Ozark is an American crime drama streaming television series created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams for Netflix. The series revolves around a married couple who move to Lake of the Ozarks along with the family for money laundering. It has four seasons with the first one releasing on July 21, 2017. Created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, the series stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as Marty and Wendy Byrde.
The series garnered positive reviews from critics with praise for performances, direction, tone, and production values.
Financial advisor Marty Byrde tries to make amends after a money-laundering scheme with a Mexican drug cartel goes wrong. He offers them to set up a bigger laundering operation in the Lake of the Ozarks region of central Missouri. With the sudden move from the Chicago suburb of Naperville to the remote summer resort community of Osage Beach, Missouri, the Byrde family finds themselves in trouble. They end up getting entangled with local criminals including the Langmore and Snell families and lastly with the Kansas City Mafia.
Ozark cast consists of :
Main cast :
Recurring
The crime drama element of the show has kept the viewers on the edge of their seats. There’s more than one reason why you should watch Ozark. Let us explore the reason behind Ozark being a hit show.
The mysterious and beautiful backdrop of the show acts as a whole different character. It explores the dark and complicated lives of the locals and how messed up one can be. Marty and his wife Laura try to do everything they can for the safety of their family. Little do they know that things will not go as they plan them to be.
With so many characters in the show, it is evident that the protagonist of the show is Marty (Jason Bateman). One good thing about the show is the female characters and their power. Wendy, Ruth (Julia Garner), Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz), Del (Esai Morales), Helen (Janet McTeer), Darlene (Lisa Emery), and Rachel (Jordana Spiro) have stolen the limelight.
The writing of the show doesn’t limit the characters just to their said roles. When we see Wendy and her daughter Charlotte taking the lead, you can very well feel the dynamics.
Other than them, Ruth who plays the role of a local criminal portrays a very strong character in the show. Her character is heartless, tough, and vulnerable with a deep backstory. The female characters have been polished in a manner that they have their own individuality and aren’t tied to the men of their lives.
Ozark is one of the series that has it all. Do you want shocking deaths, sweeping deaths, dark humor, twists, flashbacks, and suspense? Ozark has it all. With every episode, one can not expect what will happen next. At one point, season 2 was named “Game of the Ozarks”, given the number of deaths.
One might think that the setup of the series is close to Netflix’s Breaking Bad. Bryan Cranston plays the role of the antihero who would do anything for his family. On the other hand, Marty has the same mindset but he just needs to find a way out.
Although one can point out various similarities, these are two completely different shows. In Cranston’s show, we are given a proper introduction to the story, whereas in Bateman’s show we are just thrown right into the mess with no context whatsoever.
Ozark is set at a modest waterfront resort at Lake of the Ozarks, inspired by the Alhonna Resort and Marina, where series creator Dubuque worked as a dockhand while attending college in Missouri during the 1980s.
When it comes to writing the script related to money laundering, the writers went out of their way to create the storyline. As per Looper, the creative team set out to figure out how the Byrdes’ money-laundering operation was going to function, they did the most sensible thing: They went to the experts. By experts, we mean real FBI agents who work on financial crimes. To make sure they had all the pertinent information, a hedge fund manager was also brought in to answer questions about how to move large sums of money.
Ozark’s new season will mark the ending of the series. The creators have kept the interest of the audience by releasing Ozark Season 4 in two parts. The first part was released on Jan 21 with a cliffhanger. With an ending like that, the viewers are eager for Part 2, for which the release date is set as April 29,2022.
In a conversation with TheWrap, showrunner Chris Mundy revealed that there will be no spinoff or continuation after Season 4. He said, “I can say truly that there’s nothing definitive, but that it’s been broached by people. But it’s just still in the question mark stages on all fronts.”
With such a huge franchise, the series is bound to have mind-blowing scenes that stay with the fans. Let us dive into the best scenes from Ozark.
Buddy burns down the Snell family’s poppy farm (Season 2, Episode 5)
When it comes to money, people are careful of how they earn or spend it. In shows like Ozark, the main character is a financial advisor who ends up in the world of money laundering for a Mexican drug cartel. The die-hard fan of the show might have come across a question – Are Marty’s laundering strategies correct? Why haven’t the authorities caught him?
As per Jumio, the money laundering scenarios in Ozark are both plausible and very creative. Marty uses cash businesses, including the Blue Cat Lodge and a strip club, as a means to legitimize the cartel’s drug money. However, a lot of transactions should have been caught and reported to FinCEN (i.e Financial Intelligence Unit of USA). Looks like, in the Ozark universe, the banks aren’t as equipped as the real world.
The series has received a total of thirty-two Primetime Emmy Award nominations including two for Outstanding Drama Series, with Bateman winning for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2019 and Garner winning twice consecutively for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2019 and 2020. Jason Bateman has received two further Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.
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Genre |
Drama |
| Release Date | July 21, 2017 |
| Certificate | (18+ per Netflix) |
| Cast | Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Sofia Hublitz, Skylar Gaertner, Julia Garner, Jordana Spiro, Jason Butler Harner, Esai Morales, Peter Mullan, Lisa Emery, Charlie Tahan, Janet McTeer, Tom Pelphrey, and Jessica Frances Dukes |
| Director(s) | Jason Bateman, Petter Mullan, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison, and Esai Morales |
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IMDb Ratings
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8.5/10 |
| Country of Origin | United States |
| Countries where available | Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States |
| Total seasons | 4 |
| Total Episodes | 37 |
| Episode length | ~ 1 hour |
| Current Season | Season 4 Part 2 |
| Filming location | Atlanta area at Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier |
| Soundtracks | Spotify Playlist |
