‘Ozark’ Season 4 Part 1 Sets the Stage for Unpredictable Reckonings

Alci Rengifo

Since its first season, Netflix’s “Ozark” has been gripping because of how starkly it tells its saga of corruption. Unlike other shows about the criminal underworld, this one has really been all about the main attraction for most people who engage in illegal activities, namely the promise of easy wealth. It brilliantly made its protagonists two money launderers which gave viewers the darkly thrilling feel that they were traveling with the brains behind the operation. Martin (Jason Bateman) and Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) are far from the stereotypes we tend to get in cartel series. They’re suburban with WASP demeanors yet soon consumed by the ruthless violence of the world they have chosen to operate in. The seven-episode first part of this fourth and final season hints at an approaching reckoning for the Byrdes. Now, much of its intensity derives from not being able to guess just what kind of climax awaits their sins and dreams.

The season opens with a searing moment before coiling back into the narrative. Martin, Wendy and kids Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) are driving down a highway before spiraling into a violent crash. When next we see the Byrdes it is soon after the events that closed season three when Mexican cartel boss Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) shot dead attorney Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer). This means added pressure for Martin and Wendy. Helen had sought to take over their operations and Navarro decided he trusted the Byrdes more. He makes this clear by giving them a new task: Washing clean his own illicit empire so he can get out of the cartel business. This also includes forging links with the FBI to cut a deal. Back in Missouri former associate Ruth (Julia Garner) makes the rather rash move of buying the bed bug motel she once worked for. It isn’t because of a sudden desire to settle down. Ruth’s plan is to use the business as a front for money laundering. She’s also back to selling opium with Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) and seasoned dealer Darlene (Lisa Emery). At the Byrde home Charlotte is still a loyal partner in her parents’ intrigues while Jonah is becoming resentful over his knowledge that Wendy killed his Uncle Ben (Tom Pelphrey). To Wendy’s enraged shock, Jonah agrees to help Ruth with her enterprise.

Giving “Ozark” a two-part final stretch may sound like hubris, especially for a show that is so taught. Yet it never feels as if showrunner Chris Mundy is over-stretching the final twists to the Byrde story. The mood is more of dark shadows beginning to encroach all over on the family and anyone in their orbit. In the last lap Wendy had already descended into a pretty dark personal pit by killing her own brother Ben. The couple is tasked by Navarro with a mission that could also increase their status into that of powerful political operatives, since the cartel head will need well-connected sources of protection. They also enter a potentially deadly triangle since Navarro wants to keep the details of his planned exit secret from ambitious nephew Javi Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera), who he suspects wants the kingpin assassinated. “Ozark” is like “Narcos” for the finance world. There’s violence and threat of terror, but ultimatums or deals are made with cryptic, hypnotic dialogue. Nobody trusts anyone else in this world, so messages are relayed via understandings. To survive in this terrain one has to be smartest because being stupid can easily get you eliminated. FBI agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes) is approached by the Byrdes as the liaison for Navarro. Her meeting on a private jet with the drug lord is one of the season’s subtle highlights. The scene is brilliantly intense in how both characters engage in a negotiation where both parties flex their muscles with mutual respect.

The other great highlight in this first half of the final season is the performance by Laura Linney. All throughout the run of this show she has always showed off controlled grit, keeping her cool under any circumstances. This is the season where Wendy begins to gradually snap. Tension arising from having to do Navarro’s bidding combines with the rage over Jonah going over to help Ruth, which is even more increased when he lets his mother know he’s aware she’s a murderer. Now there is a deadlier coldness to Wendy when she busts through doors to get what she wants. When Miller hesitates about meeting with Navarro, Wendy barges into her room and orders her to get on the plane. Her most searing venom is reserved for Ruth, seen as nothing more than white trash to be thrown aside. Ruth’s arc also begins a journey that is wholly unpredictable. The Navarro cartel is not happy about Darlene’s opium trade and wants it stopped, which leaves the upstart stuck with a motel to run. She concocts a scheme with Jonah to keep the money flowing in that almost makes her criminally endearing. If the Byrdes are suburbanites with the kind of privileges afforded in this society to those with the proper college degrees, Ruth is the epitome of “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.” She never lets her background ever get in the way. Coming from a world of trailer parks and grueling low-wage jobs only fuels her ambition. Despite Darlene’s orders, she keeps the drug business going. Even one of her clients having a near-deadly overdose at the Byrdes’ own casino can’t stop Ruth. Like Linney, Julia Garner raises the volume on her performance, making it both empathetic and ruthless.

Much of the first half of “Ozark” season four is an absorbing set-up for the final section to come. Navarro’s nephew, Javi, is like an angel of death hovering over the Byrdes, keeping an eye on their dealings while suspecting something else is going on. Alfonso Herrera is great in the role, playing Javi like the perfect prototype of the modern gangster. He dresses and looks ideal for a stroll down the glitzier areas of Los Angeles or Miami, with the added touch of a murderous tinge. How will the Byrdes ever maneuver out of this world and come out winning? Maybe they won’t. “Ozark,” like much recent crime TV, is also a potent allegory for America. At the dinner table Jonah protests about his parents’ planning their retirement from this business through illegal means, Wendy starkly tells him that in America no one cares how you achieve wealth. No wonder the rich visual style of this series maintains a drained color palette, where even sunny days feel overcast. Hurdling towards its finale, “Ozark” remains powered by dreams hiding nightmarish reality.

“Ozark” season four part one begins streaming Jan. 21 on Netflix.