The OA was one of the weird and haunting early shows Netflix put out a couple years ago. Streaming Video On Demand (SVOD) had suddenly become a heightened platform, everyone was putting out something Original. It was the “it” thing to do. And I won’t lie, I am really glad SVOD went this route, you guys.
The OA is about a young woman named Prairie. And you either solidly know about Prairie or you don’t. Quite often, I find that is the case with some of the original SVOD shows – it’s your thing, or it’s not. The OA was definitely in my wheel house; it was so bizarre, almost like a fever dream.
Prairie is a true mystery character wrapped up in layers of drama. She is born in Russian, experiences a near-death experience (NDE), and is blinded. This is all by the tender age of 6! With a clever plot device, our once Russian is now living in America and adopted into a lovely, heteronormative household. Happy Ending, right?
Well wouldn’t you just know it, things obviously go wrong. As a teen, Prairie feels suffocated and restricted in her house with her parents. After running away as a young adult, Prairie finds herself in a tube station in NYC – this is where she meets Hap. He takes her away and locks her with, eventually, five other people in a basement… all of these people have experienced an NDE and Hap thinks it holds the key to one of life most fundamental questions.
The rest of it just becomes more and more bizarre… actually I didn’t really start telling you about how utterly odd things go. I can’t actually begin to tell you how much it makes sense, in a really weird way. I’ll be honest with you, this is kind of a story about angels. It’s about angels that don’t know they are angels, and they are trying to prove to each other they are, in fact, angels. Are you wondering how any of that makes sense? Yeah, we are still trying to figure it out, too.
Obviously, I’m a fan. Season One was this gorgeously dark thought piece that I had never ever imagined could be a thing. It was like watching something Brian K Vaugh (read Saga first, if you are new to Vaugh) would make for a comic series. Just entirely breathtaking. I watched season one twice. For a SVOD show, that’s kind of a big deal… I don’t know many people that rewatch a SVOD show more than once. You kind of have to love it, right?
Unfortunately, I found myself with very little desire to watch the second season. This latter season came out earlier this year, and I just couldn’t bring myself to sit down and watch it. And I won’t spoil the ending of season one for anyone, because quite frankly, it ended the way it should have. It left me with a lot of questions, I was crying, but I didn’t feel like I needed a second season. The main thing that bothers me about Netflix canceling The OA is that I won’t get to see Brit Marling mold herself into Prairie again. Marling is exquisite.
Now faced with the cancellation of this show, I can’t help but feeling protective of The OA and the story. I am going to dive into that second season finally, and I know that all my questions are going to be left unanswered. Sound off down below and tell us if you loved The OA or if you thought it was Too Weird.
