‘The OA Part II’ Early Buzz: Season 2 Doubles Down On The Crazy Ambition That Made Brit Marling’s Netflix Series So Weird And Wonderful
WhenBrit MarlingandZal Batmanglijdebuted their passion projectThe OAon Netflix in 2016, critics raved about the dizzying, dazzling, divisive sci-fi series that followed a young blind woman who returned after a mysterious disappearance with her sight restored. New episodes never debuted, leaving only a legacy of controversy and the memory of a weird modern dance scene in its finale. But now the series has returned, and it is as bonkers as ever.
The long-awaited second season ofThe OA, or as Marling and Batmanglij call it,The OA: Part II, drops on Netflix onMarch 22, 2019, but critics got an early peek at the series. Read aboutThe OA Part IIearly buzz below.
Indiewirewrites that in its second season,The OA"doubles down in a longer, more pretentious, and less vigorous follow-up season that’s part puzzle box, part romance, and wholly insane."
Insidersays that while season 2 starts out stronger than the show’s divisive first season, it “takes a turn into mystifying science fiction that is sure to leave people once again debating its brilliance and strangeness.”
The swaths of brilliant writing, gorgeous direction and cinematography, and twisting puzzle-like storytelling of “The OA” remains as compelling as ever. “Part II” kicks off with the best three episodes of the entire series. Though the middle section of the season began to feel more off-the-rails, we are eager to see how the final two episodes shake down.
GQraves about Part II, sayingThe OA’s “second season outdoes the first in every way.”
TV Guidecalls Part II “even more challenging, as it asks audiences to acclimate to new and even wilder layers of the show’s puzzle,” but if audiences suspend disbelief, they won’t be disappointed.
The Playlistagrees that season 2 is “superior” to the first season and “encapsulated the essence of a prestige television of entertainment past.”
From the critical reaction toThe OA, it sounds like if you were a fan of the first season, you will love the second even more. However, this was a deeply divisive series, and while reviews mostly leaned positive — if slightly confused by the show’s sheer ambition — it seems that if the first season wasn’t appealing, then it’s more of the same for season 2. But still, it’s rare that we get an ambitious, high-concept series likeThe OA, so credit must be given where it’s due.
