![]() ![]() This type of whiplash-inducing storytelling is initially exhilarating but eventually exhausting. It was as if its writers were easily distractable kids playing with dolls. ![]() Granted, the two shows are nothing alike in tone or content, but the once-ubiquitous teen musical had a tendency to make its characters break up, make up, form alliances, and make new enemies multiple times per episode. But you know what its endless game of criminal musical chairs reminds me of? Glee. Ozark has long been compared, not necessarily positively, to Breaking Bad. Garner continues to be a cast standout, communicating more in the set of her jaw or the crossing of her arms than other actors do in their entire performances. She doesn’t escape the writers’ tendency to use allegiance shifts in place of actual, discernable plot, but she’s poised to take center stage as Ozark heads into its endgame. While Wendy has grown ice-cold and Marty has all but become a robot, Ruth is still hot-blooded and prone to taking things personally. She also genuinely cares about her family and wants to build something they can be proud of. She’s a pint-sized, angry, ever-savvy young woman who wants everyone around her to be doing a better job than they are. When the show devolves into scene after scene of arguments, business meetings, and executions, Ruth stands apart. Ruth has always been the light at the end of Ozark’s blue-gray tunnel. Or perhaps a Monopoly board, since this game has gone on way too long. ![]() Too many characters, from pregnant FBI agent Maya ( Jessica Frances Dukes) to scrappy businesswoman Ruth ( Julia Garner), seem to be constantly shuffled around by writers like pieces on a chessboard. The biggest plot twists happen via terse phone calls, usually with characters who have changed their minds for no apparent reason. More often than not, Ozark’s double-crosses and shady dealings read like bullet points on a list the writers are running through, with no intrigue or connective tissue between them. Their relationship, like so many other parts of the series, seems to be happening for no other reason than because writers willed it to. If one person seems to be genuinely at peace with his life, it’s Wyatt ( Charlie Tahan), the teenager who inexplicably shacked up with violent sexagenarian heroin farmer Darlene ( Lisa Emery) last season. The whole family is also more disillusioned than ever in the wake of Ben’s death. Daughter Charlotte ( Sofia Hublitz) and son Jonah ( Skylar Gaertner) seem to have no extracurriculars to put on their college applications besides money laundering. The Byrdes once spoke of an endgame, of getting out of the business, but now they just seem to be on autopilot. The couple spends the rest of these first episodes trying to pull strings with the FBI and launching a shady foundation in hopes of meeting Navarro’s demands. Season 4 opens with Navarro making an impossible request of the Byrdes, as he so often does. Marty and Wendy ( Laura Linney) now head up a money-laundering empire on behalf of cartel leader Omar Navarro ( Felix Solis). The first batch is a chore to get through but pays some dividends in the end.Įveryone in the series seems more miserable than ever. Netflix is splitting Season 4 of Ozark into two parts, each with seven episodes. But the show’s third season was its best, thanks to a surprisingly devastating turn by Tom Pelphrey as Wendy Bird’s bipolar brother, Ben. Its engaging first season gave way to a shoddily written second. Ozark is a crime series that’s almost procedural in its machinations, tidily redistributing its characters’ debts and allegiances over and over again as if on a schedule. But then again, neither does anyone else in this final season. He never cracks more than a tight-lipped, perfunctory smile. Bateman plays Marty not as even-keeled, but as seemingly empty, his motivations all but imperceptible. By Season 4, he is so used to over-promising for his life that he barely reacts to even the most high-stakes situations. Marty Byrde ( Jason Bateman) has been slithering his way out of life-or-death situations since the very first episode of Ozark. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |