Ozark season 4 is available to watch on Netflix. PHOTO CREDIT: netflix.com
(Spoilers for Ozark seasons 1-3)
For those unfamiliar with the show, “Ozark” follows money launderer Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his family’s move to the Ozarks, located in southern Missouri, as they try to flee the debts their family owe to the Mexican cartel.
In this season, Marty continues to strive for success in the criminal world, despite the detrimental impact it has on him and his family.
Season four picks up right where season three left off, with the looming oppression of the cartel moving closer over the Byrdes as Omar Navarro’s (Felix Solis) nephew, Javier Navarro (Alfonso Herrera) a high-tempered representative of the cartel, takes the Cartel’s dealings into his own hands. Overall, this makes the Byrde family’s job much more difficult.
Javier took over the family business due to Omar’s desire to leave the drug business for good to live peacefully with his family. This, paired with the constant encroachment of the FBI leaves the Byrde’s in a more difficult position than they have ever been in before.
The Byrdes are consistently forced to switch between doing business with the FBI, Omar and Javier. All of whom have conflicting motives and ideologies, leaving the Byrdes to play the role of the middle man between them all.
This season also features more of Jonah Byrde (Skylar Gaertner), who still holds a grudge against his mother Wendy (Laura Linney) over his uncle Ben’s (Tom Pelphrey) death that took place in season three. His death was caused by Wendy abandoning him to be killed off by the cartel. In season four, Jonah often argues with other members of his family and seeks out ways to work for Ruth’s (Julia Garner) own money laundering scheme in an attempt to prove his own worth to his family.
What I like about his character in this season is that he seems to react to events in the story as I or any other rational person would react. Jonah is extremely upset over his uncle’s passing, which would make me upset too if I were him, however, the other characters play Jonah’s frustrations off as nonsensical.
The Byrdes must also deal with having private investigator Mel Sattem (Adam Rothenberg) watching their business. Mel was hired to investigate the inner workings of the Byrde family and is constantly pursuing them and trying to get more information about them. He isn’t around too often in the first part of season four, however, the information that he is trying to find about the Byrde’s dealings adds a level of tension to everything going on as it could completely take down the Byrde’s business. His background is not fully revealed to the viewers, leaving room for his plotline to grow in the second part of this season.
Season four is built off of what made the previous seasons so great. With its surprising plot twists and nail-biting drama interspersed with small heartfelt moments, it kept me on the edge of my seat and longing for more. Season four, part one is filled with character development and cliffhangers, setting the stage for the show’s finale that is to come in part two.