After watching the second season of ‘The OA’, I still think that the series created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij is one of the most original and interesting productions in the Netflix catalogue. If the first season left me confused, this second installment of eight episodes has left me completely unhinged, in a good way, because ‘The OA’ breaks the schemes in a very pleasant way. Watch out for SPOILERS .
Brit Marling, protagonist, showrunner and writer of the series, divides the script into two spaces and times, two dimensions. In one of them is the group of young people and BBA, trying to access the other dimension, which is where Prairie (embodied in Nina’s body) is found after making the interdimensional jump.
Analysis of the second season of ‘The OA’. | Netflix.
In this last dimension, the starting point is the disappearance of a teenager, a case that private detective Karim Washington will try to solve. Although the resource of the disappearance is a television classic, it is enough to start a puzzle of (pun intended) colossal dimensions , a huge puzzle that will keep us trapped until the surprising ending.
‘The OA’ is lost in its own complexity…
‘The OA’ handles the mystery with mastery, blends in with the thriller and flirts with terror (there are scares that have lifted us off the couch), but at all times it maintains its vocation as a supernatural series. Overall, it’s still an overwhelming experience, but the second season leaves us with a bittersweet aftertaste.
And it is that many times it gets lost in its own complexity , delves into the paranormal and ends up misleading the viewer more than it should. It’s not easy to finish all eight episodes without getting a little fed up with fantastical resources and metaphysical lessons.
‘The OA’ continues to be one of the most interesting proposals on Netflix. | Netflix.
In fact, the scene of the telepathic octopus is the most bizarre thing we’ve seen on television in a long time and is close to turning the series into a parody of itself . In this sense, Marling would do well to put the brakes on her fantasy so that season 3 (if there is one) does not become the festival of the absurd.
…but it’s still fascinating
But something must be recognized: ‘The OA’ keeps us hooked on the television as few series do, and what’s more, it does so with exquisite taste . Zal Batmanglij, who in addition to being co-showrunner acts as director, recreates himself in each shot and scene without being pedantic, contrary to what happens to Andrew Haigh in the chapter “Mirror, mirror”.
The emotional charge has always been closely related to the interpretation of Marling, who gives Prairie a magnetic personality , but one of the great revelations is that of Kingsley Ben-Adi in the role of Karim. Although he is the typical tormented and fault-laden private detective, at no time does he let the tics and cliches of the thriller genre show.
The second season of ‘The OA’ loses the north in many moments. | Netflix.
The rest of the cast continues to offer round and believable characters , as is the case with Steve (Patrick Gibson) or BBA (Phyllis Smith). The only stain is the death of Jesse (Brendan Meyer), with whom we do not fully empathize.
In short, ‘The OA’ is an oasis of good taste in a catalog full of fast-moving series. This second season is much more risky and disconcerting (sometimes too much), which makes me suspect that it is one of those series that drives you crazy on purpose, to deliver the coup de grace at the right time and in an unpredictable way. And I love that
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