“Ozark” (Netflix)
“Ozark” has returned to Netflix for its third season and it is wilder than ever. When this series started it laid out a plot about a couple, Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney), who moved to the Ozarks to launder money for a drug cartel. They were novices at doing this but somehow found their niche making it happen. They talked about getting out from under the cartel because they wanted safety for their two kids but as the saying goes every time they got a little bit out someone/some thing pulled them back in.
Now here they are in season three. They own a casino which is a very good place to do their money laundering. Marty runs it while Wendy looks after other interests. Oh, and they have a Cartel lawyer watching over them. Her name is Helen (Janet McTeer) and she is deadly.
This season, like the first two, finds Marty and Wendy getting deeper and deeper in trouble. It seems they are on a dead end path to a dead end with the cartels, the mob, or whatever. Plus Marty and Wendy aren’t really getting along but that is the least of their problems. They have always had their ups and downs. Then to add to the complications Wendy’s brother Ben (Tom Pelprey) decides to show up for an open ended visit.
All of the actors are playing their A game, especially Julia Garner who plays Ruth, Marty’s right hand person. Ruth is one of the most fascinating characters TV has ever created. She is rough, tough, smart and cynical. She also basically has a good heart. Garner lets each facet of Ruth’s personality come to the surface and let’s her shine in all of her multi-dimensions.
Also a stand out in Season 3 is McTeer. This woman is tall and she wears her height proudly. She towers over most of the other cast members and uses it to dominate any scene in which she appears. Helen is like a deadly cobra in that you never know when she will strike out at you.
Even with this kind of acting competition Bateman and Linney are, and will forever be, the core of the series. Everything that happens in “Ozark” circles around the two of them. Bateman plays the everyman caught up in circumstances beyond his control while Linney is his Lady McBeth.
Each episode of Season 3 is good. You never think of any of them as filler. Something major to move the story forward occurs in each one. So watch it one episode a day or binge-watch all 10 episodes at one time. It is delicious any way you do it. Just do it.
All three seasons (30 episodes) are waiting for you on Netflix. Enjoy!
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
