into the station, and in the reflection of a mirror, it’s revealed to be a New York City MTA subway.

## Cast

### Starring

* Natasha Lyonne as Nadia Vulvokov
* Charlie Barnett as Alan Zaveri
* Greta Lee as Maxine
* Elizabeth Ashley as Ruth Brenner
* Chloë Sevigny as Lenora Vulvokov

### Guest Starring

* Rosie O'Donnell voices the Subway Announcer
* Lillias White as Dr. Zaveri
* Balázs Czukor as Kristofz
* Philipp Droste as Lucas
* Sandor Funtek as Lenny
* Carolyn Michelle Smith as Agnes

### Co-Starring

* Brooke Timber as Young Nadia
* Gergely Csiby as German Officer
* Piroska Molnár as Hungarian Pedestrian