User Reviews

This show is worth bingeing. The amount of betrayal, justification to advance oneself sort of defines the family in the end, from a normal American Midwestern family, forced or chosen to commit the actions they did, on many phases. Luck also had something to do with it. They get away with things. Where's the limit ultimately when one is ready to murder, exploit, lie and sacrifice close ones while feigning ignorance?! It is an intense show and I loved it. Jason Bateman had always been one of my favorite actors and when this turned out to be his directorship, it was like hitting the jackpot for me. Wonderful cast and great storytelling with nail biting tension. Highly recommended.

This seven year old series is one of those well- put-together crime dramas that came along for me just when a break from the usual attention keepers faded days earlier. It has all the R rated elements that make up an intense tit-for-tat relationship based screen turner.

All of the actors were well chosen, each well able to deliver their lines with convincing and appropriate attitudes that keep the anxiety at a consistent peak.

The Langhorns, redneck trailer dwellers, come upon money grabbing and generating opportunities that cause them to switch sides, swindle, falsify whatever they convey, when formerly they possessed barely a dime in their whole crime- ridden family.

In their efforts to stay in the money and beyond the reach of the FBI, the daughter, Ruth, works for the underworld in various realized and unrealized roles learning the ropes the Byrds teach her, while the Byrds manage the core of the operation.

The action is spellbinding and not as predictable as one would think. The series is filled with vulgarity and even references to biblical texts; but overall, entertaining.

Season one came out and it had pretty terrific reviews. I watched it right away. I judt don't have enough TV time to watch a tenth of what I would like to. So I rely upon critics a lot with television more than movies. If enough critics pan a TV show I know I am gonna dislike it as well. So critics were not kind to season two. Many said the story was being stretched and so on. Well I am 6 episodes through season 2 cause a coworker told me don't believe the critics. I am certainly glad I gave this season a try. So far it is even better than season one. I don't understand the tepid reviews. This is the Breaking Bad of Money Laundering and it is so rich with great characters and subplots. One of television's best shows at the moment.

It's not often that a TV series of the quality of Ozarks, can sustain the high level through multiple series.

Well done to Bateman and his crew, they have smashed it out of the park with S3!! What a rollercoaster!

Can't wait for S4!!! Please don't be long. 😢🙏

To say this series is intense would be an understatement. Be warned: Ozark is not family friendly as it has a multitude of graphic violence, nudity, mature language and sexual themes. Not for children. I am not a big fan of contemporary dramas, but it was Jason Bateman's outstanding performance in The Gift that led me to check out Ozark. And his character Marty Byrde delivers the same smug arrogance as a finance adviser turned greedy money launderer whose circumstances hurdles the patriarch into survival mode, which is tested repeatedly. Laura Linney is brilliant as his unfaithful/neglected wife Wendy Byrde who proves she is as much as an urbane grifter as her husband. Everyone in the cast delivered superb performances. The drama-charged first episode managed to pull me into the entire series and although some of the plot seems downright incredible (disbelief) I was captivated until the end. Look forward to a second season.

I very much dislike any series or movie that starts with and "ending". They start off season 4 with the Byrde's almost hitting a semi, crashing and turning, doing Pirouette's on the highway. So of course we all think "well they definitely died." Nope. I thought AT LEAST Wendy would die. It just doesn't make any sense why they would toss this accident in the show, except to just mess with our brains. It has ZERO relation to the stories or to any character development. And they all walk out of it with barley a scratch? Really? In a Honda Odyssey? Cool Hollywood.

I'm okay (ish) with Ruth dying. I think killing off main characters makes a show better, in my opinion. But it should have been Wendy. She's pure evil. I read that the writers were split on Ruth's demise for the finale. Not sure how they green lit that. It would have made more sense for them to let Ruth have the life she wanted because that was her ENTIRE arch of the final season. The entire point of her having visions of Wyatt was so she could have that life. And then they kill her because of a tattletale and loose threat.

Not sure why tf shows continue to make horrible writing choices like this, instead of a "Plan B" option. Like killing Wendy.

Anyway. RIP Ruth.

SPOILERS AHEAD: Horrible ending. Lazy writing. What happened to Zeke? Or Three? FBI just picked up bodies and didn't search Darlene's compound and garage? Just left 15 kilos of heroin sitting there? What happened to Claire, did Camila leave her alone? Jonah is now a murderer at 14 years old? Byrde family goes into business of body disposal now? No one bats an eye on people not coming back after visiting their house? Maya ignores that Mel is missing? What happens to Rachel? Did cartel get rid of Ruth's body or did police find it? What about Jim or Charles? Or Frank Jr, does he seek revenge for Ruth? Unbelievable amount of things left open. And that last scene, please...what an insult to the fans. And that car accident!? It was episode 1 opening and it was made so dramatic, such cliffhanger, it was made to look like it was some big event that will change the course of the show. Then we get the actual accident, they roll over repeatedly, get out, brush it off like it was NOTHING, and never get referenced again. No ambulance, no police, no ER to get CT scans after rolling over and over at high speed, no X-rays, no broken bones, not even a scratch on any of them after a major car crash. What was the point of that whe it had zero impact on the story? They rolled over, got a cab, moving on...Wendy's huge goose egg from banging her head on the window goes away in few minutes during the driving scene after she got rejected at the looney house. I mean I can go on forever. I'm mind blown that a show this good, with phenomenal writing in the early seasons ends like this.

Somewhere within Ozark and the story and the characters is a great show. Season 4, especially the final part demonstrates that the writers ego got in the way or they're not nearly as clever as they think they are. It's not the ending I have a man issue with. It's the clumsy story telling with no character consistency, its the plot holes as wide as a crator. Just because it's a work of fiction doesn't mean it shouldn't be believable within the confines of the world they'd set up.

I'm going to make a Breaking Bad comparison to demonstrate just how inferior Ozark is. Remember Season 3 or was it 2 with the objects floating in the swimming pool at the start of every episode, we had no idea why we were seeing this or what it meant. But it was only at the end of that season that we learnt that the father of the drug addict who Walt allowed to die was so traumatised by his daughters death, that he caused a plane to crash. I remember it was shocking and a superior use of this kind of story telling set up.

Ozark on the other hand starts off season 4 with a horrific car crash but when we see the after effects of the crash 13 episodes or so later they all walk away with not a scratch on them. In fact they're back being cartoon villains before they've even rung the insurance company.

Then there's Wendy. She could have gone down as one of all the time great characters, a genuine bad ass female Walter White. Instead she becomes a caricature, someone you just want punishing in the most evil horrid way. One minute she's checking her self into an asylum, 24 hours later she's making deals with politicians. It began to get so tiresome. The writers would introduce a new challenge for the Byrds to overcome, and of course, they'd achieve whatever they wanted. Imagine the writers room, 'hey how about Wendy runs for president of the USA?' 'Great idea, let's do it but can we make that happen in one episode?' Even the countless deaths become laughable. A local sheriff goes missing, but law enforcement doesn't seem to care. Darlene and Wyatt are murdered but law enforcement leaves a ton of Heroin behind.

Then there's all those tedious storylines with the FBI who apparently roll over like a dog whenever the Byrds get in touch. They want to visit a Mexico drug cartel leader in prison, five minutes later it happens. The Byrds day jump and the Cartel and the FBI say 'how high?'

Sometimes, Ozark was great, sometimes you get caught up in the absurdity of it all. Some of the storylines were genuinely interesting; Wendy having her brother killed and the after effects it caused, especially the rift with Jonah. But it allowed nonsensical storytelling to get in the way.

How can a showrunner justify letting the "Teflon Byrds" get away scot-free with all of the awful things they did? Wendy Byrd became this soulless empty thing with a heart black & shriveled. The ONE character who pulled themselves up from nothing, cleaned up their record, and started an honest life is the one who dies in the last episode????? It would've been better if they had Ruth Langmore shoot Wendy Byrd. The message this sent was that as long as you have enough money and the right connections, you can get away with murder and mayhem. At the beginning, I felt sorry for Marty Byrd because he'd accidentally become part of something bad. By the end of the series, he was simply a coward who wouldn't stand up to Wendy, and truly protect those who needed his protection. Especially Ruth Langmore, who did more for him than any other character throughout the series. The final episode reminds me of the ridiculousness of the final episode of Game of Thrones. Both shows had been excellent, but went out like a fish out of water, flopping about on a boat. The writers and directors should be flogged for ruining such great shows.

You havent made the great show unles it gets a GOOD ending with all questions answered, characters arches are finished and we dont want to know what happenes next cause it ENDED. In the case of Ozark in the last season they not only completely killed Marty's character, who suddenly turns into winging useless kitchen husband who lost his sharp mind to the point when he kills someone innocent and has no regrets about it whatsoever, but they are trying to make us LIKE this pathetic looser-killer. Wendy turns into complete psychopatic munipulative cold-hearted beach and still I feel like I have to like her cause the directors of the show are trying so hard to make me. The only interesting character Ruth gets the destiny she absolutely has not deserved at the point of her life when everything goes so well for her. The last season has just killed it for me. Seriously, I cant write this review anymore just like story-writers of the Ozark couldnt finished the story properly.

Williams and Dubuque have created a virtuous crime drama. All of the actors deliver superlative performances. Bateman, Linney and Garner are a sight to behold, especially Bateman who steps out of his normal character. Peter Mullan and Lisa Emery portray two of the most convincing and vicious villains with such subtleness. It's almost hard not to admire their characters. The writing, cinematography, directing, setting and acting are marvelous. The plot revolves around a financial planner who ends up in a money laundering scheme. Eventually he ends up having to relocate his family to the Ozarks in order to continue laundering money for a ruthless Mexican drug cartel against his will. The main consequences behind this are trying to save his family and everyone around him. The plot is clever, surreal, intense, violent, unparalleled, gritty, unique, duplicitous and cathartic. The series is pure art and masterful in all aspects. It is outstanding in examining just how far your average Joe will go when lives are at stake. I am a " Breaking Bad" and " Better Call Saul" fan since the first episodes of both series. "Ozark" stands right up there with each and is as good if not better. I can only hope that more seasons will follow.

Amazing acting from Jason. S and Laura. L and Julia. G. Quality.

Loved it.

Hated how it ended though. The last episode/s could have been better. First of all, killing Ruth was a effing shame. I wanted to see her come full circle living her best 'legit' life happily sitting on her new beautiful wooden house porch on the lake sipping a beer being the queen she is. She should have killed the mafia sister somehow they could have had a epic showdown, or saved the Byrdes from being killed or something dramatic but having them all survive to move on and live happy and safe lives together as business associates and life long friends. Would have been satisfying to see them all safe and relaxing away from the drama to end the show or just dominating together somehow and living happy every after. There is nothing wrong with a happy ending why not! I truly think killing Ruth was a big mistake. They could still end with a bang, but just not by killing Ruth. So many series completely bungle their endings, you watch for years only for them to eff up the ending, does my head in. Lol such a shame in my opinion.

But the acting I thought was phenomenal, loved it all except the ending.....