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[Warning: The following contains spoilers for The OA Part II. Read at your own risk!]
Before we go any further, I have to disclaim that Jason Isaacs refused to answer any of the aforementioned burning questions about The OA Part II until I promised that there would be a spoiler warning on the top of this article — a visual warning and then space before the actual spoilers began. If I failed to uphold this promise, Isaacs threatened to hunt me down and lock me in his basement (get it? That’s what Hap does in the show…), and I am in no way trying to earn the ire of Lucius Malfoy. So, I am going to put a GIF below this, and then there will be serious spoilers for the second season of The OA. If you continue to read beyond this point without having watched the series, that’s your prerogative, but prepare to have the season’s biggest twists ruined for you.
The OA Part II, which is just the second chapter in Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij‘s five-season plan, took the mythology developed during Prairie’s (Marling) kidnapping in Season 1 to a whole new level. After almost dying in a shooting, Prairie made the jump to another dimension and began her search for Homer (Emory Cohen) and the other captives held by Hap (Isaacs) in Season 1. The new dimension prompted deeper questions about dimension travel and how far the group could go, why they were connected, and Prairie’s true meaning to the universe. It also introduced us to new characters like the charismatic Karim (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and the telepathic octopus, Old Knight.
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The second season ended with an even bigger WTF cliffhanger than Season 1. Prairie, Hap, and Steve (Patrick Gibson) made the jump to a third dimension (at least, that’s who we know made the jump). This new dimension looks and feels very much like ours: Prairie is now Brit Marling, and Hap is Jason Isaacs, and they are filming what appears to be Part II of the show. Prairie/Brit falls and cracked her head open. Hap/Jason Isaacs joins her in the ambulance to the hospital, just as Steve jumps on board from the first dimension and reveals he knows exactly who Hap is.
Confused? You should be. Luckily, TV Guide talked to Isaacs and got him to answer some of our burning questions about what the hell happened and where The OA goes from here.
Jason Isaacs, The OA
What was your reaction when you read the final pages of the season?
Jason Isaacs: I didn’t read it. Zal [Batmanglij, co-creator] told me over dinner. I went to dinner with him right after Season [1], and he said, “Did you wanna hear?” And I said, “I don’t really want to hear the story, because I love it.” He goes, “Let me just tell you the ending,” and he told me the ending. I stormed out of the restaurant we were eating in. I walked out. I ran to around the pavement, scratching and banging my head, going, “What the f—? What do you– what?” My head was exploding with the possibilities of it and what the hell he meant and what could possibly happen next. I think almost everyone that has watched it has had the same reaction. I loved it. I was terrified of it. I thought he was joking. I reeled from it, I guess, and then I watched it again the other day. I felt the same thing, even though I remember filming it.
If the show is renewed, do you think we’ll be spending a lot of it this meta dimension that Brit and Zal set up in Part II?
Isaacs: It’s hilarious you ask that question because you don’t really want to know the answer… [The viewers] need to know what comes next. Of course, they don’t really want to know what comes next, they want the show to tell them. So, you know you don’t want me to actually tell you what’s going to happen. You want the story to unfold. I do know some answers, and the last thing I’m going to do is tell you.
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The objective that Hap had at the end was to get to Scott’s Near Death Experience. Is that where they ended up when they jumped to the third dimension?
Isaacs: Oh no, it’s definitely Scott’s NDE because I had to fast-forward…[Hap] ate the seed that came out of his head. That gives you a flash, a preview of the world. Best guess is that this is a place where [Prairie] was told by the [tree] that she won’t know herself.
In that final scene in the ambulance, Steve pops on, and he knows exactly who Hap is. Can you tell me what was going through Hap’s mind in that moment?
Isaacs: That’s really not going according to plan for [Hap]. All of a sudden, I had about 10 seconds thinking this was going great. Suddenly, the world throws a wrench into it. [Hap] is actually thinking, “Oh f—, what’s he doing here?” Now what is [Hap] going to do? Watch Season 3 and find out.
Right before they made the jump, Hap shot Homer. What was his motivation? Did he not think that Homer was as important to the process as Prairie?
Isaacs: [Hap] has been deeply frustrated for [Prairie] to see the great and loving visionary that he is. Her obsession with Homer — [Hap] was thrilled Homer didn’t jump and throw his body. The fact that Homer is alive and he realized he’s in the opera, it’s an enormous stress for [Hap]. No one fully knows yet or understands exactly how this travel works. They don’t know what echoes are. They’re finding it all out piece by piece…[Hap] is thinking he had a plan, to bring Prairie there and take [them to Scott’s NDE], and Homer is screwing that up. Something is going wrong. He had a gun, which he brought to make sure things happened if he couldn’t force it any other way. It was an instinctive reaction.
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How much have Brit and Zal told you about the series plan?
Isaacs: I know an awful lot about all of it. We all do, because they’re all incredibly collaborative. Just very open people to work with… There’s nothing more annoying than someone who’s in a show telling you this freely, because that doesn’t make anyone watch it. That just makes people feel like it’s important. But I am desperate to watch all five seasons [Brit and Zal have planned], so I’m hoping that people watch Part II because, just as a fan, I’d like to see them myself.
The OA Part II is now streaming on Netflix.
Source : TVGuide
