"Ozark" Year Four

Minor spoilers ahead.

The last season of "Ozark" feels like two shorter seasons, especially since they were released in two batches and there are some significant cast changes between one and the other.  In any case, they're both a step down from the third season, going back to some of the same bad habits as the earlier parts of the show.  Marty and Wendy are back to being a united front, even as Wendy becomes more unhinged in the wake of Ben's departure.  The big fissure in the Byrde family this year is that it's Jonah's turn for rebellion, kicked off by the whole messy situation involving Ben.

The first half of the season is stronger because the villains are stronger.  Darlene is at the height of her powers, joining forces with several parties who the Byrdes have alienated or ticked off.  We're introduced to Navarro's nephew Javi (Alonso Herrera), a violent, ambitious, well-educated criminal who is the presumptive heir to the cartel.  He shows up at the Ozarks at around the same time as Mel Sattem (Adam Rothburg), a nosy private investigator who was hired to track down Helen.  The second half of the season introduces Wendy's father Nathan (Richard Thomas) and Javi's mother Camilla (Veronica Falcon), who are both not quite what they seem.

No matter what gets thrown at the Byrdes this year, however, they're like Teflon.  They always manage to make a deal at the last moment, figure out some string to pull, and maintain the status quo.  Again, the show is driven primarily by plot and not enough by character.  I appreciate that "Ozark" is built for melodrama, and the impossibly compressed timelines and people changing allegiances at the drop of a hat are par for the course, but the Byrdes being so untouchable robs the show of any tension.  The twists and turns get even more unbelievable this year, with the Byrdes brokering deals between the cartel and the FBI, Wendy getting into national politics, and lots of business involving a disgraced pharmaceutical company.  I confess I lost track of what was going on more than once.  Even worse, the season starts with a flash-forward of the whole family in a van together getting into a major accident, so we know they're going to survive and stay together until that point.  

This isn't to say that this run of episodes isn't still enjoyable.  Wendy becomes a power-hungry monster for a good stretch, and the biggest villain of the fourth season might be her.  Laura Linney is alternately terrifying and infuriating, and I'm glad I finished the series for her performance if nothing else.  Marty, by contrast, ends up fading into the background more often, mostly serving as the voice of reason.  Even when he does get the spotlight, his actions don't have nearly as much consequence.  Ruth is more compelling, striking out on her own and fighting to stay in the game, even as her personal misfortunes keep compounding.  "Ozark" from her POV turns out to be a tragedy, and often more rewarding than rooting for the Byrdes.

There's been some controversy about where "Ozark" chose to end.  I think the trouble comes from the finale not having a real sense of finality to it for some of the characters, and certain events being very rushed.  That car crash I mentioned earlier turns out to be a red herring that barely has any impact on any of the ongoing storylines.  I think the more pressing issue is that the Byrdes stopped feeling like real people for too much of the final season.  I loved season three because when Wendy and Marty were in crisis, we got to see them really grappling with their pasts and their personal issues.  There's a little of that this year, mostly involving Wendy and her father, but not nearly enough.     

And that lack of character work keeps this from being one of the television greats.  I thoroughly enjoyed "Ozark," and I love that it gave Linney and Garner the chance to tackle some magnificently complex characters, but the show is not all that it could have been.  I can't help hoping for more, though, and I'm glad that the door was left open in case the show's creators ever feel like taking another dip.  For now, I'll say my goodbyes to the show, and you can expect a Top Ten episodes list in the near future.

 

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