It's been a while since I posted in the movie community due to certain offline activities but it's nothing compared to how we all waited for the Ozarks to give us a season 4. It's been nearly two years of our lives and yet my affection and that of many has not waned. A lot of us binged this season over the weekend and it did not disappoint. Trust the Byrde family to find themselves in intriguing complications that require moral maneuvering.
This series has been funny even while dealing with serious issues like money laundering, drug trafficking and casual murder and cremating of dead bodies. To fully enjoy Ozark, you need to forget about looking for a good guy. This is a show about bad guys against other bad guys in a bad world. However, the excellence in this series is in the fact that even in this, you are able to feel empathy for the characters, to be drawn into their lives that you actually want then to successfully launder the money, to evade the FBI and to be able to cremate a body without raising suspicions and losing the affection of their kids while at it Lol.
That's really what got me and made me think about how easily it is we become the things we condemn and how easy it is to slip into really bad things and deep digging the hole to a place of no redemption. A little leaven really leavens the whole lump.
This is not exactly a review as much as it is my personal musings about the life of these characters. I really enjoyed Wendy Byrde's performance throughout. Marty is phenomenal as the guy who never loses his cool, and he's been my favorite cast member for the past three seasons, however Wendy stole it for me this time. There was a fierceness, a calm evil and oh that wickedly sarcastic smile that reached up to light up her eyes. And we thought Darlene Snell was the ominous one all along? Pfft!
There's an ongoing joke on Twitter now about how Darlene Snell's solution to every problem is to whip out a gun ha! This woman is tireddd of everyone's running mouth and has run out of patience.
In season 3, we left a pretty young Jonah Byrde but season 4 has shown so much growth has occurred both mentally and physically in this young actor found in the person of Skylar Gaertner. Jonah has taken after Marty in being very resourceful at creating his own perfect software for laundering money for Ruth and Mrs Snell. He is literally working for his parent's competition and there's nothing they can do about it. With each scene that brings him into focus, we see a young man who is piling internally all the things that robs him of the innocence in his heart. I kept thinking to myself that this is how an elite white male who shoots down a school as an adult might be formed. He sees so much, I don't know if sheer will and resilience or what's left of his childhood innocence will be able to deter him from being a hard core criminal as he grows up. But hey this is just a series and not real life. But what if it wasn't?
My least favorite character in this show has got to by Wyatt Langmore who can pass off as Darlene Snells's grandson. I don't understand the love and affection he feels for this woman but that's something that has been inserted into this show and it has been accepted even though I'm still shocked each time I see them express affection for each other.
As you watch Ozark, you understand that each person has reconciled themselves to the fact that there is no going back. That they have caused irreparable damage and are themselves damaged. They will never be good and all their efforts are channeled towards piling good works with money gotten from a shaky foundation to cover their sins. It is even a story of denial because we actually see Wendy Byrde live in a denial created by the lies she has told to herself and others that her brother is not dead. This is season 4, part 1 and I have a feeling that this delusion will probably increase in part 2. Let me know your predictions on that if you have any!
The score in this series really captured the moments depicted in them. Everything about this series feels smart and is smart and I rate it a 10/10.
Thanks for stopping by!
