Netflix announced at the beginning of the month that its sci fi drama The OA would not be returning for a third season and that set off a fan outcry similar to the one that followed the cancellation of Sense8 in 2017. Fans of the latter series staged a worldwide campaign that eventually lead to the streamer greenlighting a two-hour movie to act as a series finale (though they are still lobbying for a full third season). The OA faithful have been quite diligent as well and have put up and online petition while also getting hashtags like #SaveTheOA trending on social media. In addition, they staged a flashmob and even a hunger strike to show their support for the cancelled series. But sadly, it appears that their efforts are for naught thus far.
According to Variety, this will not lead to a series finale similar to what Sense8 received, and that is in part because series creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij do not want to go that route. Apparently they had conversations with Netflix about a final movie, but since the original plan was for the show run over five seasons, the creators do not believe that a two-hour wrap would do justice to the story. Marling has the following to say to fans in an Instagram post:
Your words and images move us deeply. Not because the show must continue, but because for some people its unexpected cancellation begs larger questions about the role of storytelling and its fate inside late capitalism’s push toward consolidation and economies of scale.
The OA is owned by Netflix, so it would not be easy for another venue to come in and save the show. Thus is seems unlikely that there will be any resolution to the series unless the creators continue the story in some other medium such as comics. This reveals the glaring flaw of Netflix’s churn and burn strategy with its original programming. Having only a few seasons is not a necessarily a problem if the creators know in advance what they will have to work with. But it their timeline differs with the expectations of Netflix execs, or if those execs grows impatient with the performance of the show, then Netflix becomes yet another television outlet that is killing off shows too soon and disappointing its audience.
Fans of The OA continue to lobby for the show with the online petition having surpassed 80K signatures and the series currently leading our Season End Poll. It will be an uphill battle at this point, but if fans can convince enough people to subscribe to Netflix to watch the show, that would lead to a revenue boost linked directly to their efforts and perhaps get the attention of Netflix execs. Maybe the streamer would greenlight two or three movies or perhaps one final season and that would be enough to provide some sort of resolution to the show’s storylines. In the current environment, the television networks need to understand the consequences of disappointing their viewers and they need to make the necessary adjustments lest they succumb to the Peak TV crunch.
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Apple should buy the two seasons out for Apple TV+, and give them at least two more. (I know, won’t happen.) Didn’t really like the first season of The OA, but the second one was fantastic.