THE OA PART II: Questions We Need Answers To NOW!

Okay, now that my spoiler free review is complete, I find that I have not found an adequate means of expressing my absolute love for Part II of The OA. And never mind adoration, I have questions – and lots of them. Though in expressing this truth, I know that I am not alone. Season 2 of The OA ended with intensity, the craving for more greater than the conclusion of season 1, and without a doubt more questions and characters’ fates hanging in the balance.

Beware of spoilers, the rest of this article tackles the questions Part II has painstakingly left us with…

Will we see Old Night the Octopus again?

Oh, The OA, a series that is unafraid to do the unthinkable. Who would have ever thought this underground Russian nightclub would have transformed into a paranormal stage show for a medium and her creature. Old Night and Nina (Brit Marling) are able to communicate to one another through the tentacles of the Octopus, Nina communicating for him to their audience. Though with Prairie inhabiting Nina’s body, Old Night knows she is the Original Angel. In exchange for killing her for 37 seconds, Old Night promises to show Prairie her true face, one that ends up being a pixie headed blonde on a plane. Was this her NDE placed upon her by the octopus, showing her the next dimension she will travel to like Homer’s NDE (Near Death Experience)? Is that why he needed to kill her?

The bigger question is whether Old Night will re-emerge in Part III. Will Nina travel with Prairie to the next dimension, allowing the medium abilities she possesses to stay with The OA in this new dimension – even if they are buried in the recesses of her memory? Does the Old Night have more to share with The OA, not just of the future but of the past as well?

And yes, in case you missed it, Old Night showed Prairie her true face, a pixie cut blonde who looks like the one Prairie inhabits in the new dimension at season end!

Will we travel to the others NDEs?

Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij have previously mentioned they had envisioned The OA as a 5 part series. As we have traveled to Homer’s (Emory Cohen) NDE and now Scott’s (Will Brill), does that mean that we will eventually travel to them all? Can we? To our knowledge, only Hap (Jason Isaacs) and Prairie successfully traveled to the new dimension, with the possibility of Homer as well. Yet, Renata (Paz Vega) was not within the circle of movements being performed by Hap’s monstrous robotic replacements. Without Renata can we even travel to her NDE? Furthermore, with the passing of Rachel (Sharon Van Etten) in Part II, can we even travel to hers?

Which brings us to our next question…

Could we see Rachel and Jesse in this new dimension?

Part II was not without its losses. Rachel was slain in the new dimension as she tried to escape from Hap, having witnessed the horrific nature of his experiments. Accidentally or not, Hap broke her neck, delivering her a permanent death, one he could not revive her from this time. Though Rachel was able to still enter a new dimension, one we know nothing about thus far and one we are still unsure if she can travel from, she was still present. Are ghosts dimensional travelers or is their dimension for the souls with ties to the world, ones that cannot move on (scientific purgatory)?

We lost Jesse (Brendan Meyer) as well, his PTSD from the school shooting becoming unmanageable, consuming his every fiber. Looking for a means to escape the pain, he begins taking pills, eventually getting his hands on Fentanyl patches – a use that seals his fate. While we do not see him again throughout the season as we did with Rachel, it does lead us to wonder. Will we see him again next season? Will we see Rachel?

Do they exist in another dimension? The dimensions live within each other, different parts visible depending on which dimension you are in. BBA (Phyllis Smith), as well as other mediums, are able to sense others within these dimensions, feel their presence in rooms. Could they have moved on to a new dimension? Even if they are not the individuals that body jumped, could another version of themselves be lurking in the new dimension we are about to embark on?

Are they in our dimension?

As I sit here writing this bit in silence, I still feel the sounds of disbelief escaping. The moment Jason Isaacs calls himself Jason Isaac and The OA is referred to as Brit, it was unbelievable the shocking finale that had been pulled off. They have transported to our dimension – or have they?

While not explicably stated, it does appear that they have have. Jason Isaacs and Brit Marling have been on the set of The OA, filming what seems to be the very scene that the real Hap and Prairie have just experienced. While the idea of jumping dimensions opens up for a potential repeat of seasons, an idea losing steam and originality, THIS is what makes The OA stand out. Instead of recycling, it is modified, a story of dimensional travelers – who come to us! In a brilliant last minute reveal, the vast possibilities come flooding. Knowing Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, what they have planned next is nothing we could ever imagine.

Is this how Hap will have The OA doubting herself?

The trees predicted to Prairie that Hap would make a huge discovery, that he would have her doubting herself, diverting her from her destiny the trees have called her into. They tell her not to worry and that her tribe has already been sent for. As Prairie falls from her glorious Ascension, the Brit in this new dimension showing signs of head trauma, this prediction comes true.

Hap’s discovery of controlling the dimensional jump is monumental, his targeting of Homer keeping Prairie right where he needs her. Before they jump, he in his own words reiterates what the trees have spoken. In this new world Prairie will not know herself as The OA but everyone else will. As the Jason Isaacs of the new dimension runs to her side moments after the fall, he tells the medic he is her husband, solidifying the control he can now have over her if she does not remember – he will have her doubting that she is truly the OA!

Thankfully she will not be alone….

Did the entire gang travel with The OA or Just Steve?

The trees said her tribe was coming for her, and they were not lying. The question is now who has come to her aid? Throughout Part II, viewers watched as Prairie’s followers from her original dimension try to make their way back to her, trying as they can to send BBA to her as it is only safe for her to go. In the final moments, in a gorgeous mirroring of the first season’s final moments, a unknown man is chasing after the ambulance, intensity heightening as it is revealed to be Steve (Patrick Gibson) catching the ambulance this time, facing off with Hap – who until this moment had no idea that OA had others who could help her. In case no one else does, I will write it here: one of the best season endings ever.

Was Steve the only one who jumped? Was it just BBA and him, Steve jumping at the last moment like he had always planned? Or did everyone follow, OA’s entire tribe coming to help her?

Whose is The OA’s brother?

Old Night mentioned to OA that she had a brother, a protector in every dimension. Though he was a little vague on the details – you know, like who?! There are a lot of possibilities. Personally, I think it is Steve. He is drawn to her and her to him. Though there are other possibilities as well. There is Hap, who seems to be bringing her along her destiny, though with a few mis”haps” along the way. There is also Homer, who travels with her, tied to her – though he didn’t really do much protecting in this most recent dimension. There is also Pierre Ruskin (Nina’s husband), who seems to know more than he lets on. Could he have had a part in previous and future dimensions, not only protecting Prairie in person but also behind the scenes? Lastly, could it be Karim (Kingsly Ben-Adir) ? He did watch her brief Ascension, as well as plummet into the new dimension. He is the first person to look out the Rose Panel window of the house without succumbing to its madness. He seems to be able to draw individuals from one dimension to another. Could he be the brother, the protector?

Is Homer alive?

The moment as Homer finally reaches OA, remembering everything, only to be shot by Hap was a shock to say the least. Knowing traveling to the dimension is the only way to save him, Prairie begs for Homer to find her, to now help her remember. But does he survive, do they jump in time? He was not within the room when Brit falls and is raced from the set to the ambulance. He was not the one running after them as it races off to the hospital. Did he survive and will he remember The OA in this new dimension? While he be her key to remembering who she is…

How does the FBI agent know everything?

Okay, the arrival of the Elias Rahim (Riz Ahmed) was the only true element of Part II that felt completely random. I feel that there is more to come with him in the future, though. He seemed too much of a storytelling tool, contradictory to the execution of every element of The OA, giving the tribe in the original dimension the final answers they needed to help Prairie. His knowledge and understanding of events and the nature of The OA was also random, as though he had done investigating or been informed of everything by a separate force. Having treated Prairie before and caught in her house searching in season 1, it is interesting now that he completely believes her, and had connected the pieces so quickly on his own.

How will Karim continue to play into the series going forward?

He reached the Rose window! Looking through the portal, he was rewarded with a view of the OA ascending into the heavens, only to be snatched back to earth, back into another dimension – our dimension. But what is his role in all the whole grand scope of things? How will he play into Part III? There is no way he can exhibit such a power of moving persons between dimensions, and then have no further part in the series. There is much, much more to him that has not been revealed yet, and with a story this intricate, it is sure to be epic.

The biggest question of all, how long will we have to wait for Season 3?

Two years we had to wait for season 2, though don’t get me wrong, it was completely worth the wait. If the time needed to make Season 2 as spectacular as it was, by all means I am willing to wait as long as it takes for Season 3, though could we try not to make it as long? As hard are we might want them to rush, perfection takes time – and if season 2 is any indication – Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij can take as much time as they need.