"Ozark" Season 4, Part 1
“Ozark,” is a Netflix original series that first aired in 2017. It features Jason Bateman as Marty Byrd, a financial adviser from Chicago whose business partner’s dishonesty with a Mexican drug cartel forces him to launder money to repay the debt in Ozark, Missouri, with his family. Season 4 part 1 of “Ozark” came out Jan. 21, beginning with some foreshadowing to part 2 in the beginning just to pick up right where viewers left off after the introduction. The show is a nail-biting, captivating, no-stone-unturned kind of experience that should not be spoiled for anyone: be warned that there are spoilers ahead, but not enough to ruin the entire season.
At the end of season 3, Helen Peirce, the cartel’s lawyer, gets her brains blown out all over Marty and Wendy when they arrive in Mexico for Omar Navarro’s party. The season picks up after an eerie car crash that has yet to be explained, with Marty and Wendy cleaning Helen out of their hair in Navarro’s bathroom.
While Marty and Wendy tried to figure out how to “launder Omar Navarro,” Darlene Snell, Ruth and Wyatt Langmore went into the heroin business together and Jonah’s loyalty was conflicted after learning that Wendy was responsible for Ben’s death. Viewers were introduced to Omar’s aspirational nephew, Javier Elizonndro, who forcibly and uncomfortably makes himself a major role in the season, as well as former detective and private investigator Mel Sattem whose investigation into the disappearance of Helen Peirce turns into an investigation into the Byrds.
By the end of the first episode of season four, Darlene ignored warnings to stop production and Jonah agreed to launder Ruth’s money through her new business, the Lazy-O hotel, where she met the Byrds in the first season. Javi murders Sheriff Nix after Nix followed the private investigator’s plea to do his job by looking into Helen’s disappearance.
In the second episode, “Let the Great World Spin,” the Byrds somehow orchestrated a meeting between Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Maya Miller and Navarro. Wendy learned what it would take to gain the kind of national influence they needed to help Navarro and made her first move on Shaw Medical, offering them cheaper heroin of the same quality for their bestselling drugs. The Kansas City Mob refused to work with Darlene, so Ruth set up a deal with Kerry Stone, a high-rolling restaurant owner, that Darlene destroyed. This episode ends with Maya nearly backing out of the meeting with Navarro completely until Wendy tells her, "If you won't protect my family, I won't protect yours."
In the third episode, "City on the Make," Maya finds Omar is not ready to make the kind of sacrifices she expects the FBI to require, but by the end of the episode, Omar begins giving up shipments as a show of good faith and cooperation with the American government. Wendy secures the Byrd foundation's second board member. In the previous episode, Jonah bought equipment to launder with but Wendy cut the power, causing Jonah to move into the Lazy-O and Wendy to act hysterically. Darlene turns out to be fine with Ruth's business decisions when money is in her hand. Javi personally delivers Shaw Medical's heroin sample and noticeably oversteps.
In the fourth episode, "Ace Deuce," Wendy draws attention to Ben's disappearance and Ruth administers narcan to Kerry after he overdoses in the Byrd’s casino. Darlene shoots Stone's driver, leaving Ruth and Wyatt to clean up after her. The private investigator spoke with Wendy's father and found that Ben had no drug problem, invalidating her reasoning for building the rehabilitation facilities with Shaw Medical. When her father calls to confront her, she tears the phone out of the wall. The FBI seizures convinced Javi there was a mole and refused to make a delivery for Shaw Medical, so Marty does business with Ruth again.
Each episode is action-packed, taking twists and turns only observant people can predict, which could explain why four pictographs inside of the letter O are shown at the beginning of each episode. Without giving away too much, Wendy’s hinges get looser, Jonah refuses to get with the program, Darlene continues on her blithe killing spree, Omar makes it close to getting what he wants, keeping everything from Javi proves difficult and dangerous and Ruth loses everything.
Every episode of “Ozark” keeps viewers glued to their seats, wondering what will happen next. The question on every “Ozark” fan's mind has been, "Where is part 2?" The unfortunate answer is that it was likely split up this way to be eligible for more Emmy awards, so it will probably not come out until after May 31 but before the end of the year.
