A family of four - middle income - decides to launder money for the second largest cartel in the world. Side note, do you ever feel like the promotions and retirements in the cartel are usually the result of an untimely death. Because if you do your job right, then there's no reason to worry. But if you want out, well, there's no way out, really. Just death.
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself here. The point is Ozark is about a family who decides to work for the cartel and spend the rest of the four seasons trying to appease the big boss - to stay in his good graces just long enough for them to buy their way out for good.
Which reminds me of a comment I saw online. That crime shows tend to attract lots of viewers, and someone asked why people seem to love crime so much, and the response was words similar to living vicariously. The adrenaline rush, just before something bad happens.
I mean, it's hard to just start laundering money for dangerous people in the real world. Even if it sounds way more exciting than holding down a 9 to 5 job. But Ozark is determined to paint a vivid picture of just how much one decision can turn your life around, all to convey the thing you already know. To avoid shortcuts. To stay in school. To not do drugs. And to not launder money for a cartel.
The last point, though, is a gray area though, isn't it? At least in Ozark? I think every crime film (specifically in the drug business, and both fiction and real stories) I've seen has ended in jail time or worse (usually death.) Pablo Escobar was gunned down. Walter White died. Ghost died. Jaime was shot dead. That's Narcos, Breaking Bad, Power, and Top Boy, respectively.
But Ozark? No. They lived. And not just lived, but the family did not set one foot in jail for money laundering (there's that one time the parents were jailed for road rage fighting shenanigans). They didn't go to jail because they were in cahoots with the FBI and struck a deal that set them free from prosecution. Oh, and in addition to no jail time, they built a legitimate non-profit foundation, worth millions (or billions), using drug seed money. So now, not only are the Byrde's free from prosecution, but they are also stinking rich.
It makes you wonder whether the "life of crime" Marty and Wendy chose to live, and drag their kids in the mud with them was, in the end, the right choice to make. Or, would they have been better off living an ordinary life, paying the mortgage, dropping their kids off at school, going for family vacations, fighting over the person responsible for doing the dishes or taking out the garbage, all that ordinary family stuff. Because as soon as shit hit the fan, they were ceased to be "ordinary" people doing "ordinary" people things.
Instead, Marty was always finding new ways to launder money, whether bullshitting his way out of trouble or forcing the locals' hand to do his bidding, then justifying all his actions as necessary measures to keep his family safe. And Wendy. Oh, poor Wendy. She's the villain in the story, the one who never thinks twice about threatening people into submission. Or scheming with politicians to get her way. Or killing, yes, actually sending a hit man not only on a family friend's father but also on her brother. Her own flesh and blood.
Then, there's the kids. Jonah and Charlotte. Jonah starts to launder money at age 14. He's moved out into a motel, and is running accounts worth thousands of dollars. Over $600,000 was it? Charlotte was laid back a bit, until she started to work for the family business, and apparently made enough to walk out of her SAT exam. Who needs college when you've already, in the capitalist way of life, made it.
I have to say I love how the kids knew exactly what their parents were into. They helped whenever they could, like helping to wrap and hide cartel money to the tune of 50 million dollars. And in the last episode, the final curtain draw, Jonah murders a PI for the family. He's not even an adult yet!
Best Ozark Quotes
One last thing before I wrap it up, I enjoyed Ozark so much, partly because of its story development, but more so because of the writing itself. Which is why I've prepared my personal favorite quotes of the show, some of which I can already see well fitting on social media posts or even as random phrases with friends and strangers when you want to sound smart and well-read. Some are just funny.
Marty Byrde
Super numbers guy. Like a really deep thinker who calculates every move, every stride. He's hardly ever emotional and beats himself a bit too much when he can't save everyone but himself.
Wendy Byrde
She's been called a bitch quite a lot in the last season. Always intuitive and sees trouble coming from a mile away. Although she loves her kids to death, they just never seem to understand her, probably because she has a dark past she rarely speaks of.
Ruth Langmore
Special mention. Ruth is the light of the show for me. So out of the box. So honest and raw. She has her fair share of f-bombs but is always on point with whomever she's with.
Check out plenty more films in our “Finally Watched Breaking Bad, Only the Most Badass Show Ever! Here’s What I Think” article. Got a film in mind you would like me to review for you? Let me know over on the socials!