The OA dives deeper into the epic journey of cosmic proportions.
The second season of The OA takes a big leap forward towards the cosmic realm by traveling to another dimension. While the first season questions OA’s story about being kidnapped and the five movements to travel to another dimension, in this season it all proves to be true. Her story transcends the power of storytelling and she takes us with her to another world where her search for her true love Homer continues while more mysteries surface and the multiverse is expanding into a philosophical story of magical realism and epic proportions.
This second season consists of 8 episodes with each a duration of 42-70 minutes. It has a continuous storyline about OA in the other dimension while the others continue their journey in our dimension.
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Plot
In order to travel to another dimension a ritual has to be performed with five movements and the person who’s to travel has to die. When at the school a shooting takes place, BBA, Steve, Buck, Jesse and French perform the five movements and hold off the shooter, but a stray bullet hits OA. We see her getting lifted into the ambulance while Steve is running after her.
The new season starts with OA who’s alive and wakes up in a hospital, but not a hospital in our world but in another dimension. And she’s in the body of her alternate Nina Azarova. She was never adopted, nor is she blind and she’s rich and lives in a penthouse in San Francisco. She has written a thesis about people who dreamt the same things that also came true. And now OA is in Nina’s body. And due to her incoherent story she’s taken to a psychiatric hospital where Dr Hunter Percy is in charge and Dr Homer Roberts treats her. She finds out that Rachel, Renate and Scott are also there and they have performed the movements too. Again she is a prisoner of Hap.
In the meantime we follow private detective Karim Washington who is approached by an old Vietnamese grandmother who’s looking for her missing granddaughter Michelle. This leads him to a game app and an old house on Nob Hill and to CURI a lab founded by Pierre Ruskin a tech mogul and boyfriend of Nina Azarova. Thus leading him to OA who owns the house on Nob Hill.
In our world Steve, French, Buck, Jesse and BBA are each struggling with the consequences of what happened and undertake a road trip together to find OA.
Why you should watch it
This second season takes more the form of a mystery story with a more clear storyline now that it is proven that OA was right. That other dimensions do exist and that she can travel between them. But that also brings more mystery and questions to the story that expands the multiverse of dimensions.
This new dimension brings a new atmosphere to the story. The magical realism creates a dream-like atmosphere where anything can be possible. Everything is connected and while OA gets closer to the truth, it’s only the beginning of the story. It therefore is such a shame that Netflix cancelled this brilliant authentic series so we never get to find out the whole story about the dimensions and if OA ever will be reunited with her Homer.
It also brings in new characters, like Karim and Michelle and Pierre and this world might look like ours but it has some important differences, like the octopus Old Night/Azrael with whom OA can communicate. The house on Nob Hill that is a portal to another realm and hides secrets and is a puzzle of its own.
Now that Nina is also a medium, the importance of symbols, visions and motifs are ever more prominent and spin an intriguing web of magical mysteries. It’s a very enthralling tale that takes place in the other dimension. The set designs and art decoration all look stunning and provide for a whole new vibe. It’s all very atmospheric, esoteric and magical and mystical. The storytelling is intense and is enhanced by the beautiful cinematography. We truly dive into a whole new world with a new story that still is very much connected with the original plot line.
Steve, Buck, Jesse, BBA and now Angie Steve’s girlfriend are still following the main plot line wondering where OA is and if she did travel. Their road trip and search for themselves is far from over. And now that the boys and Angie travel with BBA, she’s being suspected of kidnapping them. Their journey adds contrast to the journey of OA. It’s more raw and realistic and heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. They remain a very special group and are the heart of the story.
But we do learn more about other ways to travel through dimensions, about another traveler and about the multiverse and more mystical elements. But these concepts are all introduced to become bigger elements over time. Time this series wasn’t granted so it didn’t get the chance to expand and explain more about this new mythology. Still, this season is more comprehensible than the first season. Although more questions and mysteries arise, they take place on a more fantasy or cosmic level than on a pure visceral level like in the first season. While the dimensions and how it all works becomes more tangible to OA, so it also does for the viewer.
All the different characters and dimensions are all connected in an enchanting and magical way. It moves and bewilders you. It feels like a mystical fairytale that touches philosophical and transcended concepts. With OA as the heroine, Homer as her soulmate and ultimate quest, BBA, Steve, Buck, Jesse and Angie as her faithful friends and heart and Hap as the ultimate villain. This magical realism is enhanced by the octopus and the fact that Nina is a medium and connects to nature and Azrael sends her on a vision quest, while the house the mystery puzzle might be a clue to the secret of the dimensions and acts as a nexus.
With a faster pace, a bigger story plot, different storylines that take place in different worlds and with more interesting characters, this series takes off in an amazing way to new discoveries. Not only discoveries about other worlds, but about themselves, about the meaning and importance of real connections and about love, loss, grief and being heroic all at once straight through the multiverse of worlds and stories.
My favorite part
While this season was a totally different story than the first season it connected in a very intriguing way, expanding the universe of The OA in an astonishing way. It’s a series that has guts and vision and with wonderful imagination and creativity something totally new and fresh is created that would have been an epic series with a wonderful meta-perspective.
Ratings
Rating: ★★★★★
Epic factor: ★★★★★
Drama factor: ★★★★★
Surreal factor: ★★★★★
Originality factor: ★★★★★
Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
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Cast and crew
The OA is created by Britt Marling and Zal Batmanglij. It stars Britt Marling (Prairie/OA), Kinsley Ben-Adir (Karim Washington), Emory Cohen (Homer), Phyllis Smith (Betty Broderick-Allen, BBA), Patrick Gibson (Steve Winchell), Brendan Meyer (Jesse), Brandon Perea (Alfonso ‘French’ Sosa), Ian Alexander (Buck Vu), Chloë Levine (Angie), Irène Jacob (Elodie), Vincent Kartheiser (Pierre Ruskin) and Jason Isaacs (Dr Hunter Aloysius ‘Hap’ Percy).
Music: Rostam Batmanglij, Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans, Jay Wadley, Aaron M.Olson, John Rossiter. Cinematography: Steven Meizler, Magnus Nordenhof Jønck. Production companies: Plan B Entertainment, Anonymous Content, Netflix. Original network: Netflix.
