The OA: An Overwhelming Amount (Get it, OA-- Overwhelming... Amount??) of Feelings

So I'm pretty sure I've discussed light more than twice in these posts, but for this show it's super important. The OA is chalked full of really smartly put additions of light and also parts that lack light and each of those instances gives of a totally different vibe to the episode. Because the central character is blind (well, not really anymore... idk) the darkness is just as telling as the light, which is really cool.

In general, I've seen lots of dark moments in other films that represent a change of scene or a perspective change (like showing the blinking of the eyes), however in The OA it really symbolizes a period of the character's life and the horrors she went through. What exactly are those horrors? I don't know because the episode left on a cliffhanger and she hasn't exactly been the most talkative character.

Anyway, the show starts and end with dramatic dark scenes, which is particularly important because it leads me to believe that without even watching the show for the content one would be able to tell that the show didn't come to any sort of conclusion. There was no real "light at the end of the tunnel" moment, if you will.

More specifically on the opening scene, the dramatic lack of light in the hospital room introduces a serious question of where the heck this girl is because it looked more like the hospital room that Harvey Dent was stuck in in Dark Knight (see below).
As the episode goes on, there is a gradual increase in lighting, especially around the two parents and as Prarie/the OA returns home. While watching that I figured this would be a relief for her, due to the lighting looking brighter, however she continued to struggle and often she was introduced into a new scene under her blankets or draped in clothing, signifying that she's more comfortable in the dark.

Hoping I don't give too much of the plot away, I'll skip to the end and discuss the lighting in the end of the episode. So she ends up in this strange space between life and death and it appears like a universe of starts and small lights in a sea of never-ending black. In this space she must decide whether she wants to return to life or stay in this dark space. To my surprise, since I thought I had it figured out that she's more comfortable in the dark, she chose to return to her life. The trick was that she must be blind to do so, and thus she returns to life in a scary, dark world that she must find some sort of comfort in.

I don't know much more about her life, but my guess, based on the lighting cues, is that she was hesitant to accept the darkness, but she now thrives in it probably due to her time as a blind person. Although this episode came to no real conclusion, it gave me some really good details to look for in the next few episodes and light is one of them. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for what the light in this show truly reveals about the setting, mood, plot, and characters.