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S01.E02: New Colossus

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
in The OA [V]

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zxy556575

zxy556575

Personal quirk, but I'm not a fan of stories told in flashbacks so this is getting a little harder to hang in with.

That said, Ellewillow Campagna, the actor playing young Nina is doing a great job. Her IMDB page doesn't say much but there's no mention of being Russian so it looks like she learned those lines.

I like how Ms. Broderick-Allen has thrown in with the other weirdos.

Leave your doors open! It's not like anything bad could happen.

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millennium

millennium

On 12/16/2016 at 7:39 PM, Arynm said:

This one was slow for me, but still engaging. What is up with the creepy Dr.? I am sure Jason Isaacs is up to no good at all.  They said she was gone 7 years?

LOL, Jason Isaacs is always up to no good.   Just a bit too serendipitous though that a man who kidnaps NDE children happens across Nina in the New York subway.

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racked

racked

On 12/16/2016 at 6:53 PM, lordonia said:

Personal quirk, but I'm not a fan of stories told in flashbacks so this is getting a little harder to hang in with.

That said, Ellewillow Campagna, the actor playing young Nina is doing a great job. Her IMDB page doesn't say much but there's no mention of being Russian so it looks like she learned those lines.

I like how Ms. Broderick-Allen has thrown in with the other weirdos.

Leave your doors open! It's not like anything bad could happen.

I'm confused - IMDb says the young actress playing Nina is Zoey Todorovsky, and her Facebook matches. She's absolutely fantastic and seems to be fluent in Russian and plays the violin, which I think was enough reason for them to hire her despite her not having blue eyes. It bugged me a little but the scenes with that little girl were too good to be distracted by that. 

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numbnut

numbnut

(edited)
On 12/16/2016 at 3:53 PM, lordonia said:

Personal quirk, but I'm not a fan of stories told in flashbacks so this is getting a little harder to hang in with.

ITA. I like Jason Isaacs so I'll stick with it for now. The strange kidnapping scenario feels familiar, like it's from an Atom Egoyan movie or something. How did Dr. Creepy figure out that Prairie had a NDE? Her violin playing seemed average to me.

Edited by numbnut
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zxy556575

zxy556575

2 hours ago, racked said:

I'm confused - IMDb says the young actress playing Nina is Zoey Todorovsky, and her Facebook matches. She's absolutely fantastic and seems to be fluent in Russian and plays the violin, which I think was enough reason for them to hire her despite her not having blue eyes. It bugged me a little but the scenes with that little girl were too good to be distracted by that. 

Goodness, thanks. Not sure what wrong rabbit hole I went down looking that up!

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numbnut

numbnut

(edited)
On 12/20/2016 at 9:58 AM, vendredi3 said:

The Russian schoolbus accident in episode 1 reminded me of The Sweet Hereafter.

Yeah, that too. I was thinking of Felicia and The Captive. I first thought Khatun was Egoyan's actress wife Arsinée Khanjian. After watching a few more eps, it's clear that Marling/Batmanglij are Egoyan fans. Even the tone and cinematography of the show are Egoyanian.

Edited by numbnut
grammar!
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KaleyFirefly

KaleyFirefly

On 12/20/2016 at 0:34 AM, numbnut said:

ITA. I like Jason Isaacs so I'll stick with it for now. The strange kidnapping scenario feels familiar, like it's from an Atom Egoyan movie or something. How did Dr. Creepy figure out that Prairie had a NDE? Her violin playing seemed average to me.

Seemed that way to me too. She was way too trusting of that doctor. I don't like to see Jason Isaacs playing a bad guy, but I'm sure he will do it well. I loved him in "Awake."

I'm very curious about what her dream meant, with her father holding the candles.

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hincandenza

hincandenza

On 12/19/2016 at 9:34 PM, numbnut said:

ITA. I like Jason Isaacs so I'll stick with it for now. The strange kidnapping scenario feels familiar, like it's from an Atom Egoyan movie or something. How did Dr. Creepy figure out that Prairie had a NDE? Her violin playing seemed average to me.

Ah, that's his name!  I hadn't looked him up, but (admittedly, I was smoking a little electric pot while watching) I kept thinking he was some weird hybrid between Don Draper and Timothy Dalton that my brain couldn't process as one or the other.  He is fantastic so far; believably creepy not through scenery chewing over-the-top but through that sort of not-quite-right bluntness.  He plays Hap like he's utterly incapable of even imagining the pain and suffering of his captives, which to me is far more chilling than overt antagonism or cliche "psycho" ranting and raving.

As to how he found Prairie: HAP mentions that people who have NDEs some back with gifts, including apparently a greater gift for beautiful things such as the singing, etc.  It's still a huge stretch that her violin playing would be so extraordinary he could not only hear it as exceptional where no one else was particularly impressed, but hear it through ear plugs from apparently a level below in the subway!

  

On 12/20/2016 at 10:14 AM, numbnut said:

Yeah, that too. I was thinking of Felicia and The Captive. I first thought Khatun was Egoyan's actress wife Arsinée Khanjian. After watching a few more eps, it's clear that Marling/Batmanglij are Egoyan fans. Even the tone and cinematography of the show are Egoyanian.

Fantastically put!  I had a brief Egoyan phase some years ago in the late 90's (along with Denys Arcand), and there is a similar... pensiveness, maybe?  The scholarship kid really gives me that vibe as an Egoyan character, with his non-confrontational opposition/reluctance in these participations like the "I imagine with my eyes open" line.  The show is striking an interesting mood and look, and I think if they handle it right I'll be equally fine with Prairie having some true connection to the after life, as with her just being a genuinely mentally ill woman.  There would be a certain bravery to actually have that be the whole big secret- in this age of super-mysterious shows and mysterious powers and supernatural phenomenon around every corner- to have this end up as a miniseries about the impact of mental illness on the life of a person and their family.  No afterlife, no magical goings on, just a tragic story about a poor young girl/woman and the eternal cruelty of people.

One thing that I find odd is that the teacher is willingly showing up to these late night meetings, with multiple of her students.  I get that she underwent a loss herself, but Prairie's whole "cold reading" spiel as the fake Winchell step-mom in episode 1 was dismissed once the parents/teacher began talking, and I don't understand why the teacher is still hanging around.  If she had some genuine life-changing spiritual experience with Prairie that can override her professional awareness of how inappropriate this is, they haven't done a good job of making that clear.

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