TV

Mine Caution: The Ghost of the Dead Rows on the Last Season of "Ozark"

After the events of the end of the third season, "Ozark" returns to the first half of the last season, and mobilizes the dead in favor of playing cards and loyalties.

In a very clever way she inserts a wedge between the various heroes, thus mixing the professional and the personal in a way that makes it difficult to separate them.

Review without spoilers

Ido Yeshayahu

21/01/2022

Friday, 21 January 2022, 00:43

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

Ozark Teaser Season 4 (Netflix)

Even before "Ozark" even hit the screens in 2017, comparisons between it and "Breaking the Lines" were inevitable. An actor best known as a gifted comedian and starring in one of the great comedies of the 21st century, cuts to dark directions in a prestigious crime drama about an ordinary family man who gets more and more entangled with a dangerous crime and drug organization. The protagonist of the series takes under his wing a problematic young man - who in retrospect turns out to be the soul of the series - and teaches him / her the craft. Gradually the entire family of the protagonist is sucked into this whirlpool and assists in the family business aimed at laundering the illegal funds.

As if to defy this comparison, the latest season of "Ozark" adds and takes inspiration from that of "Breaking Bad": like it is divided into two parts (the first seven episodes air on Netflix tomorrow, Friday, and the last seven later this year) and like it opens with a future and intriguing scene after it It goes back to unfold what preceded it (note, there are no spoilers for the new season below but there are definitely for previous seasons).

Only then does it continue from exactly the same point where the previous season ended, which came almost two years ago: Marty (the excellent Jason Bateman) and Wendy (the wonderful Laura Linney), who were flown to the cartel head Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) in his command, clean their hair in shock The remains of the blood, brain and skull of attorney Helen Pierce (Janet Maktir), after she was executed before their eyes.

More on Walla!

Descending yellow: How can the "yellows" miss such an important thing?

To the full article

Extinguish fire after fire.

Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as Marty and Wendy, "Ozark" Season 4 Part 1 (Photo: Stephen Date / Netflix)

Helen's death, as well as that of Ben (Tom Palfrey) - Wendy's brother, who was knowingly murdered to protect the cartel - are hovering over this entire season and crossing family loyalties.

We saw Jonah (Skyler Geertner) at the end of last season going angrily to Helen's house with a shotgun and threatening her for what she had done to his uncle.

Helen managed to get Jonah to realize that Ben's murder had not taken place without his mother's approval.

When he returned home he vented his anger by firing at the huge windows, a sign of what was to come in the new season: Jonah was completely rebellious against his parents, so much so that he decided to help Roth (Julia Garner).

She, too, angrily abandoned Marty and Wendy at the end of last season because of Ben's murder, and shortly thereafter received an offer from Darlene (Lisa Emery) to work with her.

The waist (ie: the killer) of these two significant figures is the spirit in the sails of the new season of "Ozark", which is expressed in both emotional and technical dimensions.

In both cases the bodies are of course not found, so Helen and Ben are presumably missing, and questions about their puzzling disappearance repeatedly come to the door of Wendy and Marty.

In Helen's case, a particularly vigorous private detective arrives trying to figure out where she has gone, while Ben's absence guides Roth and Jonah's actions, much of which stems from feelings of revenge and antagonism towards Wendy.

More on Walla!

Apocalypse Now: While the plague is hitting the world, plagues are hitting television

To the full article

Opposite extensions.

Skyler Geertner and Julia Garner as Jonah and Roth, "Ozark" Season 4 Part I (Photo: Netflix)

Marty's two foster children - one of whom is a father figure and the other an actual father - now use the skills and knowledge he has given them to serve one of his great rivals. It is a very clever choice that connects the professional and the personal, and claims almost every move on both sides in a battery of personal and emotional considerations. Jonah somehow becomes an affiliate of Darlene with the Byrd family, and Roth, despite the rage and hostility, sometimes seems like an affiliate of the Birds with Darlene.

It's really nice to see how kosher 'far' from Marty she's still attached to it, and how much the connection between them continues to be the most exciting element of the series. His constant restraint, dryness and composure - which this time even yields some funny moments, who would have thought - encounter Ruth's constant storm, making them a kind of yin and yang. Despite the new rivalry between the two, it is still apparent that they care about each other, and sometimes they demonstrate this even at the cost of their personal considerations. Garner in particular wins this season for a few moments where she injures her heart.

More on Walla!

Once again, with emotion: even in the second season "Euphoria" is a paradise of over-drama

To the full article

Another in a series of unexpected characters.

Alfonso Herrera as Xavi, "Ozark" Season 4 Part I (Photo: Stephen Date / Netflix)

So it sucks a bit to encounter again the mangers' fondness for "Ozark" for unexpected characters.

You know, the ones that work out of whim or short thread and you never know what the next thing they will do.

This is a legacy that has existed since the early days of the series, a transparent recipe for drama as if exciting but actually clichéd and shallow.

Agent Patty (Jason Butler Herner) was like that, Roth's father (Trevor Long) was like that, and so were Jacob (Peter Mulan) and Darlene.

To Ozark's credit, it should be said that as she progressed, so did she.

Characters of this kind still exist, but they are more sophisticated.

The late Ben is the best example of this - a character who falls into definition but also one who allows us to get to know each other first and connect with her emotionally, so that her capricious actions afterwards will be planted in something strong. Roth, too - balances her and her plot lines.

More on Walla!

Black Mirror: "Dexter" has finally got the final episode it was supposed to get

To the full article

It hurts the heart.

Julia Garner with Jason Bateman, "Ozark" Season 4 Part 1 (Photo: Stephen Date / Netflix)

The new season introduces a new character under this dubious umbrella: Xavi (Alfonso Herrera, "Queen of the South"), the nephew of Navarro the cartel leader, who unlike his uncle really does not trust Marty and Wendy and sets himself the goal of examining them first and foremost and hitting them as hard as he can.

He lacks his uncle's discretion and has no problem leaving a trail of burnt corpses and bridges on the way, and as such is reminiscent of the poor figures of the past.

Despite this, as the season progresses his character also becomes more interesting, mainly because his weight on the whole course of affairs increases.

As you can understand, this time too Marty and Wendy find themselves extinguishing fire after fire after fire from every possible direction, on their way to trying to get out of this life already and from the grip of Navarro's clamps.

Wherever they turn there is someone who wants something from them that might collapse everything, which this time too creates a sensible and suspenseful season with jaw-dropping moments.

Even with an opening scene peeking into the future, it’s hard to guess where all this will go from here, towards the final seven episodes of the series.

What is certain is that the first half of the season is well preparing the ground - including, without a doubt, burying mines - ahead of their arrival.

• culture

• TV

• TV review

Tags

• Ozark

• TV review

• Jason Bateman

• Julia Garner