The mysteries of The OA will go unanswered, because the show has been canceled. Photo : Netflix

All of the dangling mysteries on Netflix’s The OA will, unfortunately, remain that way. Netflix has canceled the show after two seasons.


“We are incredibly proud of the 16 mesmerizing chapters of The OA,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix’s VP of Original Content. “And are grateful to Brit [Marling] and Zal [Batmanglij] for sharing their audacious vision and for realizing it through their incredible artistry. We look forward to working with them again in the future, in this and perhaps many other dimensions.”

The show, which followed a woman (Marling) who disappeared for seven years and then reemerged as an almost totally new person, gained lots of fans over its two seasons, mainly from hardcore sci-fi nerds. The second season was released only a few months ago so those fans were probably hoping to hear news of a third season soon. But, instead, it’s this.


So yeah...that big cliffhanger? Likely won’t get resolved. The show really dove deep into the sci-fi in its sophomore season (and got a little meta), with our main characters jumping into the bodies of people who look just like them in other dimensions. Where they left off at the end was even more bizarre than where they started. It’s going to be tough not knowing what happened to all the characters.

Oh, and we can’t forget the telepathic octopus!

Marling and Batmanglij are no strangers to leaving questions about their work unanswered. Their debut feature, then excellent, minimalist sci-fi film Sound of My Voice, also ended with a shocking revelation, one that the pair expressed interested in exploring in future works. That never happened, but The OA was pretty much the next best thing. However, even if we won’t get answers to most of those questions, we love that Marling and Batmanglij keep asking them.


Update: An earlier version of this post misidentified the telepathic squid as a telepathic octopus (io9 regrets the error).

Also, Marling took to Instagram to thank fans, share what The OA meant to her, and to weigh in on its untimely end.


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