It’s been approximately 21 days since Netflix canceled The OA, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij’s spectacularly strange sci-fi series about alternate dimensions and dancing and octopi. Fans, to put it mildly, have not been taking it well, with one supporter even going so far as to launch a hunger strike outside of Netflix headquarters in Los Angeles. Others have coped by concocting elaborate conspiracy theories positing that the show hasn’t really been canceled—and that its apparent axing is just a meta entry point into a surprise third season.
But Marling officially dispelled those theories on Saturday, penning a thoughtful essay on the show‘s demise. And though she didn’t address the theories outright, her response did confirm that the show really is over.
“We’re humbled, to be honest floored, by the outpouring of support for The OA,” she wrote. “We’ve seen beautiful artwork in eulogy from Japan, France, Brazil. We’ve read moving threads and essays.”
“Your words and images move us deeply,” she added. “Not because the show must continue, but because for some people its unexpected cancelation begs larger questions about the role of storytelling and its fate inside late capitalism’s push toward consolidation and economies of scale.”
Marling also wrote more broadly about the function of the protagonist in storytelling, the classic construct of the hero’s journey, and the collective wish to see a real-world savior in our charged political times. However, she added, that urge is “bat-shit crazy…We have to save each other. Every day, in small and great ways.” She praised the show’s fans for connecting with one another and telling their own stories through their connection to The OA.
“You’ve broken the mold of storytelling. You’re building something far more beautiful than we did because it’s in real time in real life with real people,” she wrote. “The show doesn’t need to continue for this feeling to.”
Marling and Batmanglij also visited the fan who went on a hunger strike, offering her water and food. “As we were leaving she said ‘you know, what I’m really protesting is late capitalism,’” Marling wrote. “And then she said something that I haven’t been able to forget since: ‘Algorithms aren’t as smart as we are. They cannot account for love.’”
It’s no secret that Netflix has used algorithms to tweak plot points and story lines; director Cary Fukunaga spoke openly about the practice when promoting Maniac. But it’s unclear if Big Algorithm had any impact on the streamer’s decision to cancel The OA—which, unfortunately, is really over now.
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