The OA is finally down to let its freak flag fly with Part II

GQ

The Netflix mystery drama from creators Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, starring Marling, returns as a beautiful, batsh*t puzzle box, says Tom Philip. "There were moments of levity in Part I, but often too few and far between," he says. "Part II is, charitably, bonkers, aided no doubt by an obviously expanded budget for the follow-up season." He adds: "Not entirely ready to do away with the sins of the past, The OA still has some ways to go in pacing some of its episodes. The horror house installment is immediately followed by a 45-minute road trip undertaken by OA's previous disciples in universe 1.0 which, despite Phyllis Smith's charms, doesn't justify an entire episode. But that's a small price to pay for what has now revealed itself as one of the most ridiculously fun and earnest shows in recent memory. The OA Part II takes big swings wherever it can, and connects frequently. I've never been happier to be proven wrong about a show I'd written off. If Netflix has the sense to let Marling and Batmanglij tell the full story they've obviously mapped out for a few more years to come, this could be the beginning of something seriously special."

ALSO:

• The OA is proudly even weirder in Season 2: It doubles down on everything strange and silly, leaving any lingering questions of narrative skepticism far, far behind
• The OA is the most profoundly silly show on television and the most sillily profound show on television
• Season 2 is a glorious, ridiculous mind-bender: It's as polarizing as Season 1 -- for those who stuck around
• The OA is rubbish, but handsomely mounted rubbish
• The OA proves hard to resist despite Season 2 annoyances
• Season 2's ending is so crazy it could kill the series
• Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij think The OA will be more accepted years from now: "We’re not really making stories for just the here and now"