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The OA is a balls out mind gently caress of a show by the apparently wonderful duo of Brit Marling (who also stars at the lead in this) and Zal Batmanglij. This is the only work of theirs that I've seen but their portfolio is apparently good and 'creative' (make of that what you will) and this show has zero fear about trying weird poo poo in its story; just look at the respective finales of seasons 1 and 2 for the biggest examples. I personally loved this show (with a certain amount of disbelief suspension mind), but I have a feeling its a very divisive show; you either love it or you hate it. For a summary, I'll just copy what google has since its a good non spoilery lead-in to the first episode and things quickly explode out from there. quote:In addition to her role as creator and executive producer of this mind-bending series, Brit Marling also plays the role of Prairie Johnson, a young woman who returns home after a 7-year disappearance. Her sudden return is not the only miraculous occurrence: everyone is shocked to learn that Prairie is no longer blind. While the FBI and her parents are anxious to discuss Prairie's disappearance, she won't talk about what happened during the time that she was missing. Zal Batmanglij, the co-creator and an executive producer of the series, is the director of every episode. The main cast is great and includes Phyllis from The Office and a very good transman actor named Ian Alexander, with the always wonderful Jason Isaacs as the antagonist. If you had to take away one thing from this quick and dirty OP, it is the  emote personified cause you will feel it often enough. I really hope we get a season 3 since the ending of the 2nd is just that crazy, but it took 3 years to release the second, and I don't know if that was a creative decision or not.  Anyways, I know the netflix rules in tviv says spoilers are ok after the show airs, but could I please ask everyone to spoiler season 2 for now? I'm one of those that doesn't care about getting spoiled but I would have made an exception for this show. Anways, I apologize for my my quick and lovely op and I don't exactly have the best track record with upkeep and whatnot, but I was getting annoyed/bummed about not having a thread! Now go, goons, and bloviate to your hearts content.
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Apr 8, 2019 09:33
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This show kicks rear end! I really enjoyed season 1 but 2 was a major step up in almost* every way, loved the new location and Karim and the way it stepped up the story and allowed for even nuttier moments while still somehow not going overboard??? The ending was phenomenal and I have no idea how season 3 would work but I seriously hope it gets renewed. *So I would say the one issue I have is that season 1 was so obviously a story about trauma, and that manifested itself in every part of the season. Season 2, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have as many thematic elements - like it’s obviously still crammed to the gills with Marling and Batmanglij’s new age-y beliefs and spirituality but it doesn’t quite have the same through-line, it’s more about the events themselves and overtly strange stuff. This is a very minor complaint overall, though, and as I said I still preferred it. And seriously, episode 204 is one of the best pieces of surrealism I’ve ever seen on TV. Lynch himself would be proud imo
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Apr 8, 2019 10:31
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Oh holy gently caress yes, I loved Karim though 'chosen one' plots always get half an eye roll for me so S2 got a full eye roll  And 204 is the old night, yeah?
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Apr 8, 2019 13:36
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Agree 100% S2:E4 was so absurd. In the best way possible. I dragged my feet on watching S2 for a bit, but as soon as I started it I was pleasantly surprised. Really interesting how they basically ran 3 concurrent separate stories and then ran them all together in a really good way. It was really really good. (and totally batshit insane, as expected!)
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Apr 8, 2019 15:10
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I think the pool scene in the finale was the most repulsed I've been by a villain in a long, long time. Just so absolutely nasty and disturbing, while also being deeply human and strangely empathetic in its own way. Somehow that only made it more gross. I disagree about there not being a thematic continuity in the second season, though I think the 3rd and 6th episodes are very much in line with what Season 1 was doing rather than Season 2. The first season was about looking inward, and ambiguity and trauma. This season is all fractal, and full of exponential outward recursions and echos. It's about possibilities, to the point where it's shot through with a bunch of hidden little subcultures and enclaves that play out variations on the main plot, and the season culminates in the integration of these repetitions/subcultures/plot-lines/possibilities/personalities. The latter is what gives it away, I think. The finale sees The OA, Homer, Renata, and Michelle all overcome the splits in their personality and achieve a wholeness. That, and the synchronised sequence where Hap's MAGIC DANCING ROBOTS start being echoed by BBA and the Boys. Everything falls into sympathetic rhythms. Anything that doesn't spirals off into infinity and essentially dies, like anyone who's exposed to the house/Hap's pool. It's also basically a China Mieville story, which is kind of awesome.
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Apr 8, 2019 15:27
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I don’t have much to say since I’m still working through it, but thanks for setting up this thread, OP.
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Apr 8, 2019 16:03
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You are quite welcome, Komrade.
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Apr 8, 2019 17:59
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Open Source Idiom posted:I disagree about there not being a thematic continuity in the second season Oh I like all this a lot!
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Apr 8, 2019 18:26
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There is something about this show that is so compelling to me, and I have a hard time explaining it. If you were to describe any of the elements of the show to someone, it would sound like the most pretentious nonsense (and there are lots of people who see it that way), but for some reason it just clicks for me. The weird mystery vibe, the dream-like feeling of the whole thing, the grounded but slightly affected performances, it all just works. I would totally understand someone who didn't vibe with this show, but for me it just makes me want to watch it all as fast as possible.
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Apr 8, 2019 18:57
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After finishing S2 my housemate and I immediately started rewatching from the beginning. I don't know if we were just in different headspaces back when it originally came out, but I remember both of us being a lot more unsure about whether or not we loved it or thought it was stupid two years ago, whereas now I love every minute. I hope we don't have to wait another 2+ years for the third season.
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Apr 8, 2019 21:30
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Oh good, a thread for this amazing show. I remember watching season 1 and finding it so compelling. And season 2 was just as good and compelling. I ended up watching 6 episodes of season 2 in row even though I started it at like 10pm. And then of course I couldn't wait to get home to finish it even though work sucked on 4 hours of sleep. I'm pretty sure I did the same thing with season 1 when I found it. The pacing and intermingling of stories is done so well in my opinion. I've read somewhere that Brit and Zal pitched this to Netflix as a 5 season show with some kind of actual ending, so we'll just have to see if it works out. Iirc, that article also said that production is a slower than normal because, while they have an outline/general idea of where they are going, each episode is written and filmed in order and most of the writing is done by Brit/Zal. But man, I wish they could magically put out season 3 tomorrow because the ending for season 2 was just mindblowing and I desperately want to know what happens next.
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Apr 8, 2019 22:07
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What are some other good shows to watch if I like this one? Assume I've seen all the really big, well-regarded ones like Leftovers
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Apr 9, 2019 01:05
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John From Cincinnati has similar weird spiritual stuff but is way more down-to-earth overall. Maybe worth a shot though, I think it’s a very underrated show. And Twin Peaks: The Return but I assume you’ve seen that
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Apr 9, 2019 06:05
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Ishamael posted:There is something about this show that is so compelling to me, and I have a hard time explaining it. If you were to describe any of the elements of the show to someone, it would sound like the most pretentious nonsense (and there are lots of people who see it that way), but for some reason it just clicks for me. The weird mystery vibe, the dream-like feeling of the whole thing, the grounded but slightly affected performances, it all just works. This post is a great example of exactly how I feel about it. If someone watched a whole season and came away not liking it there really isn't much I could say to defend it. I can see how a person could hate it. For me, it works extremely well.
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Apr 9, 2019 13:40
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Season 2 was loving great. For some reason the movements really get me emotional, to the point where I cried seeing them doing them in the cafeteria in the "Story so far" catch up at the beginning. The ending was insane.
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Apr 10, 2019 19:41
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Victorkm posted:Season 2 was loving great. For some reason the movements really get me emotional, to the point where I cried seeing them doing them in the cafeteria in the "Story so far" catch up at the beginning. The ending was insane. I think what makes it powerful is what it represents. The connection that these people have found with each other, and how it's really based almost 100% on faith. Faith in OA, and also faith in each other that their shared experience is important regardless of whether or not others think they are crazy. That's what BBA is trying to convey to her cousin at the beach house I think. That she'd really kinda given up on having that kind of connection with other people until OA showed her that it was possible. Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 20:56 on Apr 10, 2019 |
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Apr 10, 2019 20:54
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Basebf555 posted:I think what makes it powerful is what it represents. The connection that these people have found with each other, and how it's really based almost 100% on faith. Faith in OA, and also faith in each other that their shared experience is important regardless of whether or not others think they are crazy. All the scenes with the cousin were great, because you could 100% see that the cousin was not wrong. This is absolutely insane, and only the fact that we have seen the craziness that came before makes us realize BBA isn't just a nutcase.
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Apr 10, 2019 21:06
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Change the thread to “a tongue enters my rear end” please.
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Apr 11, 2019 16:42
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Okay, so I finished this up last night. It’s a bizarre show. I can’t really say whether it’s good or bad. It’s not so bad it’s good, but it’s more like that joke about Nic Cage being both a good and bad actor. So much that is absolutely ludicrous happens in this show, not just on a supernatural level but also on a basic human interaction level. I’m reminded of the scene where OA first meets BBA and the viewer (or at least I did) assumes that BBA is convinced because OA has some kind of magical powers of persuasion, but then that is never actually revealed, so BBA 180s her position and completely changes her personality for no reason. How the gently caress did Hap get five giant cube robots and install them at his hospital just a day or two after having first seen the miniature versions? There’s a boatload of this stuff in the show, and that’s before talking about the actual supernatural poo poo. But then you have scenes like the climactic scene of the final episode of the first season where at the sight of the school shooter I’m agog because I cannot believe the show is seriously going there, it’s such a crazy tonal leap. But then the whole thing is genuinely moving and I actually buy the ludicrous interpretive dance stuff. There’s a lot of interesting themes in the show as well. While I enjoyed a lot of the really weird stuff in season 2, I did feel that the surrealism detracted from the human drama. It was difficult to care about Jesse’s OD when in a world with psychic octopi, metaphysical ghost houses and talking tree networks. I felt like they could easily magically revive him, or have him just be alive somewhere else, or time travel back so it never happened or something. Even if (as it later seemed) he really was permanently dead, the scope of the world is now so much larger that it just doesn’t matter as much any more. Also, and I am hesitant to talk about this since it has become such a sexist talking point of late, but this might be the most egregious example of Mary Sue-ism I have ever seen in mainstream media. Brit Marling has (co)created and written a show where she cast herself as the most wonderful and luminous person in existence, having experienced incredible hardship and yet is amazingly kind and empathetic, and is able to convince people to come together and do astonishing and unlikely things through sheer force of her personality. Then it turns out that she actually has magical powers, that she is chosen by a weird space lady with Braille on her face to be the chosen one, that she is not just apparently literally an angel but the “Original Angel” (still no idea what that means), and that everyone loves her and will frequently sacrifice greatly to help her. Then finally we find out Brit Marling decided “gently caress it, now this incredibly wonderful person just literally is me, and I’m married to handsome actor Jason Issacs”. It’s hilariously similar to the twist in the seminal work Trapped in a Island with Josh Hutcherson as read by Jenny Nicholson (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVa-sqcDYZ4). Self-insertion is usually such a totally hack move that Charlie Kaufman made a whole movie about that, which is why it’s usually restricted to fan fiction. But some how The OA makes it work despite it still being a hack move? I’m on board for the next season at any rate. I’m conclusion, The OA is the fan fiction Nic Cage of TV shows.
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Apr 11, 2019 19:12
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Comrade Fakename posted:It was difficult to care about Jesse’s OD when in a world with psychic octopi, metaphysical ghost houses and talking tree networks. tbf though the tree thing is gaining credibility and is really interesting: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/
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Apr 11, 2019 23:29
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Finished the season so general s1 + s2 spoilers: I don't really understand the point of Karim's character. Did he even do anything or was his entire arc just setting up for the third season? He had one job and that was to find Michelle and she was never even missing. And who is the "she" / "her" that they kept referring to when they mention things like "she sent [Karim] to protect her?" The OA sent Karim to protect her in other dimensions? Also in the episode with the (fake?) psychic and the TV, whoever was controlling the TV said it was only safe for BBA to jump dimensions but BBA didn't jump dimensions so what was the warning about? (Or maybe she did, since she was with Steve and Steve did show up in the last minute). I feel like there were 1 or 2 more episodes planned that they had to cut out that would have wrapped things up a bit better. I'm not saying that we need an explanation for everything, but it feels like too many things were introduced only to be forgotten forever. e: I liked the show though. Started watching s1 on a lark some time ago and I remember not being able to stop cause the story was just really compelling. The only thing I wish the show would have drawn more from (for s1) was exploring the concept of the OA being an unreliable narrator but it's a minor thing. S2 felt a bit off compared to what I remembered from S1 though I think that was because it was distinctly 2, maybe 3: (not really a spoiler, but just in case): OA/Nina, the original kids, and Karim story lines that (bigger minor spoiler) barely interacted with each other. Still, good show can't wait for s3. Hope it doesn't take too long. e2:  I didn't realize that the main actress was also the main writer and she wrote herself in as a literal angel.
Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Apr 12, 2019 |
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Apr 12, 2019 08:00
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I'm on episode 3 of season 1 and I kind of love this weird show Why am I feeling sympathy for a psychotic teenager who punched another student in the throat
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Apr 12, 2019 16:04
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I'm only two episodes into season 2 but I want the PI character to have his own show. He's super charismatic and smooth.
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Apr 12, 2019 18:32
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Boris Galerkin posted:
So basically, Karim got drawn in because when OA started telling her story to the hometown 5 in her original dimension, it drew Buck, Steve, Jessie, and French's echos from Nina's dimension to Nina's "special" house. Michelle is the only one of the 4 kids who solved all the riddles and ended up going through the stained glass window in the attic and getting trapped in "our" dimension. The rest succumbed to the poison coming from the basement and were trapped in a coma. Karim is this hotshot PI who finds missing kids so Michelle's mother brought him in. He solved all the riddles of the house and found the portal to the world where everyone is an actor making a show about the OA. Instead of going through the portal, he called Michelle and pulled her back into her own body in her dimension. I don't remember the quotes about Karim, but the she might have been the French dimensional traveler I guess? I think while the psychic may or may not have been real, the TV/mirror situation actually was Rachel's spirit reaching out to get BBA to come help OA in Nina's dimension. The reason it was only safe for BBA was that the other 4 kids were all locked in magical comas in HAP's map room. If they had come through to Nina's dimension they would have been trapped too. When they tried to Move, finally, in the hospital courtyard, Steve went through anyway because he's a stubborn douche sometimes, but lucked out because OA had already travelled to the new dimension. I'm guessing BBA went too and that will be part of the next season. In Season 1, I think OA pulls a lot of psychological/cult tricks to draw in and keep the kids and BBA interested. Don't forget she is using them to help her save Homer, Rachel, Renata, and the junkie guy whose name I just forgot. Chris or something? Her story seems true, but the "you have to leave the door open to let me in" stuff I'm sure wasn't necessary, just pageantry to make herself seem more mystical. The biggest issue I think is that its never explained where she figured out how to do that.
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Apr 14, 2019 11:32
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Man, this show really got its hooks into me, just like the Leftovers. Absolutely fantastic. I don't hold any supernatural beliefs, but the mysticism still speaks to me on some kind of primal level. Also, the octopus scene is when I knew that we were going places with this season. Doing something so completely batshit insane just cause it's an awesome scene and because you can, YOLO of filmmaking Also, the detective was a fantastic character and I love the actor. Hope he will be back for more insanity in S3
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Apr 14, 2019 18:37
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This show kinda rules. Thanks for brining it to my attention. I saw an add on netflix at some point but wasn't impressed with the title and the synopsis. I'm not that far into season 2 yet, but the end of the first episode is a great twist.
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Apr 14, 2019 19:16
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Well it seemed like a callback or reference to the leave the door open thing when Rachel reached out to Buck. it had that sequence of going through the neighborhood and open front door. im sure it was a retroactive reference, though.
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Apr 14, 2019 21:43
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Watermelon Daiquiri posted:Well it seemed like a callback or reference to the leave the door open thing when Rachel reached out to Buck. it had that sequence of going through the neighborhood and open front door. im sure it was a retroactive reference, though. I don't think it was retroactive. I'm pretty sure at one point they say to Buck "why did she visit you?" and Buck says "Maybe because I still leave my door open?"
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Apr 17, 2019 14:04
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Episode 204 this episode really got my hopes up for some cosmic horror with the Old One/octopus. Would have loved if they threw some crazy lovecraft poo poo in. Crazy show, interested to see it's endgame if it even has one. Hopefully Netflix increases it's release time to compete with Amazon/Disney/etc
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Apr 18, 2019 12:18
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given the way OA's NDEs depart from the canonical explanation for them, I say there's no reason why there can't be some future villain in that domain
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Apr 18, 2019 16:56
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Tertius Oculum posted:Episode 204 this episode really got my hopes up for some cosmic horror with the Old One/octopus. Would have loved if they threw some crazy lovecraft poo poo in. Based on Brit Marlings previous work don’t expect an ending in the usual sense. loving “The Sound Of My Voice”
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Apr 18, 2019 19:55
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Ok I just finished season 2. This show is loving great. I'm looking forward to season 3 so that means this poo poo's gonna be canceled on Monday.
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Apr 19, 2019 19:01
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Man oh man do I love The OA. Season 1 was great and Season 2 has its moments, but overall left me a bit disappointed. The first season was a lot more...grounded I guess? Meanwhile the second season is just bonkers. I have a lot of thoughts about the show but don't feel like writing a novel, so I'll just list some bullet points. * I love the movements. The way they function feels like such an ancient arcane power. I want to learn them and do them. I want to go "hissss patooey cht cht." It seems to me like the movements reference themes of the show and maybe even specific events. The breathing and certain movements make me think of drowning or dying in general. Some of them seem to depict being revived. Some might reference eating the "spirit animals." * I think the robots sucked and took away from the movements. In my mind the movements had to do with specific poses, breathing, and feeling/intention/will. But apparently you can just program a machine to move its little robot hands a certain way and that's just as good? * I heard some people hating on the school shooting scene but I thought it was great. Unfortunately these events are now regular and I don't think it's "going too far" to portray a shooting on TV, even in a fantasy setting like this. The moment the 5 are all hiding under tables, then make eye contact with each other, then all silently agree to do the movements makes me want to tear up every time. You've got these children who decide to risk/sacrifice their lives by jumping out into the open, betting everything on their faith in the movements. drat. * I can't fully enjoy any of the scenes with Karim. The character himself is fine but the world around him is just so dumb. The show's portrayal of technology seems so early 2000's. Secret underground video games, white girls with dreadlocks, and HACKING. I was cringing at that scene when Karim went around asking people "I'm looking for GAMERS! Do you know any GAMERS?!" * Octopus was bad. It's dumb that an animal is directly speaking to The OA in "the living world." I don't mind Khatun because she exists in the astral plane, for lack of a better term. The octopus' voice is dumb. The sexual tentacle stuff was dumb and embarrassing to watch. The same goes for the talking trees. * OA and Homer were able to revive two people with the movements, but the 5 kids could not revive Jesse. I think this is because the power to heal doesn't come from the movements themselves, but specifically from OA doing the movements. After all, she is the Original. She's special. * Scott says that during his NDE he received the third movement from a heavyset woman. I hope this turns out to be BBA. Time loop! 
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Apr 19, 2019 20:10
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Is the next season gonna be set in the writters room where they don't know how the hell they're gonna fund this crazy loving show?
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Apr 23, 2019 12:43
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Squack McQuack posted:* OA and Homer were able to revive two people with the movements, but the 5 kids could not revive Jesse. I think this is because the power to heal doesn't come from the movements themselves, but specifically from OA doing the movements. After all, she is the Original. She's special. I thought of something else during this scene. BBA's relative is sick in bed very close to them. Is it possible they accidentally cured the wrong person? There was even a shot of Steve breaking into the house after doing the movements all night and finding something, which was never revealed to us.
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Apr 23, 2019 16:53
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Boris Galerkin posted:Finished the season so general s1 + s2 spoilers: Did we watch the same show? She was missing. Only her mother and Ruskin knew where her body was and neither of them knew where her consciousness had gone, but Ruskin knew enough to know that her consciousness was out there somewhere (which is why he kept her body instead of handing it off to Hap). Then Karim finds her consciousness and returns it to her body. This is all explicitly shown on screen. BBA obviously jumped and I don't understand why you think she didn't. Is it just because they didn't show BBA in the new dimension looking directly at the screen and saying "yes, hello, I jumped dimensions?" quote:
I mean, doesn't this complaint kind of fall apart given that she has presumably given the rest of the cast the same treatment? They're in a dimension where ALL of the characters have their own real life names... This also seems like a weird nitpick when there are much more apparent flaws/plotholes. Like, why did the OA need 6 to travel but Hap only needed 5? And they could even be robots, it turns out. How did Ruskin possibly locate that specific house in an entire world of houses, using only three identifying features? If the house is contaminated with a hallucinatory gas, why do the cops swarm in there with no protection and also no side effects? Despite the fact the restoration crew apparently experienced quite bad side effects (demonstrating that the side effects aren't just from entering the house a particular way)? quote:OA and Homer were able to revive two people with the movements, but the 5 kids could not revive Jesse. I think this is because the power to heal doesn't come from the movements themselves, but specifically from OA doing the movements. After all, she is the Original. She's special. Homer and OA only used two movements but the kids did all 5, I think that's the difference. All 5 is for travelling not for healing. I do actually honestly love this show and will happily keep watching ignoring these gaps because the content is cool enough to keep me engrossed. After all, none of its real anyway so who cares? Hoping to see Part 3! putin is a cunt fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jun 12, 2019 |
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Jun 12, 2019 13:20
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Finally got around to catching season two this week and wow, excellent. Fascinated in how they'll handle this new dimension breaking the third wall.
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Jul 29, 2019 03:56
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Aug 5, 2019 18:05
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Aw, man. This show was completely bonkers but I was absolutely down to see how crazy it could get. If Netflix is going to just roll around cancelling shows I wish they would ensure that they don’t end on cliffhangers.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:20
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Well goddamn it. This show was a big old pile of crazy but it was fascinating and compelling and felt like nothing else on TV. Plus, I was really interested to see how they were going to handle the Dark Tower twist they added at the end of S2. So long, OA.
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Aug 5, 2019 18:30
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