Warning: This post contains spoilers for The OA.
Ever since Netflix’s new mystery series The OA debuted, fans have been suggesting that the central character’s fantastical story doesn’t quite add up.
On the show, Brit Marling plays the OA a.k.a. Prairie, a young woman who miraculously survives abduction and unfolds her addictive backstory every night for five captive listeners. The series seems to present each mysterious segment of her tale as her own account. But apparently that’s not exactly the case, and we’re really watching the way her new friends are interpreting the retelling.
In a new interview with Esquire, Marling’s co-creator Zal Batmanglij, who also directs the show, explains that there’s a difference between the OA’s version and the version the Crestwood squad imagines:
Well, it’s very important that what you’re seeing is not a flashback—it’s the boys’ interpretation of the story she’s telling, and their imagination of it. The thing about stories is you have to believe them to get through them, and so even the biggest skeptic has to suspend disbelief to get to the end of the story, so we were relying on the fact that both the audience and the boys would go through that experience.
As the OA sends everyone down the mystery rabbit hole, this could be a key revelation. Consider it just as important to remember as the cat hiss/spirit fingers dance combo, which parkour Steve really knocked out of the park.
Read more at Esquire.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Trump’s Message Worked on Latino Men
- What Trump’s Win Could Mean for Housing
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- Sleep Doctors Share the 1 Tip That’s Changed Their Lives
- Column: Let’s Bring Back Romance
- What It’s Like to Have Long COVID As a Kid
- FX’s Say Nothing Is the Must-Watch Political Thriller of 2024
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Contact us at letters@time.com