What To Watch On Netflix That’s New This Week (March 17-23)

One of Netflix's best shows of the year just debuted.

The Netflix Highlight: “The OA,” Season 2. This new season debuted on March 22.

Premise: A group of people who went through near-death experiences successfully transfer their consciousnesses into a different dimension where their bodies didn’t almost die. Meanwhile, a private investigator tries to find a missing person and gets tangled in a massive mystery that intertwines with the dimension-jumpers. And as those two stories converge, high school students from the original dimension try to figure out if they should follow their dimension-jumping leader, or if she simply died. Yes, “The OA” has one of the most wild plots on television right now.

Sum up: I couldn’t stand the first season of this show. The creative decisions felt beyond cringeworthy, the self-seriousness derailed the plot and the show often veered into the realm of unintentional comedy. That said, the new season is incredible. The creators undertook a massive course correction that seems heavily inspired by “Twin Peaks: The Return” from 2017. (“The OA” debuted in 2016 and then took a multi-year hiatus.) The characters are far more believable and likable this time around. The plot feels truly magical. But what grabbed me the most is the camerawork. Each establishing shot finds a way to capture the location in this eerie, unsettling way (very reminiscent of the New York City shots in “Twin Peaks: The Return”) that elevates every scene actually inside the premises. While in the first season, characters would converse in clunky, distracting ways, I found myself pleasantly distracted by the visual beauty of each scene in Season 2.

Heads up: As mentioned, I (and many other critics) thought the first season was basically unwatchable. It clearly had a unique creative force, but the ideas just didn’t add up to much. But this season deserves another shot at your heart. I recommend just reading or watching a recap for Season 1 and then starting with these new episodes.

Will everyone be talking about this? The first season attracted a sizable cult following. Now that the show is actually great, I think it might get to another level of popularity.

Read on for more recommendations and news from the week.

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Brit Marling in "The OA" on Netflix.
Nicola Goode/Netflix
Brit Marling in "The OA" on Netflix.

Here’s the trailer:

What Else Is New This Week On Netflix

“Amy Schumer Growing” ― A new comedy special by Amy Schumer.

“The Dirt” ― A biopic of the raucous origin story and descent of 1980s Los Angeles band Mötley Crüe.

A Couple Of Netflix News Stories From This Week

1. You may start seeing more product placement in Netflix shows as, according to a report from Cheddar, the company is staffing up a marketing partnerships team. Can’t wait.

2. According to a new study, Netflix added more Originals last year than outside content for the first time ever. The company just barely hit this margin, with 51 percent of the new content being Originals.

And here are the shows and movies that joined Netflix throughout the week:

March 19

  • “Amy Schumer Growing” (Netflix Original)

March 21

  • “Antoine Griezmann: The Making of a Legend” (Netflix Original)

March 22

  • “Carlo & Malik” (Netflix Original)
  • “Charlie’s Colorforms City” (Netflix Original)
  • “Delhi Crime” (Netflix Original)
  • “Historia de un crimen: Colosio” (Netflix Original)
  • “Mirage” (Netflix Film)
  • “Most Beautiful Thing” (Netflix Original)
  • “The OA” (Season 2, Netflix Original)
  • “ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre” (Netflix Original)
  • “Selling Sunset” (Netflix Original)
  • “The Dirt” (Netflix Film)
Ji Sub Jeong/HuffPost

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