‘The OA’ Is the Most Underrated Sci-Fi Mystery Series on Netflix

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Even though it’s been a while since it first came out, Netflix’s The OA is a really unique and captivating sci-fi mystery that deserves another look. Some shows are best experienced knowing as little as possible, and that’s definitely true for The OA. It’s similar to how you’d want to go into AppleTV+’s Severance or the first episode of Paradise without having the surprises ruined. The OA is one of those shows, and there are plenty of reasons to check it out, even years after its initial release on Netflix.

Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the creators of The OA, have a history of working together on intriguing projects. These include the FX/Hulu thriller A Mystery at the End of the World and the 2011 film Sound of My Voice, which they co-wrote and Batmanglij directed. However, The OA remains their most captivating work, and its sixteen episodes are perfect for a gripping marathon viewing experience.

‘The OA’ Is One of Netflix’s Most Creative and Unique Sci-Fi Mystery Series


Netflix

The series The OA is full of surprises. The first part debuted on Netflix on December 16, 2016, with eight episodes. A second part, also with eight episodes, followed on March 22, 2019. The story begins in the first episode, “Chapter 1: Homecoming,” with a young woman named Prairie Johnson (played by Brit Marling) disappearing and then reappearing seven years later. She now calls herself “The OA” and shares a remarkable story about her past, which continues in the second episode, “Chapter 2: New Colossus.”

That’s all the information anyone really needs about the story. Like standout sci-fi shows such as Severance and Pluribus, it’s full of surprising twists that will keep you hooked. However, The OA feels very different from those series. While other sci-fi shows tend to stick to their core ideas, The OA changes direction completely, and does so surprisingly fast.

Although Netflix cancelled The OA, Brit Marling has hinted she’d be willing to continue the show if the opportunity arose. In a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she said they could “serve the rest of the story” if circumstances allowed. Like many other Netflix shows that ended abruptly, The OA doesn’t offer a completely conclusive ending. The show is complex and layered, and another season could have provided a more satisfying resolution.

Like many ambitious TV shows, some viewers felt the initial concept of The OA was stronger than the series itself. While the ending of Season 1 wasn’t universally loved, and Season 2 could be confusing throughout, that’s actually part of what made The OA so compelling. It wasn’t a show that gave you easy answers; almost every scene forced you to question what was truly happening.

While The OA has some unsettling scenes and not everyone will love all of its story choices, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij are truly compelling creators. Marling revealed in an interview with Glamour that she and Batmanglij essentially performed a four-hour version of the eight-hour first season for Cindy Holland, who was then Netflix’s VP of Original Content. According to Marling:

It felt more natural to create key scenes spontaneously than to plan them out in advance. Capturing the dynamic shifts and visual energy is difficult to do just with words, since it’s all about what you see.

When The OA first came out in 2016, it generated some buzz, but with so many streaming shows available now, it’s largely been forgotten. If you’re looking for a unique and captivating sci-fi series on Netflix, though, it’s a great choice.




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2026-01-26 02:03