Ozark Season 4 Review: Jason Bateman & Co. elevate to higher level of ‘evilness’ in this career-defining crime saga

REVIEW: The charm and romanticisation of crime thrillers have increased the appetite of the audience for similar content so much so that now this genre constitutes a major chunk of what is being consumed globally, digitally. And with well-rounded, deeply flawed plain John-looking men sitting at that protagonist’s chair, one can see why.

‘The Breaking Bad’ may have introduced the idea of an every-man baddie—idolise Bryan Cranston for that!—but it’s been quite a few years and the viewers needed newer, bolder versions of that. In comes Jason Bateman’s raging success, ‘Ozark’. As the Byrde family patriarch, Bateman aka Marty is calm, calculative and an absolute accounting genius. It also helps that he is an able money launderer, too. What started as a survival strategy in season one has now turned into a full-blown passion project, with Marty expanding the clean aspect of his businesses in hopes of leaving the cartel megalomaniacs behind someday. Wendy (Laura Linney), too, has broadened her horizon as a political figure exhibiting signs of a power monger.

This season, only the first batch of seven episodes have been released, rides on once-coy Jonah Byrde’s (Skylar Gaertner) character progression, followed by sister Charlotte’s (Sofia Hublitz) stooge-ish inclination towards mamma Wendy’s doomed philosophies on life. With a profusion of directors serving up the chaotic drama that is ‘Ozark’ finale part one—Jason Bateman and Alik Sakharov to name a few—this series thrives on its ghastly elements and raw characters, and no, the change of hands (in terms of direction) doesn’t dampen its firecracker spirit. Speaking of loudness, two-time Emmy winner Julia Garner continues to be show creators, Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams’, USP (and UPS!) of the show: bitter the better. As one shall observe, her relationships undergo massive changes during the course of the first lot of episodes, but her crassness and mouthy demeanour stays alongside her quick-to-lose-temper persona. Watch out for those cusses. Interestingly, two new characters keep the freshness of the plot alive: one as Tom to Marty’s Jerry, and the other as, well, Tom to Marty’s Jerry. These new faces have added dimension to the narrative but the centre stage still belongs to the series regulars.

Sure, ‘Ozark’ does enigma effortlessly; so don’t be baffled when you encounter those weird- angled shots, Satan-like personas and seemingly out-of-place background songs… you should know by now: secret within a secret within a secret is this crime thriller’s specialty. What’s off putting? Nothing! Although the long-drawn episodes may be uninspiring to some, trust us when we say that every minute spent watching them is worth your time. To best capture the essence of this mammoth show in one sentence, we borrow a small snippet from Wendy’s conversation with an FBI agent, where the latter asks, “You like being a big fish in a small pond. Don’t you?” To which, Wendy replies, nonchalantly, “I like draining one swamp at a time.” You bet she does!