The decision to end this sci-fi cult favorite after two seasons has already been made, but
why exactly did Netflix execs decide to pull the plug on their mind-bending mystery thriller?
Here are a few reasons why we think The OA was canceled.
Netflix doesn't release its viewing figures, so it's impossible to say whether the amount
of people streaming The OA impacted the decision to axe it.
What we do know is that the streamer makes these decisions based on a simple ratio: viewership
versus cost.
Netflix has confirmed that it adheres to this formula, and according to The Wrap, an insider
with knowledge of Netflix's decision to cancel the drama two seasons in has confirmed that
The OA fell on the wrong side of the equation.
The OA was "a big creative swing" for the company, the source said, and while it was
one that Netflix was "proud to take" it just wasn't paying off.
In June 2019, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos reportedly ordered dozens of
his TV and movie execs to rein in their spending.
People familiar with the high-level meeting told The Information it was made clear that
bigger budget projects needed to bring in the viewers going forward — building buzz
and industry credibility was no longer enough.
The Netflix business model relies not only on the retention of subscribers, but the steady
influx of new ones, and shows like The OA don't help in that department.
It was critically acclaimed, yes, but the Netflix metric deemed that it was no longer
a draw.
As a report by The Information put it,
"Netflix has learned that the first two seasons of a show are key to bringing in subscribers
— but the third and later seasons don't do much to retain or win new subscribers.
Ending a show after the second season saves money, because showrunners who oversee production
tend to negotiate a boost in pay after two years."
Understandably, this approach isn't popular with producers, especially those running shows
designed to be told over multiple seasons, like The OA.
One creator of a Netflix show that was axed after two seasons alleged,
"It's really hard to get [Netflix] to put money into a third season.
For a creator, you want to be able to reward your audience with more seasons."
She's Gotta Have It, American Vandal and Friends From College, all canceled in 2019, also only
got two seasons.
Netflix has denied that this is a new policy.
On the surface, The OA is your typical binge-worthy Netflix show, teasing viewers with glimpses
of what's to come in order to keep them rooted in their seats for hours on end.
That relationship between show and viewer only functions if the build up to those glimpses
is satisfying enough in its own right, however, and in the case of The OA, it was very much
a one-sided relationship.
Simply put, The OA required viewers to sit through hours of speculative twists and turns
for ultimately very little payoff in return.
Questions were answered with questions that lead to yet more questions.
While traditional TV networks may be willing to churn out endless episodes of a show based
on mystery alone, much like ABC's Lost, Netflix isn't going to continue to fund a show that
loses people's interest before they get to the payoff.
The OA isn't for everybody.
It's wildly imaginative and incredibly well executed, but its mysteries are often a bit
too impenetrable.
Part I ended with a school shooting, thwarted by, for the sake of clarity, what we'll call
"interpretive dance."
One character swallows a sea anemone during a near-death experience, in the same episode
in which another character swallows a bird given to her by an angel with braille on her
face.
The OA Part II is equally weird, and, for some critics, it just went too far.
According to IndieWire's Ben Travers, Part II, "doubles down in a longer, more pretentious,
and less vigorous follow-up season that's part puzzle box, part romance, and wholly
insane."
If there's one single moment in season two of The OA that seemed to push people over
the edge, it's when Brit Marling's "original angel" meets a telepathic octopus.
Yes, a telepathic octopus.
We had already been through a whole lot of craziness by the time the show's protagonist
encounters this creature, whose name, by the way, is "Old Night."
"I hold hope for your species."
"He holds hope for our species."
This extraordinary octopus communicates with revellers at a packed nightclub via our dimension-traversing
hero, and it was simply too much for some viewers.
Even ardent fans of the show were left utterly perplexed by what they had witnessed, and,
in true OA fashion, answers weren't exactly forthcoming.
"What the f--- is this?"
"I just do lights, bro."
One of the biggest issues with The OA is that it seemed to be catering almost exclusively
to a cult audience.
The show built up a dedicated following after its first season, and rather than trying to
expand that following by making season two a little more accessible to new viewers, The
OA seemed to lean even further into the weirdness.
The result was a second season that isolated anyone that didn't have the patience for telepathic
octopuses and dancing robots, and isolating potential customers isn't part of the Netflix
business model.
Could the fact that The OA pandered to its fandom a little too much have been a factor
in Netflix pulling the plug?
According to Slashfilm's Joshua Meyer, the show seemed to take pleasure in the fact that
it created an exclusive club for people who were willing to go along with whatever it
threw at them.
Meyer wrote in his review of The OA Part II,
"It gathers fans around itself in a candlelit attic and seeks to regale them with a tall
tale.
The show has big ideas, but its characters are all too quick to chase magic mirrors on
blind faith.
If you're invested in those characters, then you might be willing to drink from the same
pitcher of Kool-Aid that they do."
Could co-creators of The OA Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij already be working on another
project for Netflix?
Their first show might be done, but the language that Marling used when she took to Instagram
following news of The OA's cancellation seemed to suggest that something else could be in
the pipeline.
The actress and producer posted,
"We feel profound gratitude to Netflix and the people we have worked with there for making
it possible to make Part I and Part II.
While we cannot finish this story, I can promise you we will tell others."
Those other stories could well be told via a different platform, but Netflix's statement
on the matter also suggested that their relationship with Marling and Batmanglij wasn't over.
Cindy Holland, vice president of original content for Netflix, said in a statement,
"We are incredibly proud of the 16 mesmerizing chapters of The OA and are grateful to Brit
and Zal for sharing their audacious vision.
We look forward to working with them again in the future, in this and perhaps many other
dimensions."
There's no denying that Marling is a huge talent with more to offer, and the "dark flair"
that Batmanglij brought as director of The OA didn't go unnoticed.
Here's hoping this daring duo works together again soon, and gets to see their wild visions
play out in full.
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