The OA is still among Netflix’s most beloved shows despite Season 3 being canceled, but Hulu may spark its revival if ardent Twitter fans have their way.
In the wake of the genre-bending series’ cancellation, a #SaveTheOA movement lit up social media. It even led to crowdfunded advertisements in Times Square.
Now, the push to bring The OA back has evolved thanks to a response from Hulu’s official Twitter account:
Although the reply is from two weeks ago to the day, there’s been a new hashtag floating around from that time through now: #HuluSaveTheOA.
Why are so many people so passionate about this original TV series? Avoiding spoilers as much as possible, here’s a deeper dive into it.
CHECK OUT: The OA ranks No. 2 in SNIPdaily’s best streaming shows of 2019
A genre-bending original amid a sea of recycled IPs
No show in recent memory blends so many different genres, styles and high-concept ideas as The OA. Even detractors applaud its audacity and ambition. All the scripts were written from scratch, hence the wait between December 2016’s Part I and March 2019’s Part II.
Netflix spends more than any streaming service on original programming. They’re no stranger to taking big risks. Look no further than Stranger Things, which was rejected everywhere before becoming a global phenomenon.
As amazing as Stranger Things is, it’s very much reliant on nostalgia and an audience’s love of ’80s pop culture, aesthetics and sensibilities. Nothing wrong with that. It’s wonderful in its own right.
What sets The OA apart is how wildly original, imaginative and nonconforming it is. Sci-fi, spiritual, romantic, suspenseful, thrilling, action-packed, dramatic, detective-driven, mythological…it encompasses so many different elements and executes them all damn near perfectly.
CHECK OUT: Hulu + Live TV’s 3 million subscribers further dooms pay TV
Universal, unifying themes
Central to The OA‘s story is alternate realities/dimensions/timelines, but it’s way more fantastical than science-based. Brit Marling is the titular character, known initially as Prarie Johnson, who goes missing for seven years, and returns with her eyesight restored.
That’s essentially what happens in the opening episode. She’s a powerful yet vulnerable protagonist who recruits a group of high schoolers to help her with a seemingly impossible task.
Coming together to transcend insurmountable odds is about as universal as it gets. Moreover, The OA has an extremely diverse, inclusive cast, and that representation is as important as ever in modern entertainment.
It’s a show about belief, and it gets a lot of mileage out of “crying wolf.” Something about that idea is so emotional. The OA is certainly spiritual and touches on the divine often. However, it’s never sanctimonious or preachy in any religious context.
Finally, the show deals with what happens after death, and the Icarus-like pursuit of such knowledge by a twisted, ambitious scientist, Dr. Hap Percy.
CHECK OUT: New on Hulu this month (February 2020)
The OA: Netflix’s loss, Hulu’s gain?
Here’s how mind-blowing and awesome The OA is. Its Season 2 finale, to put it mildly, is a meta, baffling and utterly unbelievable twist of a cliffhanger.
Upon first viewing, my initial reaction was: “Seriously? That’s like the DUMBEST THING they could’ve possibly done.”
Not 10 minutes later, my opinion did a complete 180 to, “Wow, of all the possibilities they could’ve chosen, they went with the most unexpected one that could fundamentally change TV as we know it!”
No hyperbole there. For all the investing Netflix does in original content, it’s an absolute shock they pulled the plug after that ending. The OA Part II received a 92 percent from Rotten Tomatoes critics and an 89 percent audience score.
Meanwhile, 13 Reasons Why had a solid first season, but then fell way on the Rotten side of reviews from critics and audiences alike in Seasons 2 and 3!
The OA co-creators Marling and Zal Batmanglij have a plan for five seasons, and Hulu has the means to make it happen. With Disney at their back and a need to keep pushing boundaries on original series, Hulu has a golden opportunity and a large, built-in OA audience.
And hey, at least Hulu’s Twitter account runner seems in support of the #SaveTheOA crowd.