I remember when the OA first came out on TV and my friends were talking about how awfully long the first episode was and how they would not recommend the show to anyone. I never even thought about the show again until I had to binge the entire season in one week. I looked at the length of the first episode and saw it was a little over an hour which was a little daunting but I thought it could not be too bad. However the first episode was a major struggle for me to get through and made me dread the rest of the episodes to come. It was all over the place in the beginning with a lot happening but nothing really happening at the same time because you did not really understand what was going on until the last 15-20 mins when Prairie-the main character- starts to recount her story from the beginning. Once the title sequence appeared and the real story began is when I started to really get into the show and appreciated the unique and clever nature of how the episodes and story were being portrayed. I can not even believe the first episode used to be longer when it first aired. So for those of you just starting the show it does get better after the first episode, so power through.
But getting past the first episode, the show is actually something I am glad I watched. I have never been a fan of the science-fiction type programs which I feel this program falls under, but this show was very entertaining and interesting to watch. There were twists and turns everywhere you looked and every episode had something I was not expecting. The writers were also very good at leaving cliff hangers and adding suspense at the end of each episode to make the watcher want to keep going and watching the next one. I am glad I didn’t watch the show on TV and that I got to watch it on Netflix and binge the entire season in a week because I feel that made the experience of watching the show more enjoyable and easier. A lot of things happen in one episode of the show and I feel if I had to wait a week to watch each episode I might forget some of the details that are helpful in understanding the next episode or the overall meaning. I am also grateful that the next season is just a few short days from being released onto Netflix so that I can start to see how the story continues.
I was surprised on how taken I was with this show because I did not think that in the beginning I was going to enjoy it that much. Though I will warn you some parts get kind of weird and a bit cringe-worthy so if you get bad second hand embarrassment be prepared. I also would not get too sucked in to all the characters backstories and the plot holes that appear in some parts of the show because I think it is all done for a specific purpose and that it is just the nature of the show that so much is going on at one time and you can not really connect all the dots because you do not have all the information. The ending can also be triggering in different ways and is almost unsuspecting but I think it is on purpose because the action itself though seems super huge and a big shock the real meaning behind it is to show and continue the story of Prairie and why she is here.
I think waiting to watch this show has given me a different outlook on it as a whole since as soon as I was finished I watched the trailer for the second season and things made more sense to me and it made me excited for the next season. But if I was just watching this without knowing about the next season I would not be as excited or enthusiastic about this show because I would not know if any of the things happening really happened or if Prairie was even telling the truth about her story the entire time which would be upsetting since the entire season was about her and her backstory and I would not be thrilled if I spent hours learning her backstory for it all to be one big lie.
This show was a great example on the positives of binge culture and why it allows better experiences for shows. I would gladly recommend this show to any of my peers.