The OA

2016 was a big year for Netflix. Say what you will about the year in movies (spoiler alert, it was bad) I think Netflix had a pretty good year, putting out a lot of good tent pole shows and providing a lifting off point for the pretty solid selection they've had in 2017. Netflix tried to push out more original content and hit a huge success with Stranger Things. Near the end of the year, Netflix tried to keep up that streak of providing new, unique original programming somewhat in the same science fiction vein of Stranger Things. The result was The OA.

Now I won't overhype the popularity of The OA. I only really remember a couple of people saying that they checked it out at the time and nobody talks about it the same way we talk or hype up Stranger Things or House of Cards. It has been renewed for a second season so there must have been a slight popularity that I missed out on, especially back in December of last years. However, there are a lot of shows on Netflix that have gotten second season and probably didn't deserve it, perfect example of this is Fuller House. Usually when a show has a lot of hype behind it and especially when I'm watching something else, I will usually hold off on watching that show until the initial hype is gone and I can look at it with an open mind and maybe catch the honest reviews from viewers later on. Honestly, I haven't heard too many reviews about this show. I have one friend who can't stand the show, and a couple of friends who saw it initially and even then they gave it mixed reviews. Almost a year later, I'm finally figuring out what The OA is.

The OA begins with a woman being found at a hospital and she is revealed to be Prairie Johnson (played by Brit Marling), the daughter of an older couple (played by Scott Wilson, Herschel from The Walking Dead, and Alice Krige). Prairie has been missing for seven years and the amazing part about her case besides turning up alive is that before she went missing, Prairie was blind. She now returns to her family with scars on her back, saying cryptic things not really giving any inkling to her family or the police on where she has been, and regaining the ability to see. She also calls herself, The OA. (And yeah, it's just as stupid in reality as it is on paper). And because it sounds so silly, I will just refer to "The OA" as Britta's lesbian friend from Community.

Anyways, Britta's lesbian friend returns home but she is very cryptic about where she was, who abducted her, and what has happened to her over the past seven years. However, she finds a group of really random kids and Phyllis from The Office as a teacher (played by Phyllis Smith) and she begins to tell her story.

See according to Prairie she went to New York and ended up being abducted by a scientist by the name of Dr. Hunter Percy or "Hap" (played by Jason Isaacs). Most people recognize Jason Isaacs from Harry Potter as Lucius Malfoy. That aside, he is really the best character in the show and I really wish this entire show was about him instead. He's a very complicated bad guy... but I'll talk about that a little later.

Hap keeps Britta's lesbian friend in a cage, sectioned off and occupied by three other prisoners, including a boy/man, I'm not totally sure how old he's supposed to be, named Homer (played by Emory Cohen). Britta's lesbian friend and Homer form a bond and essentially the show is figuring out what she did in captivity for seven years. It involved experiments, different dimensions, and more. All the while she is telling this story to a bunch of angsty teenagers and an odd teacher played by Sadness.

While I've only pointed out a couple of characters by name, there are a lot of characters in this show and they don't really do a good job introducing any of them or informing the audience on their motivation or their story.

For example: This kid to the right, I don't know shit about him. The only thing I know about the character Buck is that he is transgender and he was buying steroids from one kid in the group with another kid in the group. I don't know what his family life is like, I don't know how he feels about being transgender, I just know they allude to that and that's his character. I use him because this is a good example of throwing diversity into a cast just for the credit of being progressive. I'm not saying Buck needs to have a whole episode dedicated to the fact he's transgender, but he does need to have a character. Being transgender isn't a character. It's something that adds to a character, but not without context and that's exactly what happens with this character.

And hey at least he got a discerning character trait. The other two held in captivity have absolutely no characters traits besides one saying he used to be a drug addict. The other one, her name is Rachel and I literally know absolutely nothing about her. I barely know her name. There's another kid that I totally forgot about. I don't know his name, all I know is that he likes weed...

And even the characters that kind of have a little bit of development are not nearly developed enough for me to know what their deal is and even if I like them enough to really care about them beyond the story telling me to.

ESPECIALLY this douchecanoe.

Steve kind of sets a lot of this story in motion when he meets Prairie in the beginning. I guess that we're supposed to believe that he's this troubled youth and he just needs help getting on the straight and narrow but this guy punches a kid in the throat with no provocation whatsoever.

There's even a point where Britta's lesbian friend is taken aback by the fact that she figures out that Steve punched this kid. And it's not like he stops doing douche-y things. At a certain point he stabs Britta's lesbian friend with a pencil for absolutely no reason. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to like this kid but they do an awful job at making him sympathetic.

And even the people who I do understand why I'm supposed to care for them, they don't follow through with their conflicts and I'm just left wondering why I was supposed to care if there was no follow through.

The examples of this are in the characters of Alfonso (played by Brandon Perea) and Phyllis (I'm going to call her Phyllis cause I'm not sure what her name was, I'm pretty sure they give her a cult name anyways which I don't know what it is).

Alfonso is somewhat of an interesting character because he is a hardworking teenager who wants to go to college to support his family. Overall, a pretty sympathetic character. Phyllis is somewhat sympathetic because she lost someone and is dealing with that. But these subplots that happen appear and disappear as quickly as they pop up.

There's an episode where Alfonso is accepted to college and gets a scholarship. Part of the scholarship is that he needs to fulfill a character clause. Just not get into trouble. This obviously worries Alfonso because he's hanging out with a bunch of stoners, a teacher, and a woman who is probably starting a mini cult in an abandoned house where drugs are sold out of. Yeah I get why that might be concerning for someone who needs to keep his nose clean. But this conflict really only lasts for 10 minutes. He tells Buck he can't go back, then he decides to go back. We never hear of that character clause again, it's never brought up again, it never comes into conflict with him listening to Britta's lesbian friend's story, no purpose.

The only characters you really only kind of care about are Britta's lesbian friend, Homer, and Dr. Percy.

Britta's lesbian friend and Homer develop this strange love for one another. While this might be the only sincere relationship in the show besides Britta's Lesbian friend's parents, lots of it is lost in the weird time jumps. I'll talk about those in a second.

Britta's lesbian friend is one of the only characters you kind of care about and she's a lot more interesting when she's blind. When she gets back home and she's talking all cryptically, I don't sense a character, all I see is a fledgling cult leader. I know we're supposed to believe her because she is the main character but if you think about it, the little séances that her and the kids from the high school have are really the beginnings of a cult and I totally understand why the parents get all concerned about them hanging out with Britta's lesbian friend. She's weird. She talks in what I like to call Matrix talk where it seems like she's very profound but she's really saying nothing at all. And since she's narrating, there is a lot of that. It actually becomes a little bit of a problem.

And then there's Dr. Percy.

Like I said, he is the most interesting character because he drives the main conflict in the show. He's a former ER doctor fascinated with the afterlife. This may be giving things away but I don't really care. He wants to discover the afterlife or the dimensions our consciousness goes when we have a near death experience.

Now there is SOOOOOOOOOOOO much wrong with his science it could probably take up the majority of this already long post. All I will say is the BS science is a little bit distracting but it is still interesting. Since this is fiction it doesn't have to be accurate but it does have to make at least a little bit of sense. And I'm sure it did make some sense, but the issue this show has goes back to Britta's lesbian friend's Matrix talk. She's so philosophical, talking about the invisible self and the little cult she forms that you actually miss some of the action that they say happens but don't show. This show has an issue with that where it tells the audience a lot but it doesn't show it. Furthermore, the time jumps in her story make things very confusing.

Like I said, the subject matter is actually pretty cool and visually this show is actually really cool.

There is this interesting blend of fantasy and science fiction in the show that I wasn't expecting but actually kind of enjoy. When they go into the alternate dimension, it is kind of cool. But they don't go there nearly as often as they should have. Maybe it's difficult to animate, maybe they really thought we just wanted to be in the attic of an abandoned house or a poorly conceived prison It probably came down to budgeting, but in this case, skimping on the budget hurt the progression of the plot.

But putting that aside, the subject matter is interesting. Different dimensions, it is the kind of science fiction elements that people really enjoyed from Stranger Things, why wouldn't it work here. To a certain extent it does... but then they start doing the movements.

This is an actual scene from the last episode. I've already spoiled enough so I won't give the context but let's just say it was as ridiculous in that context as it looks. And this was really the reason I will not be checking out the second season.

As much as I want to see more of the alternate dimension, the whole air bending, poor plot progression, and just all around bad writing makes this show a very cringe-worthy. It gives off this vibe of a poorly written Young Adult Novel that is trying to be edgy and mean something but really it just comes down to poorly written teen wish fulfillment. And while they might be appealing to some people in highschool, it doesn't make it any better.

It feels very much like the show wanted to be edgy, to get that mature rating but at the same time it wanted to appeal to teenage girls who read Twilight or The Hunger Games. And while I'm not here to say that YA novels are always bad, when they're written the way The OA was, they're more than likely going to be bad.

The biggest thing this show is missing is well written characters, a little more imagination, and a direction. If this show had just been about Britta's lesbian friend in captivity and they really spent time for us to get to know Homer, Scott, Rachel and the weird Cuban guitar player they pick up eventually, if this show had been about Hap trying to figure out what happens when you die, are there different dimensions we can travel to, if this show wasn't trying to be so many things wrapped into one, and maybe if they hadn't added air bending into the show, and if they did do it in a way that doesn't feel incredibly goofy, maybe I would have enjoyed this show.

But as it is, I have to say it is not worth the hype. You can skip The OA. There are a lot better shows out there, find those.

But that's what I think of The OA. Did you watch it when it came out? Did you enjoy it? I legitimately want to know what the appeal is. I got a lot of feedback on Twitter from people saying they were just as confused as I but were hoping to figure out more in Season 2. I want to know what is bringing you back to the show. Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. While this clip doesn't have Britta's lesbian friend in it, this is a fun part from that episode. Enjoy!