“Ozark” is not a TV show for those who believe in the goodness of humanity. The Netflix series, which recently released Season 4, Part 1, gives no one a break—not drug dealers, not residents of the Ozarks, not government officials. Everyone stinks.
However, fans of the show (and I am one of them) will be pleased that our old favorites, Marty and Wendy Byrde (Justin Bateman and Laura Linney) are back—and are in quite possibly the deepest doo-doo ever. Now, it seems, they are not only serving Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), the thuggish Mexican drug lord, but also his young nephew Javi (Alfonso Herrera), an unstable, reckless punk eager to make his mark—mostly by waving a gun.
One notable aspect of “Ozark” is its commitment to gender equality: the writers have made the female characters as rotten as the men. Wendy Byrde’s frozen smile hides her steely-eyed determination to do whatever she must to satisfy Navarro—whether that means batting her eyes at a corrupt senator she wants to influence, or cutting heroin while starting a foundation to fight opioids.
Lisa Emrey as Darlene, the hillbilly opium grower, has a hair-trigger temper and an itchy trigger finger to match. She has become a sometimes partner-in-crime of Ruth (Julia Garner). Tiny of stature, with tight blond pincurls, this tough-as-nails Ozarkian drops more F-bombs into her conversation than a truck driver who’s pulled a week of all-nighters.
The seamy drug business turns parent against child, husband against wife, sister against brother. The concept of family? “Crime family” is more accurate.
The final episode of Season 4, Part 1 is so wrought with violence, it feels like a production of “Coriolanus.” So many burning questions are left unanswered. The only one we Ozark-o
philes want answered is, “How long do we have to wait for Part 2?”
Yes!!!!!!