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Ozark - Season 4
After three successful seasons of this grim crime series, it was time for Ozark's final season at the beginning of 2022.
Warning: this review contains spoilers!!
I thoroughly enjoyed the first three seasons of Ozark. Especially of the colorful characters who inhabited and visited the Ozarks. These characters were therefore fantastically portrayed by a great cast. Julia Garner (Inventing Anna) immediately caught my eye as the young, petite Ruth Langmore who, while quite foul-mouthed, has a small heart at the same time. And she didn't just grab my attention, judging by the two Emmy Awards she won for her role in Ozark. The rest of the characters were also great in their roles. Jason Bateman (also producer and director) as Marty Byrde and Laura Linney (Tales of the City) as his wife Wendy in the lead.
It is a pity that the most interesting characters have already left the series in the meantime. Yet there are still a few that keep you glued to your television (or laptop or mobile). For example, Omar Navarro, the boss of the Mexican drug cartel that the Byrdes launder money for. Felix Solis (The Following) does incredibly well portraying this character. On the one hand, you know that it is a very wrong man who may cause you to get hurt. On the other hand, you hope he manages to get out after being caught by the FBI. That's because his family seems to be even more unpredictable and dangerous than Navarro himself. If Omar still has some sympathetic traits, that clearly does not apply to his cousin and sister. Cousin Javi (Alfonso Herrara, Sense8) is Navarro's hot-tempered cartel lieutenant who has no qualms about getting rid of anyone. He sees a risk or a loose end in everyone and is quite paranoid. With all its consequences. Javi's mother Camila, Omar's sister, seems to be very calm. However, underneath that calm exterior is an extremely calculating, icy, cold woman who regularly makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. A very good role by Verónica Falcón (Why Women Kill).
Strangely, the Byrdes have become the least interesting part of the series. Marty seems to become more and more drowsy per episode and people walk all over him. This is not done by the FBI or the drug cartel, but by his own wife Wendy. She behaves more distant toward Marty in every episode because she thinks that her husband is constantly messing everything up. Wendy is incredibly stubborn and manipulative towards just about everyone. She puts her family in serious danger with this time and time again. Marty struggles to find a way out of their self-created misery. Even if it means he and Wendy won't make a penny out of it. He finds it more important that he and his family can lead a quiet, safe life again. However, Wendy is the complete opposite. She's keen to make a good chunk of money one way or another before she and Marty step out of the life they've become so accustomed to. Even if that apparently entails the necessary risks.
I have been really annoyed this season by Wendy's manipulative actions. The low point, as far as I'm concerned, was when she forcibly committed herself to a psychiatric clinic just to prevent her children from living with her father. Wendy's father Nathan (Richard Thomas, The Americans) may not be entirely pure in his motives for bringing his grandchildren back to North Carolina, but you still wonder where Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz, Louie) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner, Daredevil) will do better. With their grandfather, who really only wants them with him to make fun of his daughter Wendy? Or with their own parents, who are deeply involved in the affairs of a drug cartel where no one's life is safe.
In the end, the four seasons of Ozark were catchy and compelling, but it's good that the fourth season has also become the last. This season could have earned an 8.5 as a final grade, were it not for some episodes that could have used a little more pacing. Or just ten episodes instead of fourteen. If you want to make more episodes for your final season, you have to know how to fill them in interestingly. There was quite a bit of that here and there. Half a point is also deducted for Wendy's annoying behavior. So a 7.5 is the final grade.
Follow OzarkWarning: this review contains spoilers!!
I thoroughly enjoyed the first three seasons of Ozark. Especially of the colorful characters who inhabited and visited the Ozarks. These characters were therefore fantastically portrayed by a great cast. Julia Garner (Inventing Anna) immediately caught my eye as the young, petite Ruth Langmore who, while quite foul-mouthed, has a small heart at the same time. And she didn't just grab my attention, judging by the two Emmy Awards she won for her role in Ozark. The rest of the characters were also great in their roles. Jason Bateman (also producer and director) as Marty Byrde and Laura Linney (Tales of the City) as his wife Wendy in the lead.
So I went into this final season with great anticipation. But could this season live up to those expectations? And would the end of Ozark be satisfying enough or will it be one big disappointment? The surprising answer is that it's actually a bit of both. This whole season gave me rather mixed feelings and the same goes for the ending. The actors again do their very best, there is nothing else to criticize.This whole season gave me a rather mixed feeling
It is a pity that the most interesting characters have already left the series in the meantime. Yet there are still a few that keep you glued to your television (or laptop or mobile). For example, Omar Navarro, the boss of the Mexican drug cartel that the Byrdes launder money for. Felix Solis (The Following) does incredibly well portraying this character. On the one hand, you know that it is a very wrong man who may cause you to get hurt. On the other hand, you hope he manages to get out after being caught by the FBI. That's because his family seems to be even more unpredictable and dangerous than Navarro himself. If Omar still has some sympathetic traits, that clearly does not apply to his cousin and sister. Cousin Javi (Alfonso Herrara, Sense8) is Navarro's hot-tempered cartel lieutenant who has no qualms about getting rid of anyone. He sees a risk or a loose end in everyone and is quite paranoid. With all its consequences. Javi's mother Camila, Omar's sister, seems to be very calm. However, underneath that calm exterior is an extremely calculating, icy, cold woman who regularly makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. A very good role by Verónica Falcón (Why Women Kill).
© Netflix
Strangely, the Byrdes have become the least interesting part of the series. Marty seems to become more and more drowsy per episode and people walk all over him. This is not done by the FBI or the drug cartel, but by his own wife Wendy. She behaves more distant toward Marty in every episode because she thinks that her husband is constantly messing everything up. Wendy is incredibly stubborn and manipulative towards just about everyone. She puts her family in serious danger with this time and time again. Marty struggles to find a way out of their self-created misery. Even if it means he and Wendy won't make a penny out of it. He finds it more important that he and his family can lead a quiet, safe life again. However, Wendy is the complete opposite. She's keen to make a good chunk of money one way or another before she and Marty step out of the life they've become so accustomed to. Even if that apparently entails the necessary risks.
I have been really annoyed this season by Wendy's manipulative actions. The low point, as far as I'm concerned, was when she forcibly committed herself to a psychiatric clinic just to prevent her children from living with her father. Wendy's father Nathan (Richard Thomas, The Americans) may not be entirely pure in his motives for bringing his grandchildren back to North Carolina, but you still wonder where Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz, Louie) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner, Daredevil) will do better. With their grandfather, who really only wants them with him to make fun of his daughter Wendy? Or with their own parents, who are deeply involved in the affairs of a drug cartel where no one's life is safe.
Then the end of the series. I had expected someone from the Byrde family to die. After all the events, this was almost inevitable. Not least because of Wendy's behavior. I, therefore, hoped that she would be the one to suffer this fate. Instead, a character dies that I hoped would make it to the finish line. I won't reveal which character this is or if it's a member of the Byrde family, but it's a shame the creators made this specific decision. The very last scene of Ozark may seem a little strange to viewers. The series literally ends with a bang. Then it goes to a black screen. I don't want to reveal exactly what this bang means, but I thought that was appropriate for a series like Ozark.A character dies that I hoped would make it to the finish line
© Netflix
In the end, the four seasons of Ozark were catchy and compelling, but it's good that the fourth season has also become the last. This season could have earned an 8.5 as a final grade, were it not for some episodes that could have used a little more pacing. Or just ten episodes instead of fourteen. If you want to make more episodes for your final season, you have to know how to fill them in interestingly. There was quite a bit of that here and there. Half a point is also deducted for Wendy's annoying behavior. So a 7.5 is the final grade.
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