Summary

• Ozark season 4 fails to maintain the quality and storytelling of the previous seasons, with a lackluster second half.
• Season 3 is the standout season of the series, featuring well-established characters, outstanding performances, and perfectly crafted twists.
• Season 1 sets the pace and action for the show, delivering twists, high stakes, and decisive pacing from the very beginning.

Ozark is a Netflix original drama series that ran for four seasons, with the show's quality experiencing a rise and fall that echoes Ruth Langmore's journey. Ozark was created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams for Netflix and was originally released in 2017. The show has won four Primetime Emmys and multiple other awards for the incredible acting of cast like Jason Bateman as the central character, Marty Byrde, and Julia Garner, who plays Ruth Langmore, a young woman from a family of criminals.

Ozark details the story of Marty, a successful financial advisor, who becomes entangled with the Mexican drug cartel as a money launderer. When the operation goes awry, Marty tries to appease the cartel by offering to set up a bigger laundering operation in the rural Ozarks of Missouri, uprooting his family suddenly from their Chicago home. Upon arriving in Osage Beach, Missouri, the Byrde family find themselves falling further apart, while the family gets more entangled with the local criminals. Despite a strong showing in the early seasons, later on in the series, the quality dipped with an OK ending that didn't live up to the rest of the series' tight storytelling.

4 Ozark Season 4

The Final Season

Ozark season 4 is not a total flop by any stretch, but it fails to live up to the quality and storytelling of the show's prior seasons. The final season was split into two parts with seven episodes each. The first part establishes how the series will ultimately wrap up with much of the drama and action taking place here. Marty, Wendy (Laura Linney), and Ruth all set off on the final leg of their journey, trying to resolve their issues and secure their futures. The season also introduces a new key figure in Javi Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera) of the Navarro family.

Unfortunately, much of the action happens in the first half of the final season, and the second half struggles to maintain the pacing and unpredictable nature of the show. The final fate of the Byrdes makes sense, but the ambiguity and pace result in a somewhat unsatisfying resolution for a show that had such a promising journey. Ruth Langmore meets her end, and Garner delivers an outstanding performance, while the Byrde family manages to break away from their intense criminal history with a fortune, a charitable foundation, and all the pieces in place to have a bright future, unsullied by their shady past.

3 Ozark Season 2

The Sophmore Season

Ozark season 2 builds on the success of its premiere season. With the family now set up in Missouri, Marty's wife and children are given the time and space to become established in the community and find out how they fit in with their new community. The Snell family has a more prominent role in season 2 as Darlene and Jacob turn on one another. The show is still finding its feet at this early stage, so it makes sense that this isn't the show's strongest outing.

What season 2 does very well, however, is build out its cast of characters, develop their motivations and drives, and set the course for the rest of the show. Ozark season 1 benefitted from Jason Bateman directing both the first and last two episodes of the season, but this changed in season 2, with Bateman only directing the first two episodes. While everyone who worked on directing the show did a great job, Bateman's episodes always managed to push the narrative forward and bring out the best performances from the cast. Perhaps being able to direct, while also starring, meant Bateman could lead from the frontline and bring together his vision more cohesively.

2 Ozark Season 1

The Premiere Season

The show's premiere season did a phenomenal job of setting up the premise, creating high stakes, and expanding the narrative. In the pilot episode alone, the show reveals Marty's criminal behavior, his connection to the Mexican drug cartel, the death of his business partners, his strained relationship with his wife, and the family moving to Missouri. For most shows, all of those elements may have taken up a few seasons, but Ozark delivers its twists, turns, and decisive pacing from the very start.

As Marty gets established in the Ozarks of Missouri, he looks for businesses with which he can start laundering the money to recover his debts for the cartel. The town and its inhabitants, however, prove to be much more complex than they may first appear as criminal families run the show, such as the Snell's and the Langmore's. Marty also forms an uneasy alliance with young Ruth Langmore after she attempts to steal from him, but eventually chooses to try and assassinate him at her father's command. The series is action-packed, and Ozark season 1 sets up the pace, action, and constantly moving parts that make the show so impressive.

1 Ozark Season 3

The Penultimate Season

Finally, Ozark season 3 is far and away the best of the series. The show really hits its stride with well-established characters, outstanding performances from the cast, constantly growing stakes, and perfectly crafted twists and turns. The writing, directing, and execution of the third season stand out as the show's best, with several defining moments leading to the show's inevitable conclusion. With the Byrde family in the middle of an all-out cartel war, things look dicey for the future. Ruth Langmore also becomes better established as a part of Marty's business, running the casino and coming to blows with the Kansas City mafia, particularly the son of the mob boss, Frank Jr.

This season also sees the introduction of Ben Davis, played by Tom Pelphrey, as Wendy's younger brother. Ben is a lovable, fun character, with a short fuse that puts the family in danger of losing the empire they have established. Six months have ed since they set up shop in Missouri, and just as business is booming and the Byrde's appear to have everything under control, the criminals pulling the strings come out to play and turn the small city of Osage Beach into a battleground. With the family facing incredibly tough choices, things all come to a head in Ozark season 3.