Netflix's trippy mystery show 'The OA' is coming back for another season
The show's cocreator Zal Batmanglij, who also directed all eight episodes of the first season, told reporters on Wednesday that Netflix was the bravest of the different companies and networks the show (produced by Brad Pitt's Plan B) approached, two of which gave the creators pilot orders.
"We didn't think there was any home for what we were making," Batmanglij said. "I think other networks would have ordered a pilot, but they would've never gone through [to series]."
He later explained what he loved about Netflix's reach.
"I think that the arthouse thing is an elitist idea. You release it, a small group of people see it," he said. "Netflix is the exact opposite. Netflix is so egalitarian. As a filmmaker, that's so refreshig. Everyone can see it."
The first season followed Prairie Johnson (played by Brit Marling, also a cocreator of the show), who returns to her hometown after disappearing for seven years. That's just part of the mystery. As a young girl, Prairie was blind. But when she comes back to the town in her 20s, Prairie has her sight back. How that's possible and where Prairie was for those seven years become the big mysteries of the season.
Marling's costars include Emory Cohen of "Brooklyn," Scott Wilson of "The Walking Dead," and "Harry Potter" star Jason Isaacs.