User Reviews

Obviously the people who gave this episode low grades are just straight haters. They either pinpoint one specific thing they think is dumb or just hated it because they talk about a topic they don't like (religion).

The tension, grief, acting, cinematography, and character development that happens in this episode is awesome. I mean Wendy is kidnapped, Marty murders, and Ruth is a wreck & being manipulated by her own father all in one episode.

This is easily an episode that shifts these characters and will further more create future issues.

Sorry if you don't like hearing about God and religion lol go watch a comedy or something that doesn't deal with griping real issues.

Not a review so much as rebuttal due to some of the dumb comments:

Ruth is a babbling wreck because she had to hide underwater and almost drown, having literally been WATERBOARDED a few days prior. Notice how she was washing with a cloth over the sink? She's traumatised.

Mason blames Wendy and Marty for everything including the death of his wife and finally went over the edge...

Bad acting? Really? A different episode, darker and with less black humour, but jeez it was in no way badly acted

Only thing I agree with is the kidnap followed the cliches of kidnapper dropping their guard, failed escape etc.

The episode itself it rather regular and expected along the train of events of the show itself, but there's something different about this episode that I felt I needed to share.

Yes, the story felt like it was being stopped almost unnecessarily by Mason's character, but I realized that Mason's character and a lot of the dialogue/stories in these episodes are made as devices for self-evaluation. I'm not religious, in fact I consider myself purely agnostic. I don't lean atheist nor theist, but I want to be spiritual. I felt like listening to that conversation between Wendy and Mason about god was amazing because you hear two sides to the same coin. The coin is our inner dialogue. Our doubts and our hopes to maybe believe in something like religion.

Mason says that religion is life itself, but Wendy lives on the path that religion has been nothing but a burden for her. The one that has strayed so far from the path (Wendy) and the fallen angel (Mason). Both of their arguments are indisputable, but the best part of this dialogue is that they both uncover a truth about each other. Mason reveals to Wendy that she made an excuse to leave home on purpose which she doesn't deny, and Wendy says that Mason walked into that store because he wanted to die.

I've got to say that scene was powerful, and I'd recommend any of you to rewatch that particular scene (~37-42 minute mark if you're watching on Netflix) because it really encapsulates a really smart atheist and theist balance of arguments.

Belief isn't about logic, it's about a life essence to see something despite its apparent existence, and atheism is there to describe the grounding view of the world. Neither is wrong to believe, but neither can purely be proven right. That's what I really love about this scene and its powerful duality. This alone makes this episode a 10/10 for me!

I just watched this episode and was absolutely shocked at so many low reviews. Are these people watching the same show? This episode was so gripping and insanely intense. Not much happened? This episode is literally the equivalent of 'half measures' from breaking bad. And people saying Ruth's character development was stupid she's literally 19 and was tortured by the cartel who cares if she changes her mind about something . The main story line of this episode with mason is some of the best tv I've ever seen, the moment Marty gets down into the basement and u realise mason isn't sticking to the deal! 10/10 episode ozark just keeps getting better.

Mason's downward spiral comes to a tragic end. It's almost poetic how Marty is forced to kill to stop him, when Marty is the one primarily responsible for sending him off the deep end in the first place. The voiceover of Wendy over the shots of them taking and cremating the body was especially haunting or impactful. Will be interesting to see what happens with Zeke and the family

"We sacrifice for each other because we love each other, very much." This line isn't delivered until the end of "One Way Out," but it nails down the complex and tragic story this episode ambitiously attempts to tell. Ozark is always bleak, but here it has moments that border on black as it paints out a wide spectrum of characters, all operating in outwardly different, yet surprisingly similar areas of gray. We jump right into this morality tale with the Byrdes defending their character to an unknown party. Are they good people? Cut to Cade and Ruth, who are in the beginning stages of some small-time crime. It's clear that Ruth feels she needs to do more to please her dad. Soon, they graduate to bigger adventures; they plan to steal a boat. At home, Wendy and Marty bicker over the Blue Cat. Wendy wants to avoid suspicion, but Marty wants to see Rachel again. He heads over and, after a tense conversation via text (why did neither of them turn their sound off??), he lets Rachel know that he can't help her with the FBI. After, he meets with a PR agent who wants to rebrand the Byrdes as wholesome via a magazine interview. What she certainly doesn't count on is Wendy getting kidnapped! Wendy's captor puts a hood on her and takes her to a basement. She hears prayers as she waits. Meanwhile, Cade and Ruth make their play for the boat. When the boat's owner almost catches them, Ruth must face up to her temporary fear of water by taking to the lake to avoid getting caught. At Mason's, Marty brings Zeke and they make the exchange. Naturally, it does not go smoothly. Mason freaks. He thinks that Marty has done something to hurt his baby, who is crying incessantly. There's a scramble and a desperate Mason ends up holding Wendy at knifepoint. When he won't give her up, Marty shoots him. Mason dies on the floor as Zeke cries. Back at the lake, Ruth is weeping. The hideout in the water has thrown her over the edge and she apologizes to her father, desperately seeking some kind of comfort from him. In a rare moment of understanding, he gives it to her: "There will be other boats." Ruth reacts strongly to the approval by opening up and telling Cade where she thinks Marty hides his money. As Marty spreads Mason's ashes in the lake, it's goodbye to hope for a while. At least the Byrdes will have each other.

Incredible episode with the backdrop of a complex religious discussion serving as backdrop for the decisions made by Wendy, Marty and Mason.

Marty: "What will make you believe me?" Mason: "Nothing" Marty: "So then just choose to believe me. Like how you chose to believe God." Mason: "I can't, not anymore."

Mason has strayed so far from his faith, the "essence of life", as he called it. By the end and at the depths of his grief and despair, he is walking away from that faith, the very same action that he condemned Wendy for just a few moments later. And tragically with that, it is his "one way out".

The scene of Mason bleeding out on the floor with his son crying in the background sends shiver to your bones.

The episode ends with Wendy's monologue of "Sometimes we sacrifice for each other, because we love each other". Now we know that her use of "sacrifice" here was both in a metaphorical and literal sense, as Marty sits wide-eyed, stricken with horror and disbelief next to her. My god, this is as perfect an episode as it can get.

This episode is a break from all the cartel threats, FBI and the snells. It's a very a much filler but a very good one. Wendy once is the MVP here and is becoming my favorite character of the show. What could have been a simple scenario unprecedentedly turned into a dangerous situation and the Byrde family has reached a point of no return now. We see the conclusion to Mason's arc and it was fantastic as it was heartbreaking, the dialogue exchange between him and Wendy was attention-grabbing. Now, the Byrde's lost a "family member" in the previous episode and gained a new one in this episode, can't wait to see where this goes.

Michael Mosley was a little better on Seven Seconds than this show, but nevertheless his character helped anchor the best episode of the season to this date. It was over the top, but it was intense and entertaining, and that is what you hope for with this show.

This was the kind of Breaking Bad-esque episode we haven't had in awhile from Ozark.

Been watching this show, and as I came across the scene where Marty meets Rachel and they text each other while she is wearing a wire I couldn't help but laugh to myself thinking how stupid this scene is. All throughout the show Marty is super discrete and careful not to leave evidence and not to implicate himself in any crime or with any ties with the cartel, but all of a sudden it's ok for him to text Rachel about trying to vouch for Ruth towards the cartel, and mentioning the cartel will kill him and his family .All of this is done through TEXT MESSAGES to Rachel which he now knows is an accomplice with the FBI. Marty seems not to worry about it and doesn't even ask her to delete the texts afterwards. This show is getting dumber and dumber.

So Ruth is having a difficult time getting over the cartel's visit yet she's talking to her dad about betraying them by stealing Marty's money? And Ruth is supposed to be smart? Horrible character development.

So all this negative feedback for the episode and no one will mention the clicking keyboards on the phones? I bet they even added them in post for "extra tension". Dumbest thing this show ever did

The kidnap scenes were typical and drawn out way too far...some good dialogue, but too much for me.

The opening and closing scenes were done well, Bateman did a great job of conveying his emotions. Was a bit surprised that the preacher was killed, good twist there.

How did they explain a baby to their children?? It became obvious where that baby will end up.

Wouldn't the FBI hear the text message sounds between Marty and Rachel on the bug? At least we didn't have to see Agent Petty this episode.

I keep thinking this show could be better with a different cast.

Although it seems the series is getting dumber and dumber I am still intrigued. I want to know what the final outcome will be to the awful Breaking Bad (reboot).

Marty implicates himself, his family, and Ruth in a brief but loud (thanks to special effects) text communication with Rachel back at the restaurant/bar. As if the FBI can not subpoena phone records.

Ruth's character has gone back to her old ways which I can understand because Marty doesn't seem to have her back and is basically all about himself. But she can be smarter and make money doing things in a more safer manner.....but hey the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Mason and Wendy both have their "come to Jesus" moments which make the episode drag out sooooooo long and make it sooooooo boring. BUT at least for 10 secs its revealed that Marty bribed the medical examiner when it came to Grace's remains being found on the Snells property. Also, within that 10 secs it was revealed that the police was also aware of what the Byrdes did. WOW!!!!

The only excitement in the episode and why I gave it the 3 stars is because I was not sure if Mason would accidentally shoot his own child, himself, or one of the Byrdes at the end.

I've never seen a show with so much potential ruined by acting that rivals The quality of Sharknado. Every actor in this series so far (with the exception of Wyatt) is unbelievable half the time. It takes so much away from the great plot of the show. People compare this show to Breaking Bad. There is no comparison simply because the acting is so awful. One minute Wendy is a ruthless political strategist, left over from her Obama days - the next minute she a babbling, crying basket case. One minute Ruth is a rock solid family leader and suddenly she's a sobbing little girl in her daddy's arms. Mason, an ex-preacher saved by his faith in god...suddenly becomes a kidnapper??? Absurd.

Everyone says "Wait until you get to season 3. It's amazing!!!" I'm almost through season 2 and have to force myself to watch it. Hope it gets better soon!

How can you drag out this fanatical religious bs for almost a full episode? I get it that she's trying to do what hostages are supposed to do, but it's just a complete snooze fest. I had to fast forward during the really boring god discussions. The man is screaming at people on the street for goodness sake, how can he suddenly become an episode worthy character? Maybe the focus groups were selected from parts of the US that likes this kind of thing. If you're like me, just skip this episode. It does basically nothing to bring the story forward apart from some minor development with Ruth, but apart from that it's a really boring cellar discussion about religion. And the development with Ruth is stupid too. Sigh!