Netflix Conspicuously Sneaks Out 'The OA'

Netflix didn't give viewers much chance to get used to its new sci-fi original series The OA before it becomes available for streaming. The series has remained mysterious, mostly because not many people had heard of it before Netflix began rolling out trailers earlier this week in advance of the series' debut on Friday.

The series concerns a young woman whose unexplained reappearance after her unexplained disappearance seven years earlier brings with it some strange happenings. Not the least of them is that fact that, although she was blind when she disappeared, she can now see.

The series comes from writers Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who previously collaborated on The East, a thriller that garnered critical praise when it was released in 2013. Marling stars in The OA, and Batmanglij directs.

Netflix's marketing strategy for The OA seems to be working thus far, with journalists obligingly drawing comparisons between the new series and Netflix's hit Stranger Things. The comparisons may or may not be apt, given that no one has seen more than the trailers so far, and those trailers bear little resemblance to the 80s-set horror series.

The OA debuts on Friday, December 16, when all episodes of its first season will become available at once.