The OA explores an alternative universe in Part II trailer

In The OA Part II, Netflix’s science fiction drama, we discover that Brit Marling’s badly wounded heroine, Prairie (a.k.a. the OA, which stands for “Original Angel”), has successfully transported her consciousness into an alternate-universe version of herself. This version of the OA is rich, lives in San Francisco rather than the Midwest, and, unlike Prairie, was never kidnapped and experimented on by Jason Isaacs’ villainous scientist, Hap. “It was really delicious to dive back into a realm you had been intimate with and land in the body of someone who had not been through all the experiences we watch Prairie go through in Part I,” says Marling of The OA Part II, which premieres, March 22.

Kingsley Ben-Adir plays a major new character named Karim Washington, a boat-dwelling private detective tasked with finding a young woman, Michelle Vu, who had been playing an online game. His path crosses with OA, as they try to solve the mystery of Michelle’s whereabouts and a house on Nob Hill connected to the disappearance of several teenagers. Meanwhile, back in the first dimension, BBA, Angie, and the boys find themselves on a journey to understand the truth behind OA’s story and the incredible realities she described.

“We think of Part II as very much a noir,” says Marling’s longtime collaborator Zal Batmanglij, who co-created the show with the actress. “We wanted to come in through the character of a cynical detective. Films like The Big Sleep didn’t seem antiquated [when they came out]. They were very modern. That’s why we thought, ‘What better place than San Francisco and the tech world to set a noir today?’”

Other returning cast members include Isaacs, Emory Cohen, and The Walking Dead actor Scott Wilson, who played Prairie’s adoptive father in season 1 and filmed for Part II before dying as a result of complications from leukemia last October. “Scott plays in a very critical scene,” says Marling. “It’s a beautiful performance, and we miss him very much.”

Watch the trailer for The OA Part II above and exclusively see images from the new episodes, below.

Related content:

• The OA: EW review
• The OA co-creator Brit Marling explains season 2 delay