What I’m Watching: The OA (Season Finale)

The OA: Season 1, Episode 8 “Invisible Self” (C+)

I’m not pleased. I stuck with this show for its entire run because I thought it was headed somewhere, and ending on a purposely ambiguous note that barely addresses anything that happened is far from satisfying. Starting with the sheriff arresting Hap but then returning to the basement to grab Prairie and Homer to cure his wife’s ALS was not an affirming or hopeful twist. Watching the two of them do their movements and then get her talking to them about the fifth movement was dramatic and intense, and then the hapless sheriff rushed in to hug his wife, leaving his gun behind for Hap to grab and then shoot and kill them both. Hap taking Prairie away and dumping her on the side of the road as punishment for thinking that she was important doesn’t track with how he had favored her earlier, and the worst part of it all is that the story ended there. Having her story interrupted by the arrival of a bunch of concerned parents was deeply disappointing, especially since we didn’t go back to any of it after that. Instead, it was made to seem that she made it all up, which still doesn’t explain any of what happened to her during all those years, and then the show ended with a disturbing school shooting which was prevented by everyone doing the movements. The concept is hokey enough, and I think that crossed a line since it represented something so unsettling so fantastically. To me, it’s just irritating because there were no answers, and there are still so many questions that don’t feel addressed by the use of the movements to stop a school shooting. I don’t usually ask for my money back after a movie, but this feels like the kind of situation where I would feel compelled to do so. I feel like I’ve wasted the past eight weeks, and that my time could have much better spent than on this intriguing but ultimately unfulfilling exercise.

Season grade: B-
Season MVP: Jason Isaacs as Hap

What I’m Watching: The OA

The OA: Season 1, Episode 7 “Empire of Light” (B-)

It seems to me a strange decision not to feature any flashbacks at all in the penultimate episode of this show’s first (and possibly only) season. That’s mainly because everything we’ve experienced back in Hap’s basement has been far more engaging than Prairie’s adventures in the present, and it feels like the show is trying to change course when it’s just about at the end. The most worthwhile development of the hour, which was Prairie getting recognized and photographed without her consent at a restaurant, provided evidence that Prairie hasn’t shared her narrative with her parents because they also haven’t been a part of hers or of the show. Alice Krige and Scott Wilson are both talented and haven’t been put to much use on this show, with Nancy’s outburst the first real instance of her getting some serious material. Prairie answering that she was one of the first angels was hardly helpful, and I suspect she won’t soon be reunited with her parents after that. It’s still better than Steve’s situation, where, upon learning of his violent throat punch, he promptly got signed off to be abducted by a reform school. Betty earns some points for following him to the gas station and paying $50,000 to get him released, but her character is still weird and doesn’t quite fit in with everyone else. Prairie is finally about to complete her story – let’s hope it was all worth it and this all leads somewhere resounding and satisfying, or to somewhere new for a second season to explore.

What I’m Watching: The OA

The OA: Season 1, Episode 6 “Forking Paths” (B)

This show is getting trippier and trippier, as the prisoners have taken to physically carving things into their bodies to remember movements and Hap thinks that Prairie has just traveled to the rings of Saturn during her latest NDE. It was captivating, however, to see Hap be so open and honest with someone, seeming like the more human of the two when talking with his mentor Leon, who causally discussed how important it is to distance yourself from your subjects before pointing a gun at Hap for having discovered something transformative. Hap killing his mentor was a cold act of self-defense, and telling the nurse to go look for the people who needed help was far more generous. Hap considers himself close to his prisoners but Prairie gave him a harsh, stern reminder of the fact that just because he feels that way doesn’t mean they’re sympathetic to him given all that he has put them through. Prairie has become so complacent, strapping herself in and outfitting herself for the experience, that it no longer fazes her. Prairie suggesting that, if he really wants to learn something about NDEs, he should put himself in the machine, was an enlightening suggestion that is sure not to be taken. Instead, Hap is so involved in what he’s doing that he left the door open and let the sheriff right in to see what he’s doing, an event that is very unlikely to turn out in the sheriff’s favor even if it seems like he has the upper hand at the moment.

What I’m Watching: The OA

The OA: Season 1, Episode 5 “Paradise” (B-)

Now we’re getting back to a very strange idea of this show that transcends reality and moves much more towards something supernatural that sounds pretty crazy. The opening of this episode was hypnotic, as we saw Hap in the outside world scouting his latest prospect and entranced by the music he heard playing from Renata, played by Paz Vega, in Cuba. Bringing Hunter with him to Cuba was quite the voyage, and the way that Prairie narrated his immersion back into the world was intense. Understandably, he didn’t know what to do when he had the opportunity to run free and tell those around him that there was someone after him, but Hap was ready for such an attempt at betrayal and reacted calmly and nonchalantly to express to him that there was nothing he could do to earn a rescue for himself and his friends. I also don’t think he could have done anything to prevent Hap from abducting Renata, especially with Hap threatening the very likely truth that if anything happened to him, those imprisoned in the basement would surely die of starvation. Scott cracked in a big way before he died, but then of course people don’t tend to die when you think they do on this show, and therefore his unexpected reincarnation was quite the spectacle. Homer and Prairie have been practicing their movements and seem to think that they brought him back to life, so now apparently that’s what Prairie wants to do with her five new friends? That seems to suggest that everyone else is still alive, as far as she knows, but I don’t think this new plan recommends itself as being terribly sane or likely to work, though who knows with this show.

What I’m Watching: The OA

The OA: Season 1, Episode 4 “Away” (B)

Perhaps it’s purposeful, but I have absolutely no sense of time when it comes to the events of this show. It’s easy to forget since she doesn’t look any different that she was missing for seven years. Now that we’ve experienced two episodes of waiting and trying and failing and then going back to square one, the extent of Prairie’s captivity is clear. Hap has a remarkable ability to remain calm, and he’s extraordinarily manipulative in the way that he speaks to his prisoners, making them feel as if they deserve the worst and he gives them slightly better than that. It was impressive how all the prisoners worked together to figure out just what he was doing when he was sending gas into their cells, and the answer is not pleasant. Learning that it took them three years to really figure out what was happening is beyond disheartening, and though Prairie has now officially decided her new name (in hardly the most convincing way), they still seem to be very, very far from getting away. I’m also relatively certain that none of them are going to be alive anymore, since Prairie is taking plenty of time to explain what happened and doesn’t seem to be in a rush, at least not since her urgent convening of the five friends, to go back and rescue her friends. In the present, we’re seeing the most of Betty, who is finally dealing with the aftermath of her brother’s death, a fact that is complicated by the revelation that she turned him in, he went to rehab, and then he died. Enlisting her out-of-work colleagues to drive her there in their van was an interesting development, and if nothing else, Prairie is now helping to connect those who would otherwise not interact in the service of a common good.

Take Three: The OA

The OA: Season 1, Episode 3 “Champion” (B)

This show is nothing if not suspenseful, as the second half of this entire episode was while Prairie, or The OA as we still don’t know why she’s known, recounted the story of what happened when she was being held captive by Hap. It’s fascinating to see the world through her eyes, or rather to experience what she’s feeling when she smiles as the sun hits her face and then she starts to act as Hap’s housekeeper and make mental notes about his habits and routines so that she can work to plan her eventual escape. The other three captives are intriguing, with one of them just concerned about letting his son know that he didn’t abandon him and sending him $500. Grabbing an envelope so that they could write a message and ask Verizon for help was smart, and the moment that it went too far down the current was truly devastating. Making him a recipe from her childhood with an added dose of crushed-up sleeping pills was creative, and it’s just a shame that he injected himself with an epipen after realizing there was tomato paste in her recipe and was able to counteract the effects of her poison. I kept thinking the whole time that this was all not going to lead anywhere but then she did make her escape after pushing him down the stairs, only to be seemingly knocked out with a gun after running outside. I definitely want to know what happened next, and the only mildly worthwhile thing happening in the present is the new information we learned about Betty and how she’s having trouble getting past the loss of her brother.

Round Two: The OA

The OA: Season 1, Episode 2 “New Colossus” (B)

There was an important clarification at the start of this episode that changes my perception of this show for the better. Prairie as a young Russian girl didn’t die and then come back to life in some supernatural way, but rather she had a near-death experience during which she died and then woke back up. That’s far more credible to me, and though the renewed gift of her sight is still a mystery, this show isn’t about reincarnation. Instead, we got a straight narrative of just what happened to her as she was sent to an American boarding school for the blind so that no one would know that she had survived the crash. Getting taken in by her aunt in a situation that didn’t represent luxury or even a moderate sense of decency, and therefore it made total sense that she would be adopted by the kindly couple who came planning to pick up a baby. Having night terrors of a different sort where she thought she was communicating with her father was an interesting development, and her story of what happened doesn’t contradict what we know to be true, which is a positive. As the people she picked to help her create the séance of sorts where she is recalling everything are bonding, we got a whole lot of information about what happened with her great quote – “I thought that casting a beautiful net would only attract beautiful things.” Of course Jason Isaacs, the fantastic actor who I liked most in “Brotherhood,” would be the villainous abductor who at first seemed like an extremely intoxicating and caring individual ready to help Prairie fully experience the world. The way that she was invited to call her parents and then escorted down to the basement and her cage was extremely well-conveyed, and I’ll admit that, even though I didn’t expect to be, I’m intrigued to see what happens next.

Pilot Review: The OA

The OA (Netflix)
Premiered December 16

It’s hard to keep track of everything that Netflix and Amazon are putting out these days, and during my research on TheFutonCritic.com, I made special note of this show’s debut, which I’m catching up to about two and a half weeks after it began. As soon as I saw that Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij were the creative minds behind this project, I knew I had to check it out. They left a lasting impression on me after I interviewed them for their work on “The East,” a terrific thriller about a group of ecoterrorists. I enjoyed and greatly appreciated Marling’s subsequent role in “Babylon,” a fantastic show that was cancelled far too soon. Now they’re back with Batmanglij and Marling penning the episode and the latter starring in it as a formerly blind young woman who returns home as someone else with the gift of sight. I’ll admit that while I’m wildly intrigued, I don’t really understand what’s going on and I’m not sure that the answer is going to please me. I don’t think I’ve seen a show before where the opening credits don’t roll until about ten minutes before the end, but what a scene for them to cover, which totally changed things in a way that I’m not sure I loved. Why she goes by “the OA” is the first question, and whatever notions of reincarnation this show has appeal to me less than the general air of mystery that will continue to satisfy me as long as it doesn’t swing too far to the supernatural. There are some dependable faces in the supporting cast, including former Borg Queen Alice Krige, “The Walking Dead” patriarch Scott Wilson, and Phyllis Smith from “The Office.” Ultimately, they’re just background to Marling and whatever this show is trying to be. I’ll give it another shot, but the final act didn’t go the way I would have wanted it to as far as a reassuring and affirming ending and redirect goes.

How will it work as a series? There are eight episodes commissioned for the first season, and after that trip to Russia, I’m not sure what to make of things. I suspect that we’ll find out more about what her name means and how this whole thing works, but that might take a while and could prove frustrating. It doesn’t seem like this show will withhold too much; I’m just not sure how thrilling and worthwhile the answers will be.
How long will it last? Relatively positive reviews for the show serve it well, and the fact that Marling and Batmanglij have their names on it should assure it a decent future. I don’t know if this show will find the audience it wants, but as a companion piece to “Sense8” that’s a bit more grounded and put-together, I think that this show could work and earn another season or two.

Pilot grade: B