Over the past week I was finally able to find some time to watch The OA. (I’ve heard so much talk about it!) For those not familiar, this is a Netflix series about a young woman, Prairie Johnson, who was missing for seven years and returns home. Seems like a straightforward sort of drama, right? Well, there’s more than one twist to the story, the first of which is the fact that when Prairie went missing she was blind and when she returns her sight has been restored. But that’s just the beginning. 

Even though the show has been on Netflix since December, I don’t want to give away spoilers because it is well worth watching and trying to figure out on your own. It alternates between present day, with Prairie attempting to acclimate to “real life”, deal with her parents and tell her story to a small group she has gathered, to the time of her captivity, the people she was held with and the experiments to which they were subjected, to her childhood in Russia with her father, how she lost her sight and how she ended up in the US with new parents.

The storytelling in The OA is really well done and keeps you engrossed. Interestingly, the episodes are not all the same length – 30 minutes, 40 minutes – however long it takes to tell that portion of the story and keep you wanting more. And the acting is impressive, especially from Brit Marling as Prairie (she also co-created the series). There is a flatness that makes you feel her victimization, but also an inexplicable depth.

There is a lot to take in and a mere eight episodes in which to do so. By the end of the series you’re left wondering what really happened and how much of what Prairie described of her captivity could actually be true. Then again, there’s no doubt that she did go missing and she did return a changed person. I like shows like this – the ones that make you think and stay with you after they end.