''The OA'' is an American mystery

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series with

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

, and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

elements. ''The OA'' debuted on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on December 16, 2016. Created and executive produced by

Brit Marling Brit Heyworth Marling (born August 7, 1982) is an American actress and screenwriter. She rose to prominence after starring in several films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including '' Sound of My Voice'' (2011), '' Another Earth'' ...

and

Zal Batmanglij Zal Batmanglij ( Persian: زال باتمانقلیچ; born on April 28, 1981) is an American film director and screenwriter. He directed and co-wrote the 2011 film ''Sound of My Voice'' and the 2013 film '' The East'', both of which premiered at ...

, the series is their third collaboration. The series consists of two seasons of eight episodes each, nearly all directed by Batmanglij, and is produced by Plan B Entertainment and Anonymous Content. In the series, Marling stars as a young woman named Prairie Johnson who resurfaces after having been missing for seven years. Prairie now calls herself "the OA" and can see, despite having been blind before her disappearance. On February 8, 2017, Netflix renewed the series for a second season, dubbed "Part II", that was released on March 22, 2019. Although ''The OA'' was planned by its creators to be a five-part story told in five seasons, on August 5, 2019, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons, leaving the show with a

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

ending. ''The OA'' received generally favorable critical reception, averaging 77% for Part I and 92% for Part II on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

. The series' directing, visuals and acting were often singled out, as was its social impact. It has been listed by many publications as one of the best TV shows of the 2010s, 21st century, and all time.

Synopsis

Part I

The series is about Prairie Johnson, an adopted young woman who resurfaces after having been missing for seven years. Upon her return, Prairie calls herself "the OA" (for "original angel"), has scars on her back, and can see, despite having been blind when she disappeared. The OA refuses to tell the FBI and her adoptive parents where she has been and how her eyesight was restored, and instead quickly assembles a team of five locals (four high school students and a teacher) to whom she reveals that information, also explaining her life story. Finally, she asks for their help to save the other missing people whom she claims she can rescue by opening a portal to

another dimension ''Another Dimension'' is the 15th studio album by musician Bo Diddley recorded in 1971 and released by the Chess label.

Part II

The second season follows the OA as she traverses to another dimension and ends up in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

to continue her search for her former captor Hap and her fellow captives. Prairie crosses paths with

private eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

Karim Washington and assists in his investigation of the surreal disappearance of a missing girl that involves an abandoned house with a supernatural history and an online puzzle game. Meanwhile, in the original dimension, a series of unfortunate events propels the OA's five companions to embark on a road trip across America to assist the OA on her journey.

Cast

The following actors appear in the series:

Main

as Prairie Johnson / the OA / Nina Azarova / "Brit" * Emory Cohen as Homer Roberts * Scott Wilson as Abel Johnson, Prairie's adoptive father (season 1, guest season 2) * Phyllis Smith as Betty "BBA" Broderick-Allen * Alice Krige as Nancy Johnson, Prairie's adoptive mother (season 1, guest season 2) * Patrick Gibson as Steve Winchell / "Patrick Gibson" *

Brendan Meyer Brendan Meyer (born October 2, 1994) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Adam Young in '' Mr. Young'' and Nelson Ort on the television show '' Dinosapien''. In 2016, he appeared in the Netflix series ''The OA''. He is also kno ...

as Jesse Mills *

Brandon Perea Brandon Perea (born May 25, 1995) is an American actor, best known for his performance as Alfonso Sosa on ''The OA'' and his breakthrough role A breakthrough role, also known as a breakout role, is a term in the film industry to describe the ...

as Alfonso "French" Sosa * Ian Alexander as Buck Vu and Michelle Vu (season 2) * Jason Isaacs as Hunter Aloysius "Hap" Percy / Dr. Percy / "Jason Isaacs" * Kingsley Ben-Adir as Karim Washington (season 2) * Will Brill as Scott Brown (season 2, recurring season 1) *

Sharon Van Etten Sharon Katharine Van Etten (born February 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released six studio albums, the latest of which is '' We've Been Going About This All Wrong'' (2022). Early life Van Etten was born in Belleville, N ...

as Rachel DeGrasso (season 2, recurring season 1) *

Paz Vega María de la Paz Campos Trigos (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her performance in comedy television series '' 7 vidas''. Her film credits include ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001) ...

as Renata Duarte (season 2, recurring season 1) * Chloe Levine as Angie (season 2, recurring season 1)

Guest

* Hiam Abbass as

Khatun Khatun ( Mongolian: хатан; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣, katun; ota, خاتون, hatun or قادین ''kadın''; fa, خاتون ''khātūn''; ; hi, ख़ातून ') is a female title of nobility and counterpart to "khan" or " Khagan" promine ...

(season 1) * Zoey Todorovsky as Nina Azarova, a young Prairie Johnson * Marcus Choi as Mr. Vu * Robert Eli as Ellis Gilchrist, a high school principal (season 1) *

Nikolai Nikolaeff Nikolai Nikolaeff (born 26 December 1981) is an Australian actor who is best known for his roles in the television series ''Sea Patrol'', ''Power Rangers Jungle Fury'' and '' Daredevil''. Nikolaeff was born in Melbourne, and is of Russian and ...

as Roman Azarov, Nina's father *

Sean Grandillo Sean Grandillo (born December 9, 1992) is an American actor, singer and musician, known for his roles as the Voice of Otto in the 2015 Broadway revival of '' Spring Awakening'', Eli Hudson in MTV's horror series '' Scream'', Brett Young in ABC' ...

as Miles Brekov (season 1) * Zachary Gemino as Carlos Sosa, Alfonso's brother * Harry Hains as Noah *

Riz Ahmed Rizwan Ahmed (; ; born ) is a British actor and rapper. As an actor, he has won an Emmy Award and has received nominations for a Golden Globe and three British Independent Film Awards, and as a rapper he has won an Academy Award for the short ...

as Elias Rahim, an FBI trauma counselor * Robert Morgan as Stan Markham, a sheriff (season 1) *

Michael Cumpsty Michael Cumpsty (born 28 February 1960) is a British actor. He has been acting since childhood. He has worked extensively performing Shakespeare, as well as both musicals and dramas on Broadway. He also performs in films and on television. Li ...

as Leon Citro (season 1) *

Bria Vinaite Bria Vinaite (; born Barbora Bulvinaitė on June 10, 1993) is a Lithuanian-born American actress, known for her role as Halley in Sean Baker's 2017 film ''The Florida Project'', which was her first acting role. She received critical acclaim for ...

as Darmi (season 2) *

Zendaya Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman ( ; born September 1, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She has received various accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the ...

as Fola Uzaki (season 2) * Zoë Chao as Mo (season 2) * Irène Jacob as Élodie (season 2) * Eijiro Ozaki as

Azrael Azrael (; , 'God has helped'; ) is the angel of death in some Abrahamic religions, namely Islam, Christian popular culture and some traditions of Judaism. He is also referenced in Sikhism. Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael ...

/ Old Night, a giant octopus (voice) (season 2) *

Vincent Kartheiser Vincent Paul Kartheiser (born May 5, 1979) is an American actor. He played Pete Campbell on the AMC television series ''Mad Men'', for which he received six Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a ...

as Pierre Ruskin (season 2) *

Liz Carr Liz Carr is an English actress, comedian, broadcaster and international disability rights activist. Early life and education Carr was born 21 April 1972 in Port Sunlight and grew up in Bebington, Merseyside. She attended Upton Hall School F ...

as Marlow Rhodes (season 2) *

Melora Walters Melora Walters (born October 21, 1959) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles as Wanda Henrickson in the television series ''Big Love'' and Kathy Kone in '' PEN15'', and has appeared in several Paul Thomas Anderson films. ...

as Melody, who accompanies OA to the clinic in the episode "Angel of Death"

Episodes

Part I (2016)

Part II (2019)

Production

The series was conceived by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij and they began working on the concept in December 2012. They spent two years working on ''The OA'' on their own, before pitching to studios. From the early stages of development onward, they were telling the story out loud and noting one another's reactions to the story to refine it accordingly. They found it difficult to summarize the series in a written story, so they developed it aurally. When executives read the script of the first hour, they asked if the story "really

ent Ents are a species of beings in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for giant. The Ents appear in ''The Lor ...

somewhere". Marling and Batmanglij then began to tell the story from beginning to end, playing all the characters and acting out the big moments through many hours. They worked with

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Awar ...

's Plan B Entertainment, which connected with the story and shared notes before it went to networks and studios. Following a multiple-network bidding war, the series was first announced on March 5, 2015, when Netflix ordered eight one-hour long episodes with Plan B and Anonymous Content also on board. The announcement revealed that Marling would star, Batmanglij would direct, and both would write and executive produce. Marling and Batmanglij held similar positions in their previous two collaborations, ''

Sound of My Voice ''Sound of My Voice'' is a 2011 American psychological thriller film directed by Zal Batmanglij in his feature directorial debut and starring Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and Brit Marling. The plot focuses on two documentary filmmakers who ...

'' and '' The East''.

Rostam Batmanglij Rostam Batmanglij ( fa, رستم باتمانقلیچ, ; born November 28, 1983), known mononymously as Rostam, is an American record producer, musician, singer, songwriter, and composer. He was a founding member of the band Vampire Weekend, wh ...

, Zal's brother, worked as one of the composers on the series, and he also wrote its theme music. He previously composed for both ''Sound of My Voice'' and ''The East''. Choreographer

Ryan Heffington Ryan Heffington (born June 7, 1973) is an American dancer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for choreographing the music videos for Arcade Fire's " We Exist" (2013) and Sia's "Chandelier" (2014), winnin ...

created The Movements, which are inspired by

interpretive dance Interpretive dance is a family of modern dance styles that began around 1900 with Isadora Duncan. It used classical concert music but marked a departure from traditional concert dance. It seeks to translate human emotions, conditions, situation ...

. Heffington first professionally worked with them on ''The East'', and had been an acquaintance of both from earlier than that. The final chapter of Part I includes a dedication to Allison Wilke. Wilke, also known professionally as A.W. Gryphon, was a producer on the series who died of breast cancer three days after the series was finished and a month before its release.

Cancellation and fan response

On August 5, 2019, despite the generally positive reception to the show, Netflix canceled the series after two seasons, leaving the show with a

ending. Marling wrote that she and Batmanglij were "deeply sad" that they would not be able to finish the show. Fans responded with a #SaveTheOA and #TheOAisReal campaign on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, a Change.org petition, and by posting video of themselves performing The Movements from the show. Additionally, the OA fan base raised funds for a digital billboard in Times Square. Marling wrote that she was moved by the fan support. One fan went on a hunger strike outside Netflix's Los Angeles Headquarters to protest for the show's return; Marling and Batmanglij visited her and offered her food and water. Some fans online put forward a theory that the cancellation announcement was just a meta

publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...

. Prominent creators of other television series also expressed their love for ''The OA'', including Shonda Rhimes, Sam Esmail and Alex Kurtzman.

Reception

Critical response

In 2021, ''The OA'' was named the seventh best TV show of all time by ''

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

.'' '' BBC'' listed it as one of the 100 greatest TV series of the 21st century at number 88. The series was also listed by several publications as one of the best TV shows of the 2010s. '' NME'' named it the 20th best TV show of the decade, while ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'' listed it as the sixth best. ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...

'' also included the series on its unranked "60 Best TV Shows of the Decade" list.

Part I

Part I of ''The OA'' garnered a polarized but generally positive response from critics.

assigned the first season a 77% critical approval rating and an average rating of 7.59/10 based on 66 reviews, writing that "''The OA'' is more than OK."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, based on 17 reviews, assigned the series a rating of 61 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Most reviewers acknowledged the series' ambition and praised its mystery and direction. Reviewers made both favorable and unfavorable comparisons to another Netflix Original, ''Stranger Things.'' John Doyle of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' wrote, "''The OA'' is Netflix's strongest and strangest original production since ''Stranger Things''. In terms of substantive, original drama, it transcends it. Mind you, it is unclassifiable in the context of drama, mystery, science-fiction and fantasy, since it is straddling all sorts of lines and blurring them. It is outright astounding and brilliant, too." Tim Surette at ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corporat ...

'' said that "the final moments of Episode 5 – probably the best episode of the first season – was some of the most reaffirming television I've ever seen, not just for the show but for life itself. I've never really had this kind of a relationship with a series while watching it, but it's that experience that makes it well worth viewing." ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

''s review was entitled "Netflix's ''The OA'' Is an Extraordinary, Binge-Worthy December Surprise". Tristram Fane Saunders of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' gave a mixed review of 3 out of 5 stars and noted the series' potential but criticized its similarity to fellow Netflix Original ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Pr ...

'', claiming that the series was attempting to be "stranger than ''Stranger Things'' but "on the basis of the first four episodes, the answer is a resounding no". Saunders's review also highlighted the series' lack of originality and characterization, and derided the dialogue as "portentous ndself-consciously literary". It also criticized the slow pace as "glacial". However, Saunders also acknowledged the series told an interesting and compelling story, writing that "''The OA'' may be utter hokum, but you'll still be hooked." Daniel Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' gave a negative review, stating that the series was "a failed, but not wholly worthless, experiment in TV auteurism". Fienberg added "the problem, of course, is that telling you what ''The OA'' is vaguely like is just another tease and telling you what it actually is is a recipe for disappointment, because after an enticing and somewhat infuriating build-up, ''The OA'' becomes something quite ludicrous as it stumbles toward a climax that is, if I'm generous, merely unearned and if I'm not being generous, a series of offensive overreaches." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' published diverging opinions about the series: its TV critic at the time, Sonia Saraiya, gave the show a mixed review that praised the direction and acting but opined that overall "it is hard to take ''The OA'' seriously", detailing that "none of it makes any sense", and concluded that " an exercise in vision, ''The OA'' is exciting. As that other thing — a television show — it’s an especially cryptic attempt to say very little of consequence.". A few days later, on the other hand, the magazine's chief film critic Peter Debruge wrote an extremely positive column with the headline "Why ''The OA'' is One of the Year's Most Important Films", stating that the show's first season had "the most effective ending e hadever seen in a TV series", and that its "final twist ..left imcrying uncontrollably for nearly half an hour".

Part II

Part II received very positive reviews upon its release. On

, the second season has an approval rating of 92% based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''The OA'' second season provides satisfying answers to its predecessors' most maddening enigmas, all while maintaining the singular ambience that fans have come to crave." On

, it has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Critics particularly praised its surrealism, directing and acting. ''

'' crowned ''The OA'' the best television series of 2019 (so far) in September 2019. ''The Playlist'' stated in their review that: "''The OA: Part II'' packs each frame so dense with detail, that not one second of the new season's more-than-eight-hour runtime seems wasted, expositional, cheap, or unearned." Jesse Scheden of '' IGN'' gave ''The OA: Part II'' a score of 8.8 out of 10, saying the season is "bigger, more ambitious and much weirder than its predecessor". Rachel Syme in ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'' praised the season, labeling the show as "the best, most inaccessible show on television", saying that " he wishesmore television was this unafraid to leave its audiences fumbling for understanding." Daniel Fienberg of ''

'' wrote: "The only thing I'm sure of when it comes to ''The OA'' is that the process of watching and experiencing an episode is unlike the viewing of any other show on TV and, good or bad, there's value in that." Alex McLevy of '' The A.V. Club'' echoed that sentiment, saying "sacrificing your expectations of plausibility feels like a worthwhile price of admission." Jen Chaney of ''

'' called the season a mind-bender and praised the way it depicted the aftermath of a school shooting. Ed Power of ''

'', gave it 4 out of 5 stars, and wrote that the show "truly comes into its own when you stop attempting to piece together the storyline and instead submit to Marling and Batmanglij's vision." Emily VanDerWerff of '' Vox'', initially critical of the first season, wrote of the series: "over time, I kept thinking about it ... until I convinced myself that ''The OA'' is kind of genius, while simultaneously being incredibly silly". Haleigh Foutch of Collider said, "Netflix has carved out a space for itself as a home for innovative genre storytelling, and ''The OA'' might just be their crowning achievement in that regard."

Accolades

''The OA'' was nominated at the 2017

GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affe ...

as Outstanding Drama Series. Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij were nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Episodic Drama in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

for the episode "Homecoming".

was nominated in the Best Female Performance in an International Production category of the 29th Actors and Actresses Union Awards in 2020.

References

External links

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