Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Streaming, Rotten Tomatoes, Film and TV, Reddit
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Netflix, Streaming, Rotten Tomatoes, Film and TV, Reddit
An 'addictive' Netflix series with an 'unusual' storyline still has fans raving six years after its cancellation.
TV can be a cutthroat industry and we've all had our (un)fair share of favorite shows scrapped prematurely. However, this particular Netflix series managed to rack up more than 96.1 million views across its first season alone, between January 2023 and December 2024, according to FlixPatrol figures, despite being axed in 2019.
Made up of two, eight-episode seasons, Netflix executives claimed the show would be 'unsustainable as an ongoing project,' as per the Hollywood Reporter.
Now, one of the show's main actors has offered a beacon of hope that the show could be revived. The TV series was executive-produced by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, premiering on Netflix in December 2016.
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The story follows Marling as Prairie Johnson, a young woman who randomly reappears in her Midwestern hometown, having been missing for seven years.
As a teenager, when she vanished, she was blind - yet upon her return, she can see - and won't spill to neither the FBI nor her adoptive parents (The Walking Dead's Scott Wilson and Star Trek's Alice Krige) as to how such a miracle occurred.
Calling herself the 'Original Angel,' Prairie assembles five strangers to guide them through a series of ritual steps called the 'Five Movements'.
She claims these movements can open inter-dimensional portals and is determined to rescue the other captives who were held with her by an obsessive scientist named Dr Hap (The White Lotus' Jason Isaacs).
The series in question is called The OA, and you can watch its trailer below:
Recently taking to Reddit, one Netflix subscriber embarking on a 14-hour car journey was looking for an 'addictive' series to get lost in.
"Ideally seeking one of those shows where it would take a physical intervention to stop you watching the next episode," they added. "Like Lost or Severance... Something compelling and bingeable that I haven’t seen!"
More than 100 people weighed in with their suggestions, but one person's suggestion stood out: "The OA, the same sort of sci-fi mystery type show like Lost and Severance."
A second agreed: "This is the answer."
The praise continued over on Rotten Tomatoes, where the show racked up a score of 84 percent across both seasons. But people made their disappointment over The OA's cancelation crystal clear.
One fan loved the first season's 'unusual' story line, but added: "I was so disappointed that they canceled it, considering it had pretty good reviews."
A second social media user described it as 'peak television' as a third added: "Amazing show. Hit me hard. Can't believe they canceled it."
Actor Isaacs has insisted that The OA could one day return. Speaking to Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on LIVE with Kelly and Mark last month, Ripa admitted she'd binged and rewatched the series multiple times.
She even knew 'the moves,' referring to the Five Movements.
Isaacs, clearly impressed, recalled how die-hard fans had performed these 'moves' outside Netflix’s headquarters to protest the show's cancellation.
“By the way, it’s not over for us," he teased.
The actor then revealed he'd met with Marling and Batmanglij a few weeks earlier, adding: "We can't let it go. I was with them just a couple of weeks ago, and we have decided, whatever it takes."
He continued: "I think there's only about 40 million people around the world who want to watch it. It was a very successful show. So hopefully, they'll watch whatever we do."
Neither the show's creators nor anyone else involved in the show have confirmed if a revival is on the cards, however.
Both seasons of The OA are streaming now on Netflix.