After two seasons of spiritual sci-fi, Netflix has canceled Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij’s The OA. The news comes from Deadline.
In a statement, Cindy Holland, VP of Original Content, Netflix, explains:
We are so 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. We look forward to working with them again in the future, in this and perhaps many other dimensions.
The OA starred Marling as a blind woman named Prairie Johnson who returns from a seven-year absence claiming that she is the “Original Angel.” Rather than explaining where she was during her absence—or how she got her sight back—Prairie reveals her secretive story to a team of high schoolers and enlists their help saving others in various dimensions.
The OA co-starred Jason Isaacs, Emory Cohen, Scott Wilson, Alice Krige, Patrick Gibson, Brandon Meyer, Brandon Perea, Ian Alexander, Phyllis Smith and Sharon Van Etten.
The show developed a cult following during its brief run, with many loving the show’s nuanced and fascinating technological themes. Here at Paste, we were fans of The OA’s big swings, arguing that “when its nesting narratives come taut, when its forked paths converge, The OA rewards the faith it requires, crafting an extraordinary analogue to sci-fi: spiritual fiction.” You can read the rest of that article here, or read another essay on the show here.