Ozark Season 4 Part 2 Review: A nerve wracking finale that embraces brutal honesty in its fitting farewell

Ozark Season 4 Part 2

Ozark Season 4 Cast: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner

Ozark Creators: Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams

Streaming Platform: Netflix 

Ozark Season 4 Part 2 Stars: 3.5/5

If there's one way to describe Ozark as a series or its characters, there's possibly only one word that can describe it, which is baffling. From the first season to the fourth, the series has had several moments where we were beyond surprised with the outcomes and the final seven episodes are no different. Even as the crime genre has been a tough space to compete in with the likes of Breaking Bad and Narcos out there, Ozark managed to hold its own and has with every season proven that one of its strongest points has been its amazing cast. 

Wrapping up a series as complicated as Ozark is no easy task given that there are many ways it can go wrong. In my observation, for most showrunners, the toughest job may be to tie all the loose ends that have been left from the initial seasons in a fitting way. For a series such as this, there are not only a lot of characters but also their deeds that deserve closure of sorts. As for the Byrde family, it's the swang song they have been waiting for. Did it really all start with the family trying to get out of one ugly situation, only to land themselves up on 50 others? Well, yes that's the four-season journey one could say for Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) who have done and said unthinkable things. 

The final episodes of the fourth season start with Ruth (Julia Garner) going into revenge mode after losing her cousin Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) and his wife Darlene (Lisa Emery). She's determined to finish off Wyatt's murderer but doesn't know where to begin her search. Javi (Alfonso Herrera) who is responsible for the Wyatt and Darlene's deaths in the meantime is in the middle of a deal with Mary, Wendy and Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk).  A bloodthirsty Ruth is also being convinced by both Marty and Wendy separately to not take any harsh steps, particularly trying to kill Javi. In the meantime, Marty also gets to take on the cartel leadership in Mexico where he tries to learn who ordered a hit on Navarro (Felix Solis). A bigger chunk of the story though focuses on Navarro’s sister, Camila (Veronica Falcón) who becomes the big player in the finale. 

The fourth season of Ozark has had a lot of subplots and the interlocked storylines do get tedious to follow at some points.  The final seven episodes of the series focus on the Byrde family's last attempts to make it out of the messy partnerships with drug cartel owners into something that can induct them back into society with a cleaner reputation. In this journey towards their endgame, Wendy (Linney) does stoop to new lows as passes out flyers for her "missing" brother whom she herself killed in the third season. Amid the Byrdes and Ruth's plans, there's also Mel Sattem (Adam Rothenberg), a character that I gave up on a long time ago who makes a key appearance in the finale. With the Byrdes and Sattem's fates intertwined right till the end, it's a nail-biting last few minutes for the show. 

The final episodes of the last season do pack a lot of surprises in the form of flashbacks, the reappearance of characters from the initial seasons and so on which work well when it comes to giving every character their proper ending. The nature of the conclusion though for the show's lead characters, particularly the Byrde family and Ruth may not sit down well with many fans though. Although in my opinion, it's a fair ending going by the character development for each of them, be it Marty, Wendy or Ruth. Over the course of the four seasons, we have gained enough insights into these characters to realise where they stand when it comes to making the right or wrong decisions. 

Before the release of the second part of the final season, Jason Bateman had teased in an interview that the finale was going to have an emotional quotient and well, that's probably one of the biggest differences you will observe for the series. There's a stark tonal shift for the final episodes as we witness Ruth's struggle to gather her emotions, Wendy's moment of complete self-awareness and a longtime overdue emotional dialogue with her kids. At one point, there's also a nice callback to the first season when the Byrde family enjoy a car ride together, almost rejoicing that they are set to finally crawl out of all the murky business. 

All through the four seasons one thing that has remained consistently impressive is Laura Linney's performance. She knocks it out of the park again in the final episodes as she brings a much-needed emotional awakening to Wendy. In a scene where she tells Ruth (Garner), "It’s my fault. All of it", Linney conveys Wendy's breaking point in the most poignant manner. Jason Bateman also puts up a tight performance and particularly leaves us impressed in the episode where assumes power as the kingpin in Mexico. The final season all in all though truly belongs to Julia Garner who all through the fourteen episodes showcases multiple layers of Ruth with a genius that's impressive. The emotional vulnerability that she brings to her performance is flawless. 

ALSO READ: Ozark Season 4 Part 1 Review: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney's Byrdes get murkier than ever as the endgame begins

The big finale of the season is directed by Jason Bateman and makes for a riveting watch right till the last frame. The series' ending leaves enough space for the show to make a comeback years later as well. Among the disappointing parts of the finale include a pointless car accident, there's also ample foreshadowing that happens when it comes to Ruth's fate and the pre-warning becomes even more disappointing after seeing the final outcome. 

Although one thing is clear, Ozark takes the easy way out when it comes to its finale. It doesn't bring you a shocking ending instead it gives you something brutally honest, something that says, this is how the world functions. Perhaps accountability for our actions is in fact a dystopian concept in this dark world.