Wrong use of the present tense in Russian Doll

Question

In the TV series Russian Doll often characters wrongly use the present tense instead of the past tense. Is this a kind of slang? If yes, is it common only in New York?

1. First episode 15:08 - Lizzy says: "You drink too much?". It does not seem correct because she is not asking if Nadia always drinks too much...
2. First episode 15:28 - Lizzy says: "Sees a Fellini film once". Because it is sarcastic, it could be acceptable, but it does not seem completely correct.
3. Episode 5 03:08 - Beatrice says "Someone tell you?" instead of "Did someone tell you?"
4. Last episode - Horse says: "He chooses you" talking about the cat that chose to go with Nadia. In this case, it could be correct, but it did not sound right.

If I recall correctly Beatrice also says "Someone tells you" when she should have said "Did someone tell you?".

I find strange that I never noticed this same error repeated so many times in other movies or TV series.

Answer 1

You are correct that both examples are not formally correct. What we have here are cases of sentences that would be correct if just a few more words were added. Without these missing words, the sentences are intended to sound informal and conversational.

"You drink too much?" is simply a shortened version of "Did you drink too much?"

"Sees a Fellini film once" is a shortened version of "This guy sees a Fellini film once...", implying that the person being discussed thinks himself an expert based on one limited experience.

And yes, both sentences sound like perfectly credible conversational English for a New Yorker.