Netflix's 2-Part Sci-Fi Masterpiece Deserved To Be As Big As Lost

Published Sep 12, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT

Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant's Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones. 

You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, "Movie Monsters of the Deep."

Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant. 

Few shows have changed the TV landscape as much as the mind-bending multi-genre Lost, but one Netflix series could have been as big, had it been given the chance. Lost revolutionized TV storytelling with its serialized mystery-box concept before the age of streaming, which in turn changed fandom culture by encouraging the show's fans to share their theories in between episodes. There are many uniquely complex TV shows, from Twin Peaks to Westworld, but Lost made strangeness and ambiguity mainstream, and while many TV shows have tried to be the next Lost, one series really could have taken its place.

Lost begins with one strange event in the form of a mysterious plane crash, before the world expands into something completely new and different. Similarly, Netflix's sci-fi masterpiece The OA begins with one miracle, which, rather than just opening up a world, looks set to tear open a multiverse. The story begins with the formerly-blind Prairie Johnson, who returns from a seven-year disappearance calling herself "the OA" and with her sight restored. The show introduced the biggest TV twist of all time, but was canceled shortly afterward, leaving a multiverse of lost potential and an unfinished story.

The OA Could Have Been The Next Lost

Image courtesy of MovieStillsDb

With just 16 episodes, the show can be watched over a weekend, but The OA is not an easy binge. It is complex in a way that few other TV series since Lost have dared to be, and requires attention to multiple plot threads, foreshadowing, and the infamous twist that recontextualizes the previous events. Viewers who know the series will end with a massive cliffhanger might be put off watching The OA in the first place, which prevents the show from gaining new fans. This is another tragedy for the creators, as The OA is still worth watching anyway.

Many sci-fi TV shows almost became the next Lost, with Manifest also centering on a plane, Heroes, which is essentially a superhero version of Lost, and the Stephen King adaptation Under the Dome, which echoes Lost's format if not its theme. Still, while Manifest came close to capturing the tone of the iconic show's ever-evolving plot, nothing beats The OA in terms of wonder. When Lost first aired, there was nothing like it on TV, and most similar shows cannot help but feel a little derivative. However, The OA treads entirely new ground, just as Lost did.

Both explore life after death and redemption, but The OA focuses on near-death experiences and the power of dance that connects to angel lore through gestures known as "the movements," which can, in theory, open a multiverse. With such a wild plot, The OA could easily have taken Lost's place in terms of fan theories and speculation, but its innovation was also its downfall and the show did not attract a large enough audience for the high production costs. This left The OA season 2's ending with a stunning twist that has not yet been explained or continued.

Will The OA Ever Reveal Its Secret?

The OA ended with characters appearing to enter another dimension with the actors using their real names, revealing they are on a film set. However, even this meta twist was not what it seemed, with the cast still playing versions of themselves. Unfortunately, this is the moment the show ended, stopping what looked to be TV's most exciting sci-fi show and a passion project for actor and creator Brit Marling in its tracks. The OA's fanbase might have been smaller than ideal, but it was dedicated, and even the main actors have discussed the show as recently as 2025.

The OA seasons
Season	Year	Rotten Tomatoes critics' rating	Rotten Tomatoes audience rating
1	2016	76%	79%
2	2019	92%	88%

When Jason Isaacs appeared on Live with Kelly and Mark, he told them The OA "is not over," which is optimistic news for fans as well as the creators, who had a five-season plan for the show. Co-creator Zal Batmanglij told IndieWire, "The whole thing’s a riddle. There are a lot of clues." Canceled TV shows have sometimes returned in other media, like animated spinoffs or as comic books, and it is possible that The OA could return in a different form. With the show exploring the very fabric of the universe, that possibility may not be too far-fetched.

Source: Live with Kelly and Mark, IndieWire