What is The OA?

Disclaimer: I’ve only watched the first episode of the series as of this post. Some predictions might or will be wrong.




This week, I watched a show that raised many questions but answered few of them. However, that didn’t stop me from loving every second of it. In the Netflix original The OA, a video of a woman jumping off a bridge goes viral. The woman is Prairie Johnson, a resident of Crestwood, MO that had gone missing from her parents’ home seven years before the show begins. Strangely, she doesn’t respond well, if at all, to that name. She tells the nurse at the hospital, “I’m the OA.” The pilot episode shows her return to her hometown and the struggle of her story, unknown to her family.

The OA, even though it is excellent, brings up questions that might stay unanswered throughout the series. Many questions stem from just the first episode, “Homecoming.” What does “OA” stand for? What do her scars mean? Who is Homer and what is he to OA? I asked these questions and more after my first time watching.

The title of the series itself brings a question upon us. What does “OA” stand for? Overeaters anonymous? Obviously, that’s not the case. After a quick google search, Mrs. Broderick-Allen decided Prairie’s new identity was not an entire support group. Other than that one fraction of a scene, no one speculates what this name might mean. My small theory is that the O stands for otherworldly. When Prairie begins telling her story, we begin to see unnatural occurrences in her life, and death. Her new name may be a title from another dimension.

Another otherworldly seeming aspect to the OA is the strange scarring on her back. The first glimpse we get of them is a shot of Prairie’s shoulder in the tub after she gets attacked by the dog. The scars look like symbols from a completely different world. The viewer, however, is left clueless to what they might be. Perhaps they represent each “death” OA has experienced. In the interview with the FBI, she says that she and her companions have “died more times than [she] can count.” These scars stretch across her back. Each one could symbolize every time she passed into wherever she went after her disappearance.

Finally, the last question left lingering in my head: who is Homer? Who exactly is he and what connection does he have with the OA? Many times throughout “Homecoming,” Prairie records videos talking to Homer. She seems to have a very strong emotional attachment. The tone of her voice is longing and slightly distant as if she weren’t completely focused on the camera. Maybe Homer was the OA’s lover in another life. Maybe even in another dimension.

These questions, however many, make The OA completely worth watching. They may be the reason some of us keep watching.