Early Buzz From Critics For THE OA PART 2 Calling it Brilliant, Ambitious and Seriously Special
We are just five days away from the second season of The OA, which is being called The OA Part 2, and I am so dang excited! The first season came out over two years ago and was so beautiful and refreshing. The season left us on an emotional cliffhanger with questions and concerns about the characters we came to know and love, and we’ve been pining for the show to come back and continue the story. From the intriguing and bizarre trailer we’ve seen, I’m not so sure we will get as many questions answered as we will get new questions. But I can’t wait to check it out.
Some critics have already been given access to the new season, and here’s what some of the reviewa had to say:
Indiewire writes 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.”
You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll cry from laughing or simply stare blankly at the screen as some of the weirdest shit you’ve ever seen unfolds, and you’re asked to take it all very, very seriously. For better or worse, “The OA” never blinks. Its imagination is its bane and blessing, rendering the show inaccessible to certain audiences while successfully distinguishing the series from any other.
Insider says that while season two 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.
GQ raves about Part II, saying The OA‘s “second season outdoes the first in every way.”
Not entirely ready to do away with the sins of the past, The OA still has some ways to go in pacing some of its episodes. The horror house installment is immediately followed by a 45-minute road trip undertaken by OA’s previous disciples in universe 1.0 which, despite Phyllis Smith’s charms, doesn’t justify an entire episode. But that’s a small price to pay for what has now revealed itself as one of the most ridiculously fun and earnest shows in recent memory. The OA Part II takes big swings wherever it can, and connects frequently. I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong about a show I’d written off. If Netflix has the sense to let Marling and Batmanglij tell the full story they’ve obviously mapped out for a few more years to come, this could be the beginning of something seriously special.
TV Guide calls 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.
Just as viewers of Season 1 had to actively choose to leave their front doors open and let OA’s story wash over them, Part II requires audiences to resist nit-picking and just let The OA happen, experiencing the show for the many oddities it has to offer. This series has never been meant for everyone, but for those who are true believers in the OA, Part II will be a welcome follow-up to the first.
The Playlist agrees that season two is “superior” to the first season and “encapsulated the essence of a prestige television of entertainment past.”
“The OA” hasn’t lost any creative steam during the over two-year hiatus between seasons. In ‘Part II,’ the narrative scope is wider, the interwoven scientific undertones more ambitious, the character arcs further traversed for richer development while allowing for new ones, the new San Francisco setting utilized impeccably to maximum effect, and Marling and Batmanglij meticulously tie up virtually every loose end from Season 1, while raising a new set of questions to be pondered.
The OA stars Brit Marling as Prairie. She also co-created the series with Zal Batmanglij. Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter series) as Dr. Hunter, and has an amazing supporting cast that includes Emory Cohen, Patrick Gibson, Ian Alexander, Phyllis Smith, Brendan Meyer, Brandon Perea, Will Brill, and Scott Wilson.
All this buzz sounds pretty positive! If you watched season one all the way back in 2016, I suggest you rewatch this week to prepare. I know I will! The OA Part 2 comes to Netflix on March 22nd. Are you excited??
via: Slashfilm