Netflix Original series The OAdominated the holiday binge, quickly inciting rich discussions across social media about disliked endings, modern dance moves from heaven, and the art of storytelling. While you prepare a response to that friend on Facebook who insists upon explaining The OA as if he knows what’s real and what’s not, here are a few things you may have missed which could change your reply.
Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for The OA and Stranger Things.
Sharon Van Etten
Recognize Rachel’s face? If you thought her voice sounded familiar in S1E3 when she sang Sharon Van Etten’s “I Wish I Knew,” you weren’t going crazy.
That’s THE Sharon Van Etten, confirmed by the rock star herself on Twitter, and as usual she sounds like an actual angel. Listen to the original:
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
How does a kid from the ‘burbs get into college when athletics aren’t enough? An essay about CPR does the trick for French (Alfonso) and wins him a scholarship. CPR could be useful to French in college in the event someone nearby can’t breathe and The OA’s modern dance moves aren’t helping. A winning topic of CPR is no mistake; near death experiences are required for The OA to exist.
Stranger Things Meets Even Stranger Things
The Netflix universe revealed itself through a variety of Stranger Things parallels and Easter eggs in The OA. Eleven and The OA both experience nosebleeds prior to premonitions or telekinetic powers, respectively. Both females are enslaved by an evil man who repeatedly submerges her in water to trigger a supernatural event.
In episode 4, Jesse comes home after an evening in the attic with the Original Angel to find his sister, Ali, smoking pot and watching Stranger Things. The scene viewable on the living room TV is unmistakably Will Byer, just before he disappears into the Upside Down.
Yum! Hungry for more? Learn everything you ever wanted to know about The OA and talk about it in The OA Community.
