Plot: Marty and Wendy are rid of Helen and climb to the top of Navarro’s empire. They find another opportunity to get out of the Ozarks but some past sins won’t stay buried and the most dangerous threats come from blood.
Review: Ozark premiered back in 2017 when audiences were looking for a successor to Breaking Bad. While Better Call Saul had been a critical darling for a couple of seasons already, Netflix’s Ozark blended the family crime elements of Vince Gilligan’s AMC series with the backwater vibe of FX series Justified. Lo and behold, Ozark went on to become a hit with fans. It has been two years since the third season of Ozark debuted and in that time we learned the fourth series would be the last for the Chris Mundy-created drama. Split over two seven-episode halves, the final season of Ozark premieres this weekend and will surely keep fans desperate to find out how it will all come to an end.
From the opening minutes of the premiere episode, Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy makes it very apparent that no one is safe. The crux of this series has always been that Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) will do whatever it takes to secure the safety of themselves and their family. Deeply connected to a Mexican drug cartel and the local crime syndicate in the Missouri town they find themselves hiding in, the Byrdes have developed a complex business that is always on the verge of discovery. In bed with criminals and the FBI in equal measure, the third season of Ozark featured the demise of attorney Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer) as well as Wendy’s brother, Ben (Tom Pelphrey). The consequences of both of these deaths is addressed immediately as this season begins.
Knowing that they want out, cartel leader Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) offers the Byrdes a deal that will see them finally free of their debt. Weighing how they can execute Omar’s request, Marty and Wendy must also deal with Javi Elizonddro (Alfonso Herrera), a cartel lieutenant who is also Omar’s nephew. At home, Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) has severed her relationship with the Byrdes in the wake of Ben’s death and begins plotting her own criminal enterprise with her brother Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) and Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery). Jonah Byrde (Skylar Gaertner) also begins to pull away from his family in the wake of Ben and Helen’s deaths as he realizes exactly what his parents are capable of. All the while, the FBI is just outside thanks to Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes) who can only hold the authorities at bay for so long. There is also Mel Sattem (Adam Rothenberg), a private investigator in town looking for Helen.
This season shows a lot more subdued acting from Jason Bateman who has come into his own as Marty Byrde. As his sarcastic comments have waned, Bateman has allowed his supporting cast to shine. Laura Linney continues to be a force to be reckoned with as she tries to justify what she and Marty have done for the last three seasons. The real all-star on this series continues to be Julia Garner who has made Ruth Langmore a fan-favorite character. As she branches out on her own this season, Garner has to do some of the heaviest lifting as an actor as the seven-episode first half careens towards a cliffhanger ending that you will not be prepared for.
The first part of the fourth season marks the only time since Ozark hit Netflix that no episodes were directed by Jason Bateman. Bateman set the tone for the series with the subdued color palette and gritty style that has become the show’s trademark. Responsible for eight of the first thirty episodes of Ozark, Bateman likely will have some credits on the second half of the season, but the first half consists of three episodes helmed by Andrew Bernstein (The Americans), two by Alik Sakharov (The Witcher), and two from Robin Wright. Wright is responsible for the final two episodes of the season which may be the best that Ozark has yet released. I kid you not when I say that even if you have an inkling of where this half of the season will end up, you are not ready to actually see it on screen.
Ozark has consistently been lauded for its writing, acting, and direction which has improved over each season. The third season was the highlight thus far and season four does not disappoint. I found this first half to be the best of the series so far, finally earning the comparisons to Breaking Bad. While I still wish there was a bit more humor, taking advantage of Jason Bateman’s multiple talents as a performer, there is no doubt that this show has become a showcase for both Laura Linney and Julia Garner, both of whom outdo the best work they have done on this series. The final two episodes are surely going to go down on best-of lists by the end of this year with the seventh serving as an absolute gut-punch for fans of the series. If the second half of this season can equal or exceed this first half, Ozark will go out with one of the best final seasons in television history.
Part 1 of Ozark‘s final season premieres on January 21st on Netflix.