The OA might have been the most mysterious and ambitious series ever seen on Netflix. But just as the genre-defying show added a new twist with a mindblowing cliffhanger, Netflix canceled The OA. The OA followed the formerly blind Prairie Johnson, who is telling her incredible story to a group of misfits in a nearby abandoned building after she arrives home, able to see and referring to herself as The OA, after she had been missing for seven years.

In the three years between seasons 1 and 2, The OA gained a passionate fanbase and critical acclaim for its complex and moving story, with season 1’s 76% Rotten Tomatoes rating being beaten by season 2’s 92%. However, when Netflix addressed The OA‘s cancelation, executives implied that The OA had still not been attracting enough viewers to justify its high budget. Though fans staged protests and key actors expressed their sadness at the cancelation, The OA was not renewed, leaving viewers with a cliffhanger unlike any other on TV.

The OA Season 2’s Ending Introduced The Real World As A New Dimension

The Real World Dimension In The OA Might Not Be As Real As It Seemed

Throughout The OA, Prairie insisted that she could cross between dimensions by having Near-Death Experiences, and could teach other people to do the same thing. The OA had been ambiguous over how much of Prairie’s story was real. However, the season 2 finale finally revealed the truth in the most unexpected (and mindblowing) way. When Karim sees a window into what appears to be the real world, the characters are revealed to be on a TV set, with the actors called by their own names. This introduced the real world as another dimension in The OA’s multiverse.

Though it appeared that the viewer was now watching The OA being filmed in the real world, the “real world” dimension might not be what it seemed, as The OA showed significant differences in the “real world.” Season 2 of The OA is set in California, yet the dimension actors appear to be in the UK. The real-life Jason Isaacs (who plays Hap) isn’t married to actress Brit Marling, and yet they are married in this dimension. The OA finale left many questions, with the nature of this new dimension being one of them.

The OA Had A Five-Season Plan To Tell The Whole Story But Only Got Two

Jason Isaacs Was Shocked By The OA’s Proposed Season Three Plot

After the mind-bending twist at the end of season 2, a series as unusual as The OA could have gone anywhere. Though creators Zeb Batmanglij and Brit Marling (who also stars as Prairie) knew what would happen next, and had made a five-season plan to tell The OA‘s story, they were only given two. As Marling still hopes that The OA could continue, the exact plot details for season 3 have been kept under wraps, but it has been confirmed that the cliffhanger at the end of season 2 was going to be resolved.

Jason Isaacs knew what was planned for The OA season 3, as he revealed to Collider, saying that when Marling and Batmanglij told him about season 2’s meta cliffhanger, he asked what was going to happen afterward. Isaacs said “They sat me down and told me, and 15 minutes later, my jaw was hanging open. I just couldn’t wait to get started making it.” Isaacs has described The OA as one of his favorite series he’s ever done, and confirmed that if there were ever a chance to finish The OA‘s story, he would return in a heartbeat.

The OA’s Cancelation Is Still One Of Netflix’s Most Tragic

Netflix Offered The Creators An OA Movie, But They Turned It Down

The OA‘s other central characters provided some grounding for the existential story and had plot arcs of their own. They were relatable, with real-world problems, and several of The OA’s characters were ahead of their time. Betty Broderick-Allen (BBA) becomes a powerful protector: a role rarely afforded to older female actors even now. Buck and his actor, Ian Alexander, are both trans, which was an extremely rare casting choice in 2016. Ending the show without giving a resolution to their stories as well as Prairie’s makes The OA‘s cancelation more tragic than most canceled Netflix series.

A few years after The OA was canceled, Netflix offered Marling and Batmanglij an OA movie to wrap up the plot, but they declined. Both creators would rather condense their remaining three seasons into one final season, concluding The OA in a more satisfying way than a movie would allow. The OA is such a complex and many-layered series, even without the meta twist at the end of season 2, that a movie would surely not do The OA justice. There has been no further word on The OA, and it seems that its mindblowing cliffhanger will never be resolved.

Source: Collider