New Colossus

"New Colossus" is the second chapter in Part I of The OA, and the second chapter of the series overall. This episode, along with the rest of the season, was made available for streaming on Netflix on December 16 th, 2016.

Synopsis
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Plot
Stripped of her sight and friends, Nina begins her new life - Nina's father smuggles her out to America for her safety, where she begins learning at a boarding school for the blind. On Sunday nights, Nina would play the violin for her father over the phone, with the hope that they would soon be reunited. Nina's father tells her she must stop speaking Russian in order to blend in. One day Nina is called to the headmistress' office to hear some difficult news from her Aunt; Nina's father has passed away. Imprisoned by her blindness, Nina is forced to live with her Aunt in a whore house, where she suffers sleepless nights and cares for one of the children, a baby boy. Nancy and Abel Johnson visit the home with arrangements to adopt the boy - Nancy excuses herself to use the restroom, where she hears cries from a baby in the attic. Upstairs Nancy finds Nina consoling the baby, and is enamored by her beauty and blindness. Nina's Aunt agrees they would be able to care for her better than she can. The couple change their mind at the last minute and instead take in Nina as their own to raise as an American girl. Excited at the thought of having a real family again, Nina gleefully agrees to go with them. It is then Nina is given her new name - Prairie Johnson, eyes as blue as a prairie sky.

Prairie settles into her American life quickly, happy to have a sense of normality in her troubled childhood. This is quickly turned on its head however, as Abel and Nancy finds Prairie at night speaking to herself in Russian. Prairie believes that her father is still alive out there somewhere, sending her messages about where to find him in dreams and premonitions. The couple take her to a doctor, where she is diagnosed with serious mental illness. On the doctor's recommendation, Nancy begins to heavily medicate Prairie to help with her perceived delusions. The medication numbs Prairie for 13 years, but doesn't stop the premonitions. In a dream, Prairie climbs the Statue Of Liberty, where she finds her father with 21 candles. Believing him to still be alive, Prairie interprets this as a message to meet him, and sneaks out and abandons the Johnsons to find her father in New York on her 21st birthday. Prairie sits alone on a bench all day by the Statue Of Liberty, waiting for her father to find her with no luck. Evening arrives, and a security guard asserts they must get back on the ferry. Prairie expresses she wondered all day what the plaque said about the Statue, asking if he could read the poem to her, The New Colossus:"Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand""A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame""Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name""Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand""Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command""The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.""“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she""With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,""Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,""The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.""Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,""I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”"

We return to the present, where Nancy and Abel glimpse Prairie outside the window sneaking back in from her storytelling at the abandoned house. Nancy is disappointed that Prairie continues to sneak out, regretting not sending her away to get help. Abel interjects and suggests she is allowed an hour walk each night to clear her mind, to which Nancy reluctantly agrees.

Delving deeper into the "Crestwood Five's" personal lives, French struggles to care for his two younger brothers alone, with little help from his emotionally abusive mother. Overwhelmed, French results to snorting cocaine to cope with juggling being a caretaker and a perfect student to provide the family with a better future. French is offered a sports scholarship, to which Principal Gilchrist informs him he must be on good behavior per the character clause. Although worried his parents will still send him to Asheville, Steve encourages the group of unlikely friends to research OA's story in order to help.

Returning to the past at the subway station in New York, Prairie is ashamed at her failure to find her father. Prairie sets up her violin in the subway station, hoping he would come running at the sound of it. Prairie's plan works, but not how she intended - A doctor, Hap (Hunter Aloysius Percy), is somehow drawn towards the sounds of her violin amidst the chaos of the crowd. Hap introduces himself to Prairie, quickly bombarding her with questions about her magical musical talent, and then about NDEs (Near-Death Experiences). The two dine together and Prairie talks about her experience with death and choice to return to life. Hap further divulges his passion and research, desperate to find proof of an afterlife through studying NDEs. Hap scoffs at the thought of Prairie being medicated, and embraces Prairie's uniqueness. Finally feeling acknowledged and seen by someone, Prairie agrees to let Hap study her as part of his research, and returns home with him.

The two take Hap's plane back to his home, and Hap escorts Prairie downstairs to a "bed" in the lab - In reality, the lab is a five-sided glass cage underground in an old mine, where Hap locks her inside. Defeated and alone, Prairie cries for help, meeting Homer for the first time in the adjacent cage. Homer consoles her, telling her to find peace in her dreams to stay sane. In the present, Prairie leaves the Crestwood 5 to run home to rock herself in bed, severely affected by the recollection of events and thought of Homer.

Cast & Characters

 * Starring

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 * Guest Starring

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 * Co-Starring

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Notes & Trivia
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