The OA: 9 Crazy Fan Theories That Might Actually Be True

One of the big things to come from the end of The OA is that, well, it was all a lie. Or at least that some of it was.

While there are some consistencies, such as her being Russian and adopted, the rest of the story is so fantastical in nature that many believe it isn't true, with the books found at the end simply being the final nail in the coffin.

The question, then, is why would Prairie/Nina/The OA make up such a story?

The unifying thread is that Prairie has mental health problems, something we did see signs of in the show, and the story is either a delusion of hers or she's made it up as a coping mechanism, because she did go through some sort of torture in her time away.

In terms of the former, we see her wake up in a white room that could be a psychiatric ward. We also know her parents were warned about her mental health when she was young, and we see Homer being chased through some sort of medical facility, with mention of a Dr Roberts.

For the latter, we know that she was away for seven years, and something drastic obviously happened to her. In the restaurant, the girl who approaches her mentions being kept in captivity and raped, which might actually be the true story, and she made up her friends and the subsequent story as a way to cope.

It could feel like a bit of a cop-out for it to all take place in her head, but given what happened in the first season it's not implausible either, and could lead to a deeper examination of mental health.