‘The OA’ Ending: 14 Clues You Might Have Missed [Part 1]
It is the new Netflix series that has transfixed the imagination of viewers. The OA is a mystery drama with a mind-bending twist. Throughout the course of eight episodes, The OA unravels the yarn of Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling), a blind woman who went missing for seven years. In the series premiere, she returns as mysteriously as she vanished with one major difference, her sight has been restored.
As word of her miraculous return spreads, she settles on five people with whom, to share the fantastical story of her disappearance. By the time Season 1 of The OA comes to a close, you might be dealing with more questions than answers. As The Hollywood Reporter‘s interview with The OA‘s creators points out.
Given the expansive web The OA weaves, it is easy to have missed a few clues along the way. Below is the first half of fourteen (14) clues you might have missed that could help explain the ending of The OA. To read Part 2 on Inquisitr, click here.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for The OA Season 1.
#1 Clue: Prairie does not reach out to Homer’s family when she returns home.
When Prairie returns home, she obsesses over getting internet access. When she obtains it, she searches YouTube for the archival footage of Homer (Emory Cohen). She knows enough about Homer to find a clip of him, amid the myriad of video clips on YouTube. She clearly knows his name, and yet she makes no attempt to contact his family. Find out about his child, or report him missing.
#2 Clue: The books that supposedly inspired Prairie’s story are massive in length and appear to have never been read.
The books Alfonso finds in Prairie’s bedroom show no signs of being read. They are all in pristine shape. They are also thick books, books that would have taken a long time to read.
When did Prairie find the time to read all of them and construct her elaborate story? Especially when she would have only been able to begin reading them after her vision had returned.
#3 Clue: Prairie never asks “the five” to verify her story.
Prairie/The OA never asks “the five” to test or verify her story. She never directs them to the YouTube clip of Homer, so they can at least affirm his existence.
When “the five” search the internet for the people Prairie claims have been abducted, no one can find any proof of their existence. Let alone their abductions. Even searches for Homer, someone with a supposed public profile, apparently turn up nothing, which is peculiar. Unless the video is a figment of Prairie’s imagination.
#4 Clue: Alfonso runs into Elias at Prairie’s house.
It is one of the odder moments of The OA‘s Season 1 ending. While Alfonso/French (Brandon Perea) is looking through Prairie’s house, he discovers Elias (Riz Ahmed) aka “the Listener” roaming around the Johnson residence as well. The timing is also interesting. It is conveniently around the time Alfonso discovers the incriminating stash of books in Prairie’s bedroom.
#5 Clue: Prairie might tell her parents a different story about her captivity than she tells “the five.”
Viewers of The OA never explicitly hear the story Prairie tells her parents about her captivity. From what can be gathered from how she begins, it does not sound like she will make any mention of swallowing birds or traveling to different dimensions. Did she tell her parents the same story as she shared with “the five,” the true story, or one she thought her parents could handle?
#6 Clue: Prairie could not have personally inflicted the marks on her back.
It is highly unlikely that Prairie could have carved the messages into her own back, and therefore created her scars. It is next to impossible. Had she been successful, it would not have looked like anything recognizable enough to warrant the effort.
#7 Clue: When “the five” complete the dance that thwarts the school shooting, none of them go to another dimension.
When “the five” have finished executing all of the movements with perfect feeling in The OA finale, none of them have traveled to a different dimension. The whole idea that Prairie had been promulgating was that when the “five movements” were completed, she and her fellow captors were going to be freed from their prison. If it did not happen for “the new five,” how could it have worked for her fellow prisoners?
What these clues could mean for the ending of The OA remains to be seen. The series has yet to be renewed for a second season by Netflix. Stay tuned to Inquisitr, to read Part 2 and learn the final seven (7) clues you might have missed. The OA Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.
[Featured Image by JoJo Whilden/Netflix]
