Ozark Season 4 Part 2 Review: The Finale of the Crime Drama Pays Off
The Netflix event television that is quite tense and obliquely poignant.
When Ozark first aired, it seemed like a simple thriller with some fun moments. The story revolved around a mild-mannered financial advisor Marty (played by Jason Bateman), and his wife, Wendy (played by Laura Linney), who had to move to the Ozarks to launder mafia money as their (and their children’s) lives were at stake. Over the four seasons, they have turned from victims to perpetrators to victims once again. Its finale episodes, Season 4 Part 2, were released on Friday, and most of the fans binge-watched it. If you haven’t had a chance to watch it over the weekend, here’s a spoiler-free review that might help.
Warning: Spoilers from Ozark Season 4 Part 1 ahead.
Ozark Season 4 Part 2
In the concluding chapter of the Ozark saga, things pick up where they left off in Season 4, Part 1. The new leader of the cartel, Javi (played by Alfonso Herrera Rodriguez), has just murdered local heroin producer Darlene Snell (played by Lisa Emery) and her teenage husband, Wyatt Langmore (played by Charlie Tahan). No one much cares about Darlene’s death, but Wyatt’s death has led to immense anger from Wyatt’s cousin and Marty’s estranged protégé Ruth (played by Julia Garner). She finds out that Javi has killed her cousin and heads to Chicago to kill him.
Marty and Wendy try to stop her from attacking Javi as they know she will be killed if she tries to or kills Javi. But guess what? Ruth doesn’t care (which is understandable as she has now lost her father, two uncles, lover, and cousin).
As the story of Ozark has unfurled, it has become more centred around two families, the Byrdes and the Langmores. The Langmores wanted to get out of poverty (by any means possible), and the Brydes just wanted to get rich. The locals of the Ozarks have paid a heavy price for these two families’ desires. In Season 4 Part 2, Ruth has nobody, and the Byrdes are still doing everything they can to get out of the life of crime.
Though this review will not detail who is alive or who is dead at the end, we will mention some insights into the story and the primary characters. In Season 4 Part 2, Marty is doing what he always does in the show, trying his best to protect his family (and everyone else). This time, he seems tired of the crime life, and the strains on his marriage also take a toll on him. He tries and fails to be a better man, and Wendy blames his goodness by saying, “Why did you choose everyone else over your family?” She adds, “You’re so desperate to be the good guy.”
This review would be incomplete without highlighting the acting skills of the key cast members. Bateman and Linney have perfectly captured the moral ambiguity of their characters in the Ozark. But there is no doubt about the fact that the real star of the show is Garner, whose acting skills are as stunning as ever. Some even say that she has grown into the most accomplished performer of the series, and Ozark would be incomplete without her.
Fans often compared Ozark with Breaking Bad. As the story progresses differently and Season 4 Part 2 brings many surprises, many fans agree that the show has succeeded in developing its own timbre.
Still, some fans can’t help but compare the cumulative bad choices of generations of Langmores and Byrdes to Walter White’s lung scan as they both hang over the narrative. Fans also think that Marty and Ruth resemble Walter and Jesse. There is hope that in the years to come, Ozark will be looked back on without reference to Breaking Bad. But now is too early to hope for that.
The ending of Ozark is worth mentioning because its tense and obliquely poignant. The final episode of Season 4 Part 2 is so attention-grabbing that viewers won’t be able to take their eyes off the TV series. So much happens in the episode that any review can barely cover it all. You just can’t read about it online. You have to see it. Some people are even saying that it’s some of the best event TV we have seen on any streaming service. Netflix has once again proved that its shows demonstrate another new level of brilliance.
Share this on social media
