Afterlife has forever been one of pop-culture’s favorite themes. Countless books, movies, and TV shows have, over the years, addressed the questions about life from different angles. The OA, a Netflix original, is the most recent addition to that roster.Produced by Anonymous Content (True Detective, Mr.Robot),The OA is a character driven and emotional drama exploring the mysteries about the afterlife. The show had kept a low profile during its developmental stage but made big promises with the debut of its trailer. While The OA delivered on the “emotional” part and had a decent plot, a baffling finale and a bunch of uninteresting characters became the show’s undoing.
The OA centers on Prairie Johnson, a blind, adopted girl who goes missing and reappears seven years later with her eyesight restored. Prairie refuses to talk about her whereabouts during the seven years she was missing to her parents or the police. However, she quickly assembles a group of five locals and starts telling them the mysterious story of her life. Prairie asks them to call her The OA and requests their help in rescuing the people with whom she was held captive.
Brit Marling as Prairie Johnson/The OA
From the get-go, it’s obvious that The OA was supposed to be propelled by its characters more so than its plot but the show was not entirely successful in achieving this. Save a few, none of The OA’s characters are interesting enough to deserve the viewers’ attention or investment. The show features a different ensemble of characters in its flashbacks and present-day plot, most of who are trying to cope with some kind of tragedy or the loss of a loved one. Among the lot, the only characters who are developed enough are Prairie herself and Homer, Prairie’s fellow captive from the flashbacks. If the writers had reduced the number of characters by a few and had instead focused on giving them more depth, The OA would have accomplished its aim of delivering a better character driven emotional experience.
The OA presents it’s own interpretation of the afterlife along with some pretty visuals
The OA is paced unevenly but in an appropriate way. Much of the pilot’s runtime was spent on establishing the show’s atmosphere, Prairie’s mysterious kidnap, and her emotional reunion with her adoptive parents that by the time Prairie starts narrating her story to her recruits and the show’s title appears on screen, the viewer will be left with sheer reverence. What unfolds next is a flawed but captivating and strangely moving tale exploring the near death experiences of five people brought together by destiny and how it changed them.
Though there is nothing exceptional about it, The OA has a nice flow to its plot progression. It moves between flashbacks and its present-day plot quite lucidly and features several nice character moments like the time a blind Prairie experiences the pleasure of travelling by an aero-plane. The OA gradually raises the tension over its eight episodes while pondering several questions about what happens after death and presenting its own interpretation of an afterlife. The flashbacks are the most engaging parts of the show.
The emotional toll taken by tragedies is one of the main themes in the show
Nonetheless, The OAdoes a lot of build-up on both of its fronts and culminates in a finale that fails to do justice to the rest of the show.The show ends on a very confusing note, giving the viewer no clue as to what actually happened and concludes with more questions than answers. The OA’s finale is more frustrating than confusing when you take into account the fact that there is no news about a second season to the show yet. Thus, The OA’s conclusion was, by all means, an utter disappointment. Lastly, the technical sides of the show were all good including its music, cinematography, and direction. The show’s cast handled their job well. The role of Prairie Johnson was played decently by co-creator Brit Marling. Emory Cohen’s Homer Roberts also has a prominent role in the show.
Emory Cohen as Homer Roberts
Simply put, The OA is wasted potential that often felt like the incompetent distant relative of Stranger Things. It got the theme and plot right but failed when it came to the details. In spite of an engaging series of plotlines and twists, the show disappointed with its ending. An uninteresting set of characters was yet another problem for The OA. There is no news about a second season for the show yet. If it does get made, hopefully the writers will take care to rectify the issues the show had this season.
