It has been some time since I watched season 1 of The OA and found myself carried along by the intrigue of the story and the visual impact of the design. Over that time the feeling of the whole thing collapsing when push came to shove has faded and I was left with the memory of enjoying it mostly, but that the ending was weak. Of course, on reflection the ending was more than 'weak' since it essentially tore up so much of what went before, but still - in the end I returned to the second season, despite saying I would not in the wake of finishing the first.
It is no real surprise that it does the same trick again here, albeit not quite as good, and without the same audience - because we have already seen the little man behind this grand curtain. Perhaps they know this, and maybe it would be right to say that the show plays to the things that people liked before? If that is true then you can't blame the show for going all in on ideas, but not paying off on any of them; or that it looks and sounds great throughout, while not having much depth at all; or that very little of it matters when it gets to the end, which throws everything up in the air again. That ending deserves a certain amount of ridicule, but first it is important to note that the show does do things well.
Mostly, it takes itself seriously - and this helps a lot. It introduces ideas all over the place, doesn't feel the need to explain or justify any of them, and if they are dropped and never mentioned again once they serve a purpose, but yet it believes in itself throughout. The production values are high, and the playing straight makes it feel like all of this is building and all of it is a puzzle to be solved. Of course the genius is that there is no such formed whole here - only lots of clues and ideas which allow fans to theorize and wonder, before the next thing takes them away. This does work though - I enjoyed the journey in the first season and mostly did here too. Of course knowing that it was probably all nonsense again limited me a bit, but it was well delivered. The framing of the detective mystery worked well, and allowed a strong performance from Ben-Adir, but otherwise it is too familiar and offers too little of real substance in this creation, or emotional grit to go with.
The ending will further divide the true fans from those going with it. It reminded me very much of the very same device used in BBC's series Gangsters many years ago, so nothing new. In short, we have the characters jump into a dimension where they appear to be the actors making the show we have just watched - with only a few characters seeing that. It is a special type of madness, and even allows itself a version of the "hello to Jason Issacs" meme. Like the first season, it draws a line under everything that had gone before, but then put a line through most of it as well. So many small and big questions are left unanswered - but it is almost easier to take this time since it is clear that there are no answers on offer, probably because they don't exist. I didn't find it annoying this time at all, because it is all so absurd and silly that it is hard to be too angry at it - like really, is there anyone who can still think this is some great work of genius here, and that it just needs yet another season to bring it all together into one great prize?
So, it fooled me again, but at least I knew it this time, and could enjoy it on that level. It continues to be glossy, interesting, and pointless; last time I said I'd probably not bother with the second season, but this time I'll certainly be there if they make the third, but only to see how much more silly it can all get.
It is no real surprise that it does the same trick again here, albeit not quite as good, and without the same audience - because we have already seen the little man behind this grand curtain. Perhaps they know this, and maybe it would be right to say that the show plays to the things that people liked before? If that is true then you can't blame the show for going all in on ideas, but not paying off on any of them; or that it looks and sounds great throughout, while not having much depth at all; or that very little of it matters when it gets to the end, which throws everything up in the air again. That ending deserves a certain amount of ridicule, but first it is important to note that the show does do things well.
Mostly, it takes itself seriously - and this helps a lot. It introduces ideas all over the place, doesn't feel the need to explain or justify any of them, and if they are dropped and never mentioned again once they serve a purpose, but yet it believes in itself throughout. The production values are high, and the playing straight makes it feel like all of this is building and all of it is a puzzle to be solved. Of course the genius is that there is no such formed whole here - only lots of clues and ideas which allow fans to theorize and wonder, before the next thing takes them away. This does work though - I enjoyed the journey in the first season and mostly did here too. Of course knowing that it was probably all nonsense again limited me a bit, but it was well delivered. The framing of the detective mystery worked well, and allowed a strong performance from Ben-Adir, but otherwise it is too familiar and offers too little of real substance in this creation, or emotional grit to go with.
The ending will further divide the true fans from those going with it. It reminded me very much of the very same device used in BBC's series Gangsters many years ago, so nothing new. In short, we have the characters jump into a dimension where they appear to be the actors making the show we have just watched - with only a few characters seeing that. It is a special type of madness, and even allows itself a version of the "hello to Jason Issacs" meme. Like the first season, it draws a line under everything that had gone before, but then put a line through most of it as well. So many small and big questions are left unanswered - but it is almost easier to take this time since it is clear that there are no answers on offer, probably because they don't exist. I didn't find it annoying this time at all, because it is all so absurd and silly that it is hard to be too angry at it - like really, is there anyone who can still think this is some great work of genius here, and that it just needs yet another season to bring it all together into one great prize?
So, it fooled me again, but at least I knew it this time, and could enjoy it on that level. It continues to be glossy, interesting, and pointless; last time I said I'd probably not bother with the second season, but this time I'll certainly be there if they make the third, but only to see how much more silly it can all get.