Netflix has announced its official plans to cancel the mind-bending drama, The OA, after two seasons— leaving the series to end on a big cliffhanger. The decision comes just four months after season two’s January premiere, despite the series having consistent well-received critical reviews.
“We are incredibly proud of the 16 mesmerizing chapters of The OA, and are grateful to Brit and Zal for sharing their audacious vision and for realizing it through their incredible artistry,” Cindy Holland (Head of Netflix’s originals) commented:
We look forward to working with them again in the future, in this and perhaps many other dimensions. The series currently has an 84 and 83 percent rating on RottenTomatoes.com among critics and viewers, respectively. Netflix, like other streamers, does not release viewership information. (Among individual seasons, two has a 92 percent versus one’s 77 percent critical consensus.)
The OA was spearheaded by creative duo, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who also executive produce and direct the series in their respective roles— Marling also stars as Prairie Johnson, a young woman who reappears after missing for seven years and is seemingly no longer blind. Now called “The OA,” she recruits a rag-tag team of local teenagers in the hopes of transcending other dimensions.
After quickly being picked up by Netflix after a multiple-network bidding war, the series subsequently went into production by March 5, 2015. The series’ eight episode order being part of a deal between the streaming giant, Brad Pitt’s Plan B, and Anonymous Content.
Since then, the series has gained a serious cult following despite being divisive amongst critics and has gained favorable and unfavorable comparisons to Netflix’s other original series, Stranger Things. Despite this, The OA‘s second season was spearheaded by Netflix for a January 2018 start for production.
“From the very beginning when we were on our own daydreaming a story, we definitely thought how can we construct something that, many seasons out, has a satisfying end? So there is an end and there is an answer to every riddle and nothing is done to just be sound and fury going nowhere,” Marling explained in an interview after the series’ initial first season. “It all goes somewhere. And as to whether or not we get to tell that, I certainly hope that we do. There is a place that season two already begins in our minds and a place in which it ends.”
Marling also posted to Instagram to spread the news:
The sci-fi thriller joins the ranks of other shows Netflix has also recently given the axe to such as: the animated comedy Tuca & Bertie, ABC import Designated Survivor, comedy She’s Gotta Have It and Chambers. After reported net loss of $24 billion in stocks, the streaming giant has continued to restructure its spending over the last few weeks—meaning audiences can expect other future news of series cancellations.