The OA Season 2 Release Date, Trailer, Cast News, Story, and More

The wait for The OA season 2 is nearly over as a new trailer for "Part II" has the series returning to Netflix in March.

The return of The OA season 2, also known as Part II, is finally right around the corner, and the new trailer has us hungry for more. According to lead actor, Brit Marling, principal photography wrapped in June of 2018, so the wait was certainly a long one. The second season will have 8 episodes, and the premiere episode will be entitled “Angel of Death,” in which we will finally learn the fate of Prairie Johnson. Cindy Holland, VP of Original Series at Netflix, assures fans that good things are in store and that series is built to last.

The official description of The OA season 2 shows how strange the reality of this series continues to be in Part II. Here’s the synopsis:

“The “mind-bending” story returns with The OA Part II, which follows OA as she navigates a new dimension, one in which she had a completely different life as a Russian heiress, and one in which she once again finds herself as Hap’s captive. Part II introduces Karim Washington, a private detective tasked with finding a missing teen. His path crosses with OA, as they try to solve the mystery of the teen’s whereabouts and a house on Nob Hill connected to the disappearance of several teenagers. Meanwhile, back in the first dimension, BBA, Angie and the boys find themselves on a journey to understand the truth behind OA’s story and the incredible realities she described.”

The OA Season 2 Release Date

According to the trailer below, The OA season 2 will return on March 22, 2019. Get ready for Part II to be as mind-bending as the first, which is now almost two and a half years in our rear view mirror.

The OA Season 2 Trailer

Check out the latest trailer for The OA season 2 in which, as Prairie says, “Nothing turned out as I imagined.”

The OA Season 2 Cast News

Deadline announced that Bria Vinaite, who garnered critical attention in her debut in Sean Baker’s 2017 Toronto Film Festival entry, The Florida Project, will be playing a recurring role in The OA season 2. The details of her character are still under wraps, but as sparse as news is about this series, any cast announcement is enough to pique audience interest.

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The OA Season 2 Story

Netflix really dropped a bombshell back in December of 2016. After only a few oblique social media teases, they debuted the trailer for their mysterious new supernatural series The OA on the exact same week of the show’s premiere, but having resonated with audiences, Netflix has no further need for any PR cloak and dagger when it comes to their mysterious new gem, proven by the fact they greenlit The OA season 2 and announced it publicly straight off the bat.

The first season of The OA centred around young Missouri woman Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling) who – after being missing for seven years – mysteriously resurfaces. Previously blind, she now possesses sight and odd scar markings on her back. However, as Prairie – who now calls herself The OA – deals with a flood of memories, she remains silent about her ordeal to both the authorities and her adopted parents Abel, played by Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead) and Nancy, played by Alice Krige (Tyrant).

But Prairie does choose to relay the truth to a group of locals, and sets out on a mission to retrieve people who went missing in similar circumstances to herself. We learn that her odd ordeal connects to an experiment dealing with the near-death unlocking of dormant abilities. The ongoing intrigue of the series lies in the fact that Prairie/The OA may not necessarily be telling the whole truth and possible twists on what little we know still might lie ahead.

If you’ve watched the teaser for The OA season 2 (above), it might not seem like there’s much to go on, but you can distinctly hear Prairie say “Homer?” along with a message in braille, which has been translated as “survived.” There’s also that photo of what looks like the Golden Gate Bridge – so, will Homer’s near-death experience be explained in the second season?

We can absolutely be assured of one thing: co-creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij know exactly what the ongoing story is; there’s definitely no Lost-esque uncertainly about the plot as the series moves forward.

“Brit and I figured out the whole thing. The whole thing’s a riddle. There are a lot of clues,” Batmanglij told Variety. “Very few people have really picked up on all the clues. Our sound engineer picked up on a major one that kind of blew my mind. I was like, ‘That is designed for only the closest, creepiest viewer to find.'”

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We also know that the near-death experiences, which are used to unlock “Movements,” will continue to evolve and play a larger part in the evolution of the story. 

“I believe in what science fiction can do, which is it can set up simple rules that it has to follow to try to illuminate something about the present that is somewhat invisible to us,” Brit Marling explained to Malcolm Gladwell in Interview Magazine in their March 2017 issue. “Except that, even in that illumination, you have to admit that you just don’t know—that some things are a capital M mystery that are beyond our five senses, and that we couldn’t possibly perceive or articulate. The OA is our attempt at writing and making a new human language through movement, this mythology we’re inventing.”

The OA Season 2 Cast

Casting news for The OA season 2 has been very hush-hush, like most news surrounding the show. Brit Marling has made her involvement pretty clear on social media as has Jason Isaacs (Event Horizon), but there’s been no confirmation from Patrick Gibson (Cherry Tree) or Brenden Meyer (The Guest).

Michael Ahr is a writer, reviewer, and podcaster here at Den of Geek; you can check out his work here or follow him on Twitter.