The OA - General Discussion

[Aethera]

This topic replaces the old The OA forum which has been vaulted at the location below:

http://forums.previously.tv/forum/2884-the-oa-v/

[PinkRibbons]

So this is happening:

[krankydoodle]

That's not the direction I was expecting they'd go in for season 2, but I'm looking forward to seeing where they take things.

Considering the gap between seasons, I'm happy to see that they were able to get a lot of the cast back.

[Anela]

I hope it's as interesting as the first season. 

[Sakura12]

I was beginning to wonder if this show was ever coming back, it's been like 2.5 years. 

[Kareny]

9 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

That's not the direction I was expecting they'd go in for season 2, but I'm looking forward to seeing where they take things.

Funny enough, it's exactly the direction I expected from what was set up in those last few scenes of Part I. But seeing the characters reacting to it is better than I could have imagined. Can't wait to see the whole thing.

Warning: There are lots of spoilers in the trailer, so if you don't want a lot of hints about the mythology and major changes for the characters - wait til March 22.

[Mindthinkr]

I just saw this is coming back for season 2. Jason Isaac is on the Today Show promoting it (Tuesday March 19th). 

[NeenerNeener]

Wow, what was Brit Marling smoking when she wrote Episode 4, so I can avoid it.

I didn't think anything could be as weird as Season 1. I stand corrected.

Edited March 22, 2019 by NeenerNeener

[LilaFowler]

I binge-watched it. I have no idea what transpired during the last 30 minutes.

[Mindthinkr]

I binged this yesterday and was so grateful that my dreams were not nightmares last night. They did include a lot of content from this show, but I seemed (in my altered state) to handle it and direct it, so that I didn’t die or become a victim. 

That blue house on Knob Hill was wild. I shudder at th thought of ever having to solve something like that. It required so much physical and mental strength. Also bravery. 

I agree with @Lila Fowler about the seasons end being a bit stumping. I may need to rewatch. 

i don’t know that a lot of people have seen this show. I don’t see it chatted about a lot in SM and wonder that they will do a part 3. I read that Brit and Zal mapped out a 5 season arc. I hope Brad Pitt and the other producers continue to back this weird little gem. 

I have a lot more to say about the characters, but will wait until hopefully more people have gotten a chance to watch it  

[SevenStars]

I just finished it and I don't know what happened at the end, I saw it but I don't know and I don't think I like it. 

Edited March 23, 2019 by SevenStars

[SevenStars]

Double post

Edited March 23, 2019 by SevenStars

[Sakura12]

So again they end the season with us questioning if it was real or a story. 

This show is so weird but it does manage to pique my interest and keep me watching just to find out what is going on. I would watch another part if do we get one. 

[showme]

It is super confusing, but it does suck you in.  I do find it ridiculous though.

A little man candy here and there and gay hook up scene does go a long way to make the show interesting though.

Edited March 23, 2019 by showme

[marieYOTZ]

Just finished season 2. I am not as off kilter as i was after finishing season 1 (honestly i could barely work the next day - i was like “WHAT EVEN IS REALITY?!”). I read some reviews that said this season was even weirder than season 1, but i disagree - in many respects it seems more straightforward. The story-telling format of Part 1 created a real sense of ambiguity, but Part 2 makes it clear that dimension-jumping through mystically-powered movements is a thing that’s possible. 

And i’m not complaining. I loved the confusing emotional power of part 1, but i really enjoyed the energy of part 2.  I’m glad we got to see everyone from before - was so great to see the actor who played Prairie’s father in a brief scene (I believe i read that he has since passed away). 

I was not put off by anything. Not by 

Spoiler

The final scene in a near-our but not-quite-our universe; not by the brain seedlings; not by the telepathic octopus

- one of the great pleasures of this show is that it has me well conditioned to just go along with the “invisible river” of its narrative, without feeling the need to fight the current.  I’m happy to float along and see where we end up. 

So mark me as one in the “well satisfied” camp. Hoping most sincerely for a Part 3. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by marieYOTZ
Typo correction

[Mindthinkr]

14 minutes ago, marieYOTZ said:

So mark me as one in the “well satisfied” camp. Hoping most sincerely for a Part 3. 

Same here. I’m invested in this and want to see where they take it next season. 

[peridot]

This shows does have some interesting concepts, but it does throw me for a loop sometimes - the telepathic and lecherous octopus is the biggy.

Other random thoughts:

Spoiler

• I really hate that the OA can't seem to get away from the psychotic doctor and don't like the fact that he's considered her necessary shadow.
• Were the FBI agent and the traveler/advisor other angels?  I wasn't sure what happened when the cubes seems to put the traveler's body in a coma, but she afterwards just randomly reappeared in the Russian bar.
• The idea of Karim being OA's brother is interesting.  If the show is renewed, I want to see that develop.
• I wasn't expecting horror in this show!  Karen's ghost appearing in mirrors scared the hell out of me!
• Homer seems to be a dumb guy - never turn your back on a psychopath, unless he's dead!
• It's been so long since the first season, so I can't really remember the kids that well.  French annoyed me.

The season ending was weird, and I'm not sure if I like where it went.

[notcreative enough]

Just some quick observations so far

I hated Angie and really wish she would disappear.

I don't know why but the guy who played Karim reminded me of the guy from Entourage. Maybe that's what he used to base an American accent on.

I feel dumb because I didnt connect Buck and Michelle until OA said something.

How long ago was this filmed from Scott Wilson and if anyone else remembers the Zendaya patchouli braids controversy.

I really wish OA and the others would get some sort of win against Hap. I get that he is the big bad and he seems to always come out on top.

I'm terrified of Netflix because it seems like they have been canceling everything.

[Mindthinkr]

27 minutes ago, notcreative enough said:

I'm terrified of Netflix because it seems like they have been canceling everything.

Same here. I’m also wondering if a lot of people watch this and if there’s a bigger fan base somewhere else. 

[MissL]

I finished so I finally feel safe to come in this thread (hate the one thread thing I've already accidentally been spoiled on another Netflix show because I just didn't think about it). 

So. That was trippy.  There were some scenes that they gave too much time to breathe and I wanted to move on already...and others where I thought I needed more time to figure things out. I binged in 2 days so I guess I really love it but..I don't understand why. A friend of mine asked me to explain the premise and I just stared at her for a full minute before I even knew where to start.

Ill wait a bit before adding much more. 

[notcreative enough]

Trying to wrap my head around this season.
How did Hap design, make, program and install 5 large dancing boxes. It had to have only been between 36 and 48 from when he met the French woman and OA went back to the clinic. Speaking of the French woman gets these made every time she jumps. She cant take them with her so does she hop between the same dimensions so that she always has a way to travel. 
When they jumped into the dimension at the beginning of the season they took over the original consciousness so when they left does the original wake up and take over again or are they in a coma like the French woman said when she called 911. OA said that she interrogated with Nina so that she was able to access her memories so does that mean she took Nina with here. Hap didn’t integrate so will the doctor wake up?
Before the jump OA told Homer that Hap was going to take her somewhere that she wouldn't remember but how could he guarantee that. We don’t really know why everyone in the first jump made it to their host but Homer got lost in the building. What in Scott’s flower showed Hap what to do. I don’t get how he can control what OA will or won’t remember. When they made the jump in the last episode Hap knew to call himself “Jason Isaacs*" or did he also get that from Scott. 
Part of me hopes that everyone jumped with Steve but I also don’t want them to have jumped. We know that OA, Steve and Hap are in the meta dimension maybe Homer traveled but we won’t know until season 3. We don’t really know how the boxes work and how many people that it will piggy back when they travel. Homer, BBA, Buck, French and Angie makes 5 so maybe they could all wind up together and try and find OA and Steve. It would be a nice way to mix up some of the cast and have them interact with different people. 
I dont know how Karim will fit i with the story now that he is in what I can only assume is a different dimension from everyone else. If he is OAs brother we should see him again. 

How did Michelle end up with Ruskin and not Hap. With all the other kids being experimented on in Haps lab what made Michelle so special that she was kept save from Hap. Or was it the only way that Ruskin knew he could control Karim that he was more interested in to mystery of the house and not the weird brain flower thing with Hap. 

*Edit. Because I dont actually know actors real names.*

Edited March 25, 2019 by notcreative enough

[krankydoodle]

23 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I’m also wondering if a lot of people watch this and if there’s a bigger fan base somewhere else. 

There's a decent-sized subreddit for the show at https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOA/.

As nutty as this show can get, it's so compelling that I'm surprised it doesn't get more buzz. The quality of the cast is also a big part of its appeal. I'm happy Riz Ahmed came back (even if it was all too briefly), and Kingsley Ben-Adir has been a great addition. My dislike for Hap is approaching Cersei Lannister levels, especially because like her, he seems to keep lucking into success. Still, that's an accomplishment considering how much I love Jason Isaacs, and that I keep watching even though it's so infuriating to see Hap rack up wins.

[Mindthinkr]

2 hours ago, notcreative enough said:

Jason Lewis

He said Jason Isaacs which is the actors real name. 

[Mindthinkr]

The above came from a Reddit thread. There are a lot of good theories and information over there. Thank you @krankydoodle for giving me the link. 

Edited March 26, 2019 by Mindthinkr

[Melina22]

If I took the time to think about it, I'd have a million questions like most of you, but I decided to just enjoy how totally and completely bonkers this show is and let it flow over me without letting logic bother me too much. 

I love how you cannot predict from moment to moment what will happen next. This show has set a high bar for random craziness, but I'm sure I laughed out loud when the octopus showed up. Because of course it did. The funniest part is that it was never referred to again. The next time she was at the bar, no one was like, "Sorry about your psychic octopus." Hee. 

And yet there were many moments that really gripped and affected me. I knew they should seem ridiculous but they didn't. 

If there's a season 3, I'm there. 

[marieYOTZ]

On 3/27/2019 at 6:48 PM, Melina22 said:

 The funniest part is that it was never referred to again. The next time she was at the bar, no one was like, "Sorry about your psychic octopus." Hee. 

Well, to be strictly accurate, the telepathic tree of the netherworld did mention him..

[jenifaohjenny]

I thought the first three episodes were pretty great and then...I’m not sure what happened?

[AudienceofOne]

I'm not really sure what to say about that season. The jumping over worlds and narratives didn't entirely work in terms of pacing but I guess that doesn't matter as much when you binge something. Still, the whole thing with Hap and the French women was so unbelievably boring - seriously, those two assholes were soul-suckingly monotonous - I had to skip it and so missed some of that. 

I also feel like this show struggles to find the line between science, metaphysics and new-age nonsense.

Having said all of that, this is such an original and unique piece of television and I'm so excited stuff like this is being made. I particularly loved that ending and the show implying there are universes where this show is being made because someone got the idea from their connections with other dimensions. Or even came out of Brit Marling's head because she is the OA in other dimensions. It's a lovely meta moment made perfect by Jason Isaacs calling Brit Marling his wife. She isn't, of course, so this is another dimension that looks like ours but isn't. It's the perfect form of meta.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Chloë Levine discusses The OA: Part II & Savage Youth

[Britneys Scrunchie]

Delurking to say I have more questions than I can list here, but particularly about the final scene in E8 in the ambulance. Scott runs after the ambulance after OA’s fall, this time he catches it, and when he looks at Jason Isaacs, he calls him Hap. To my knowledge, Scott and the Crestwood group never actually saw Hap’s face, they only heard stories. Is that correct? If so, Scott would not recognize Hap unless there was someone else inside him. In that case, I can think of three scenarios, none of which really align with the multiple world-buildings we’ve seen so far:

- OA moved into Scott’s body when she left the Nina world, and so she recognized Hap in actor-Jason’s body. If this is the case, if actor-Brit dies, OA lives on.

- Homer moved into Scott’s body when he left the Nina world, and recognizes Hap in actor-Jason’s body. If this is the case, if actor-Brit dies with OA inside her, she must leave this world to find a new dimension.

- Scott has somehow traveled off-screen, and has awareness of what Hap looks like, and is thus able to identify Hap in actor-Jason’s body. This just doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m inclined to think it’s the first one since that would line up with S1 where it ends with OA’s face as she recognizes someone.

On another note, it occurred to me I t’s possible OA is not female (or male), but an asexual spirit who we meet when she just happens to be in a female body.

edited for clarity

Edited March 31, 2019 by Britneys Scrunchie

[Pixiebomb]

I just stumbled onto this show accidentally.  I had never heard of it.   I am so thrilled with it that I binged seasons 1 & 2 in a weekend. It reminds me of the early seasons of Lost when I didn’t know what the hell was going on and loving  the ride.   This has to continue. I am going to tell everyone I know to watch it. 

[Melina22]

It really is a ride. I can't imagine how much your mind was blown by bingeing TWO seasons at once. 

Every so often, I'll start bingeing a show and think, "One day I'll be so jealous of me at this moment, seeing this amazing show for the very first time." You can really enjoy a show you've already seen, but there's something magical about the first time you watch an incredible show or movie for the first time, with no expectations, or clue about what you're about to see. 

[MissL]

On 3/31/2019 at 11:21 AM, Britneys Scrunchie said:

Delurking to say I have more questions than I can list here, but particularly about the final scene in E8 in the ambulance. Scott runs after the ambulance after OA’s fall, this time he catches it, and when he looks at Jason Isaacs, he calls him Hap. To my knowledge, Scott and the Crestwood group never actually saw Hap’s face, they only heard stories. Is that correct? If so, Scott would not recognize Hap unless there was someone else inside him. In that case, I can think of three scenarios, none of which really align with the multiple world-buildings we’ve seen so far:

- OA moved into Scott’s body when she left the Nina world, and so she recognized Hap in actor-Jason’s body. If this is the case, if actor-Brit dies, OA lives on.

- Homer moved into Scott’s body when he left the Nina world, and recognizes Hap in actor-Jason’s body. If this is the case, if actor-Brit dies with OA inside her, she must leave this world to find a new dimension.

- Scott has somehow traveled off-screen, and has awareness of what Hap looks like, and is thus able to identify Hap in actor-Jason’s body. This just doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m inclined to think it’s the first one since that would line up with S1 where it ends with OA’s face as she recognizes someone.

On another note, it occurred to me I t’s possible OA is not female (or male), but an asexual spirit who we meet when she just happens to be in a female body.

edited for clarity

I wondered about Steve recognizing Hap too when he'd never seen him, and I saw some reviewer who mentions..like it was a fact...that it was HOMER that jumped into Steves  body but I do think it was Steve. They showed Steve collapsing after doing the movements plus he WANTED to jump so it makes sense. and him running after the ambulance paralleled how the first season ended.  I'm hoping it's not a plot hole.  they may explain it that OA described him in such detail that all of the crew would recognize him because they visualized him so accurately from her details.  Kind of like Buck realized it was Rachel in the mirror. Or OA seemed to be a better artist than I think we knew she was so maybe she drew him once. 

I hope they explain it as it would feel sloppy if they don't because I really think it's Steve.

Edited April 2, 2019 by MissL
Scott/ Steve oops

[Britneys Scrunchie]

12 hours ago, MissL said:

I wondered about Scott recognizing Hap too when he'd never seen him, and I saw some reviewer who mentions..like it was a fact...that it was HOMER that jumped into Scott's body but I do think it was Scott. They showed Scott collapsing after doing the movements plus he WANTED to jump so it makes sense. and him running after the ambulance paralleled how the first season ended.  I'm hoping it's not a plot hole.  they may explain it that OA described him in such detail that all of the crew would recognize him because they visualized him so accurately from her details.  Kind of like Buck realized it was Rachel in the mirror. Or OA seemed to be a better artist than I think we knew she was so maybe she drew him once. 

I hope they explain it as it would feel sloppy if they don't because I really think it's Scott.

I agree, my first thought was that it was really Scott when I watched it, and I’m also hoping it was not a careless miss on the part of the writers. One thing that was purposely left out of S2 is how Hap came into contact with Steve, French, and Jessie, and what led to them becoming part of Hap’s brain garden. I was actually more surprised that the floaters were them than I was about the floating plants. Since Prairie didn’t exist in their world, how did they all come to travel from Michigan to San Francisco and come under Hap’s influence? I guess it’s possible that was really Steve in the ambulance, it just seems a stretch to me. Also I was starting to wonder if the detective was really OA’s brother since Steve seems even more protective of her.

[Enero]

On 3/29/2019 at 4:21 PM, marieYOTZ said:

Well, to be strictly accurate, the telepathic tree of the netherworld did mention him..

Also, Nina/OA's contact at the bar mentioned the Octopus. He stated that someone, I'm assuming the owner of the Octopus and/or owner of the club was not happy with it's death. Nina/OA then responded that she wasn't happy with its death either. 

I just finished binge watching seasons one and two. I'll start by saying I hope there is a season three. This is one of the best series I've watched in recent months. 

On 3/31/2019 at 12:21 PM, Britneys Scrunchie said:

Delurking to say I have more questions than I can list here, but particularly about the final scene in E8 in the ambulance. Scott runs after the ambulance after OA’s fall, this time he catches it, and when he looks at Jason Isaacs, he calls him Hap...OA moved into Scott’s body when she left the Nina world, and so she recognized Hap in actor-Jason’s body. If this is the case, if actor-Brit dies, OA lives on.

- Scott has somehow traveled off-screen, and has awareness of what Hap looks like, and is thus able to identify Hap in actor-Jason’s body. This just doesn’t make sense to me.

Did you mean Steve? One thing about this show is everything we've learned thus far is not always fixed. They continue to add layers that changes what we've previously learned, making things more complex and thus difficult to figure out. With that said, I think as you said either Steve in Brit's world is actually OA. Or some type of a connection happened between Steve and OA when she was traveling to the other dimension that allowed him to "see" who Percy/Hap is etc., When Steve and crew finished the ritual, the scenes kept cutting between him and OA and for a second it seemed as if their movements and expressions were the same. Then when she ascended into the sky he stood transfixed as if he could see what was happening to her,  after which he collapsed when she fell to the ground. So yeah, either he's her or somehow they connected during the ritual and he was able to "see" everything and thus see who Percy/Hap is, which is why he recognized him when he arrived in the other dimension. Steve has been desperate to leave the Michigan dimension and go to OA for a while, I think his strong will is what got him to the Brit dimension as well.  I also think that this is further proven by him chasing the ambulance as he did at the end of S1. However, this time he catches up to it. 

On 3/25/2019 at 3:15 PM, notcreative enough said:

Before the jump OA told Homer that Hap was going to take her somewhere that she wouldn't remember but how could he guarantee that. We don’t really know why everyone in the first jump made it to their host but Homer got lost in the building. What in Scott’s flower showed Hap what to do. I don’t get how he can control what OA will or won’t remember. When they made the jump in the last episode Hap knew to call himself “Jason Isaacs*" or did he also get that from Scott. 

 Great questions! Many of which we all have! I think when Hap/Percy got Homer to question Scott about his last NDE, Scott told him about the world were Brit and Hap were together as a couple. I think when Hap experimented on Scott that last time, he somehow acquired a map (remember he ate a piece of the plant that came out of Scott's ear and apparently heard what happened after OA was injured in Brit's world. Also who knows what else he heard that we didn't see) to that world and therefore, took him and OA there. I think he knows that OA won't remember him because the plant that he took from Scott showed him that she wouldn't remember. It's probably similar to what happened to Homer in one of his NDEs where he was running through the halls of Treasure Island and crawling through the air ducts, not realizing that the Dr. Roberts they were calling over the intercom was him, just in this other dimension.  And of course Dr. Roberts had no idea that Homer from dimension one was inside of him until OA arrived and started to remind him.

Quote

Part of me hopes that everyone jumped with Steve but I also don’t want them to have jumped. We know that OA, Steve and Hap are in the meta dimension maybe Homer traveled but we won’t know until season 3. We don’t really know how the boxes work and how many people that it will piggy back when they travel. Homer, BBA, Buck, French and Angie makes 5 so maybe they could all wind up together and try and find OA and Steve. It would be a nice way to mix up some of the cast and have them interact with different people. 

I'm thinking Steve traveled alone, since he was the only one shown collapsing after they completed the ritual. With regards to the boxes, I think it's interesting that the boxes were doing the moves as was the Michigan group simultaneously in the same place, but in another dimension. This could've also accounted for OA's dramatic ascension, fall, then travel to the other dimension and could potentially account for Scott traveling there too, along with his will to go to OA. Remember will and faith, seems to be a key ingredient in an individual ending up where they'd like to be or with whom they'd like to be with. Therefore, it could've played a big part in Steve ending up with OA. 

Quote

I dont know how Karim will fit i with the story now that he is in what I can only assume is a different dimension from everyone else. If he is OAs brother we should see him again. 

I'm really curious about Karim's part in all of this. Very interesting how thus far he seems to be the savior. He saved OA from the prophetic Octopus and according to the Octopus he's saved her many times and he saved Michelle. Also, if he's OA's brother, where was he in Prarie's world? Was he the baby boy she was attempting to care for when she was adopted by the Johnsons?

[Anela]

On 3/22/2019 at 4:12 PM, NeenerNeener said:

Wow, what was Brit Marling smoking when she wrote Episode 4, so I can avoid it.

I didn't think anything could be as weird as Season 1. I stand corrected.

I know!  I posted elsewhere, the other day: "I told everyone I love this show, and that I was loving the second season so far, and then I watched episode 4."

Finally finished the second season!! I've avoided this thread, because I didn't want to be spoiled (and I was already spoiled on Hap being her husband, but I thought it was a fake-out, since it didn't happen until the end). Now I've scrolled through the thread, and not many people have watched? Or posted. Damn.

I re-watched the first season at the end of 2017, and again last week. I love the kids, and am glad that they and BBA were in this season too. So sad about Jessie. I don't know if he planned that before his reliving the gunshot, but I wish they'd caught him before he died. 

It was all real. I wasn't left with a mystery. Brit and Jason in England, seemed to have created a show around what came to them intuitively. Michelle/Buck was a member of the cast, she'd jumped into the cast member, but responded to Michelle, and jumped back when she touched Karim's hand. So is he like BBA? Is that what makes him a good detective? Steve was running after the ambulance, just like at the end of season one, and he calls Jason "Hap" who recognized him as soon as he jumped into the ambulance (and didn't look happy about it). Was Steve the brother that was shown to her after the weird octopus incident? Someone mentioned Karim being her brother, but I thought it was Steve. The shot of blonde hair, a young man from behind, and it looked like Steve's hair in the last scene. I think Steve remembered the life in which Hap had tested on him. I'm confused, though: was that a tunnel into the house, and he was getting the kids out of there, who had made it that far? What was different about Michelle? (Vincent Kartheiser - I was doing something when he was on, so I might have missed something.)

How was the French woman alive in the same dimension as Hap and OA, when she injected herself with something in the room with Hap? Did she not die for good? 

I don't know what this says about me, but I didn't think the show was that crazy, until the octopus showed up. That was my WTF? moment. I preferred season one, but hope for a third season, as long as they don't butcher it completely. 

On 4/1/2019 at 12:08 AM, MissL said:

I wondered about Steve recognizing Hap too when he'd never seen him, and I saw some reviewer who mentions..like it was a fact...that it was HOMER that jumped into Steves  body but I do think it was Steve. They showed Steve collapsing after doing the movements plus he WANTED to jump so it makes sense. and him running after the ambulance paralleled how the first season ended.  I'm hoping it's not a plot hole.  they may explain it that OA described him in such detail that all of the crew would recognize him because they visualized him so accurately from her details.  Kind of like Buck realized it was Rachel in the mirror. Or OA seemed to be a better artist than I think we knew she was so maybe she drew him once. 

I hope they explain it as it would feel sloppy if they don't because I really think it's Steve.

I think he remembered the life in which OA found him in that pool. 

[Anela]

Also: did Steve take something to kill himself, before they did the movements? The way he asked for help, and then BBA said it was him that had been in her dreams. I guess I need to google. I don't like having to have a show explained to me, as much as I like this one. 

[tennisgurl]

You gotta love a show where a telepathic talking octopus is just a plot point in one episode, and then is moved on from pretty quickly. 

I thought it was funny that some reviews I read said that this season was even weirder than the first season, because I thought this season quite a bit more straightforward and coherent than last season. I mean, its still really freaking weird, but I followed it a lot better, probably because they seemed to establish that, yes, this is all really happening, its not just something that a traumatized young woman made up, and while the fantastical elements were more up front (multiverse! Traveling through dimensions! Telepathic forest!) I thought the story itself was easier to follow. I thought it was actually a stronger season, and I liked the first season a lot, in all its dream like ways. 

With this show, I dont really question a lot of plot points (like how did Hap build these universe traveling robots so fast?) in how they work, I just let it all flow over me like a stream of consciousness. Multiple dimensions? Magic dancing? Seriously meta turns at the end? Yes please! Its just such a unique series, that just does its own thing and doesent really care about justifying itself or explaining whats happening. Stuff just happens, and emotions are so strong, that I just like watching this journey through time and space. 

And apparently through the fourth wall! So the House lets people see a universe where their reality is just a television show, and none of it is real. Yeah, I can see how that could be freaky as fuck to people and cause them to lose it. I am so excited about this idea that this is a world where the show is an actual in universe show (including the actors playing themselves!) that they now have to navigate. Did just Steve, Hap, Homer, and OA jump, or did everyone? It seems like when people make connections in one universe, they make them in the other universe as well (hence the boys ending up in the telepathic pool in the Nina universe) even if the connection is through other people or are distanced, so they will probably bump into them anyone. So this isnt "our" world, as real life Britt and Issac arent actually married, but it seems pretty close to our world, which I am already. I love me some meta fiction, and this sounds super interesting. 

I love how I can never tell what is going to happen next on this show, this is definitely not what I saw coming. And I really appreciate how much the actors commit to every weird thing the get asked to do, it really sells the emotion of what is happening and makes it feel real, no matter how insane it is.

Hopefully we will get a season three, I need to know what happens next!

Edited April 5, 2019 by tennisgurl

[Anela]

A friend of mine said that she preferred the first season, as well. There was a kind of magic to it, for me, which sounds silly - I thought it was silly when a reviewer called the dance in another TV show "magic". But I watched it less than five months after my mum died, and I really loved it. 

I looked up Brit Marling, last week, and saw that some of her other work has been about this kind of thing. I started to watch "Another Earth" but ended up falling asleep.

[Melina22]

27 minutes ago, Anela said:

looked up Brit Marling, last week, and saw that some of her other work has been about this kind of thing. I started to watch "Another Earth" but ended up falling asleep.

I recall being really disappointed in that one. 

[MisterGlass]

Watched the second season this weekend.  I was with it until episode 4.  After that, I thought it was too scatter shot.  I don't know that Season 1 was more straightforward, but I do think it was more focused, and it was easier to understand the rules of the show world.  There was a lot more that I felt the need to handwave in this season.

I would like to have spent more time with the characters that we knew and seeing how their lives and feelings progressed.  It felt like Rachel and Scott were a bit tossed aside.

I'm not sure what to think about a meta third season.  I wasn't a huge fan of Supernatural's one episode version.  However, if they make it I will at least try it out.

[tennisgurl]

On 4/5/2019 at 12:26 PM, Anela said:

I looked up Brit Marling, last week, and saw that some of her other work has been about this kind of thing. I started to watch "Another Earth" but ended up falling asleep.

Another Earth was very OA-ish, maybe even more so. I enjoyed the visuals, atmosphere, and ideas, even if it was rather slow throughout. I would pretty easily recommend it to a fan of this show, I would just warn them that it is VERY slow moving and dream like, and doesent answer many questions about the logistics of whats going on. Sound familiar?

[iMonrey]

I was very disappointed with this season. The first season was such an emotional gut punch, and this season was just one weird, baffling mess. It had a very David Lynch-ian feel to it. The episode where they were exploring the house felt very much like I was watching Twin Peaks. In fact I got the impression that Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij watched the Twin Peaks revival on HBO last year and went "We should make our show more like that! Just batshit crazy!" I mean, a telepathic octopus? What in the ever loving fuck . . . 

I found everything to do with Karim and his search intrusive, disconnected and uninteresting. I spent the first half hour convinced I was watching the wrong show because I couldn't figure out what the hell this guy had to do with The OA. Even after the connection was revealed I was disinterested.

I was only really ever engaged when the story focused on BBA and "her boys." 

I'd still probably watch third season since Steve has jumped now but I really thought the story became far too bizarre to follow.

[Paloma]

I thought the first season was great, even the ending that so many viewers and reviewers seemed to hate. So I was disappointed to find that the second season just didn't engage me, despite some compelling moments and amazing visuals. In particular, I was bored by Homer--not that he was so scintillating in the first season, but his lack of personality and curiosity (at least until the end) made it hard to see why the OA was so focused on getting him back.

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I was only really ever engaged when the story focused on BBA and "her boys." 

I'd still probably watch third season since Steve has jumped now but I really thought the story became far too bizarre to follow.

I agree with both of these points, though I am less likely to watch a third season--especially if it focuses again on getting back to Homer or on OA (as Brit, "married" to JI) with amnesia. What would be interesting to me is further exploration of how paths diverge depending on what happens in each dimension but people's lives are still influenced by the connections between the dimensions.    

[nekilarose]

There was a point made that I want them to expand on next season, the fact that they're jumping into bodies with a soul/personality already,what happens when they jump out of that dimension? Do their hosts remember? Or is there a gap in their memories? 

I did enjoy this season a lot more than the first, though. The robots were the WTF thing that  I didn't see coming this season. 

Also, since we know that they're jumping into the dimensions of their NDE's, we've seen Homers, we're about to see Scott's, but did we ever see Rachel's?

Edited April 9, 2019 by nekilarose
Forgot a thought

[iMonrey]

I want to know what the scene was all about with Homer in some other dimension (?) with the long hair, selling twigs to a woman in a cottage with a collection of back and chest portraits. I assumed that Homer had jumped to some other dimension where the industrial revolution had never taken place which is why he was the only one who didn't remember. I mean, huge WTF.

[Anela]

24 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

I want to know what the scene was all about with Homer in some other dimension (?) with the long hair, selling twigs to a woman in a cottage with a collection of back and chest portraits. I assumed that Homer had jumped to some other dimension where the industrial revolution had never taken place which is why he was the only one who didn't remember. I mean, huge WTF.

Maybe he died in that other life. I wondered about that, too. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 3/27/2019 at 6:48 PM, Melina22 said:

The next time she was at the bar, no one was like, "Sorry about your psychic octopus." Hee. 

I thought someone actually did say that exact thing?

Where did everyone connect that the detective is The OA's brother?  I completely missed any reference to this.

Episode 5 of the second season - I watched this in almost complete blackness. Even with turning the brightness of my screen all the way up, the entire episode was mostly just black.  Incredibly frustrating.  Did anyone else have this same experience?  (It's when The OA and Karim are going through the house.)

Edited April 22, 2019 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 4/10/2019 at 12:56 PM, iMonrey said:

I want to know what the scene was all about with Homer in some other dimension (?) with the long hair, selling twigs to a woman in a cottage with a collection of back and chest portraits. I assumed that Homer had jumped to some other dimension where the industrial revolution had never taken place which is why he was the only one who didn't remember. I mean, huge WTF.

It reminded me of one episode of the show Maniac when Emma Stone is in a world where she's an Elf.

[Athena]

On 4/22/2019 at 6:25 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

Where did everyone connect that the detective is The OA's brother?  I completely missed any reference to this.

It's implied because when Old Knight talked about the brother, they cut to Karim looking down at her from the round window in the audio section (similar to how he does at the end of S2 as well) and going to rescue her after she is strangled. Karim helped her a lot in S2 as well as going on his own personal journey.