Netflix's Russian Doll: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

5. The Timelines Merging

With Red Alan having convinced the old Nadia to go with him rather than sleeping with Mike (and getting herself killed), and White Nadia having convinced the old Alan to go with her rather than committing suicide, the show is finally able to bring the two timelines back together.

We see them walking into a tunnel in split screen, before emerging as a whole on the other side. This comes amongst a parade, led by Horse, with people wearing masks and lots of singing and dancing. The visual codas are at their most important here, as we can see it's the looped versions both - Alan with the red scarf, Nadia with the white shirt - who have made it through to the end.

Like a lot of Russian Doll, it's very open to interpretation. The parade can be seen as a celebration of them figuring it out and moving on. It could be a parade of lost souls, all similar to Alan and Nadia, with Horse among them. There are cat masks, representing Oatmeal, and a skeleton to suggest death. Maybe it's a mix of all of these things. But what matters is that Nadia and Alan have found a means of helping each other, and that they can now have a sense of finality, and walk free of the masks they previously used to hide their trauma.