The latest chapter of Nine Perfect Strangers Season 2, titled “Prague,” dives deep into Masha’s past and toys with the boundaries of memory, reality, and manipulation. What begins as a controlled psychedelic experiment quickly spirals into a hallucinatory maze of espionage, regret, and unresolved trauma. Masha (Nicole Kidman) takes her most personal risk yet as she uses her experimental treatment on David (Jonathan Bailey), triggering both his and her own repressed past. But instead of closure, what unfolds is a confusing blend of revelation and emotional chaos.
THE PSYCHEDELIC JOURNEY BEGINS
The episode opens with a quiet tension: Masha waiting in David’s room. She invites him to embark on an “advanced psychedelic journey,” a test of her unapproved memory-reconstruction therapy. Viewers quickly learn that David, a new guest at Zauberwald, has been selected as her unknowing guinea pig. With little protest, he agrees, and the process begins.
Lying in darkness, David listens to Masha recount the story of their first meeting. This cue launches a cascade of vivid flashbacks. As David slips in and out of consciousness, Masha keeps him grounded by using sensory cues—the smell of coffee, the static of a television, the flicker of newsreel footage. Meanwhile, Masha monitors his vitals, repeating the phrase: “This feeling is totally normal.” It’s eerie. It’s also deeply manipulative.
MASHA’S PAST UNFOLDS
Before she became the enigmatic and commanding Masha Dmitrichenko, she was Mila Zarutskova—a sharp, fearless young woman navigating post-Soviet Europe. As a producer for a Czech news outlet in 2001, Mila met David during a taping for a news segment about foreign investments. Her confidence, quick wit, and beauty quickly captured his attention.
They spent an evening talking, drinking, and connecting at a bar in Prague, which culminated in a romantic night together in a luxurious hotel. Mila, ambitious and driven, confided in David about her aspirations to become a journalist. At this time, David seemed warmer, more in touch with his emotions. He made a long-distance call to say goodnight to his son Peter, showcasing a gentler side that contrasts with the stoic man at Zauberwald.
Their encounter left a mark, especially on Masha, but she kept her distance afterward. The reason becomes clear later: that night resulted in the birth of her daughter, Tatiana. Yet, she chose never to tell David. Instead, she raised Tatiana alone.
BACK TO 2001: WHEN MILA MET DAVID
In the Prague of 2001, Masha is not yet Masha. She is Mila Zarutskova, a smart, confident producer for a Czech news outlet. David, in town to discuss Western economic expansion into Eastern Europe, is quickly intrigued by her sharpness and charm. Their meet-cute on set leads to drinks at a bar, where Mila reveals she wants to be a journalist. This night marks the beginning of a relationship that, while brief, leaves a lasting impact on both.
They spend the night in a luxurious hotel. There is warmth in these scenes—David, softer and more present, even calls his young son Peter from the room. But their moment in time is fleeting. The next day, their paths diverge.
DEEPER INTO THE HALLUCINATION
Back in the present, Masha increases David’s dosage and deepens the hallucination. She lulls him with a lullaby—the same one she used for her daughter, Tatiana. Suddenly, David finds himself in a hospital room. He watches as Mila holds a newborn. She tells the nurse that the father’s identity is unknown. The child is Tatiana.
David awakens in real time, full of questions. Why didn’t Masha ever tell him? Her answer: she didn’t want his money and wanted to raise Tatiana to be independent. It’s a simple explanation, but one that doesn’t fully satisfy David—or the audience. This missed opportunity feels too clean. Too convenient.
THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION
Then the episode takes a hard turn. Masha tells David about seeing him in Prague years later, walking past her with a man named Sergei Ivanov. According to her, Ivanov was a shady contractor with ties to Russian military intelligence. Mila, now working as a journalist, decided to expose Ivanov’s dealings as a convoluted means to reconnect with David.
But she got too close. Ivanov noticed her. Men began surveilling her home, following her. In a desperate move, she tried contacting David for help. Her messages were intercepted. She threatened to go public with his dealings with Ivanov. That’s when tragedy struck.
Masha suggests the Russians killed Tatiana in retaliation. Or maybe they meant to kill her and got Tatiana instead. Flashbacks of the snowy road—Masha chasing behind her daughter’s bike—resurface, this time with new ambiguity. Who was walking in front? Who was the target?
THE BIG REVEAL AND THE BIGGER QUESTION
As David lies in bed, exhausted by this emotional and mental trip, he tries to make sense of it all. He calls into question the plausibility of Masha’s narrative. Is she fabricating this Cold War thriller as an emotional revenge fantasy? Masha insists it’s all real: “We are in my mind now, and this is very real.”
That sentence encapsulates the entire episode. Is it real? Is it therapy? Or is it punishment?
MARTIN WATCHES FROM THE SHADOWS
Unknown to both Masha and David, Martin (Murray Bartlett) has been watching their session—including their intimate encounter—through hidden surveillance cameras. He doesn’t intervene. He just watches. It’s a disturbing moment, one that hints at an unraveling power dynamic between Zauberwald’s leaders.
After the psychedelic session ends, David is fully convinced of Masha’s method. He wants to invest in it. He wants to be involved. He even offers retroactive emotional support for Masha’s past. But the audience is left wondering: what exactly did he experience? Was it truth? Was it illusion?
MASHA: A PUZZLE WITH MISSING PIECES
Despite this deep dive into her past, Masha remains elusive. She is a composite of roles—a journalist, a single mother, a possible Cold War target, a wellness guru. But none of these facets fully explain her. Even the centerpiece of the episode—the planned meeting between David and the hallucinated Tatiana—never happens.
The episode ends where it began: with more questions than answers.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
After an hour of narrative twists and psychic spelunking, we still don’t know if any of it will matter for the remaining strangers at Zauberwald. Will Tatiana ever “appear” to David? Will the other guests experience similarly intense backstories? And will Masha ever face consequences for her manipulative methods?
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