Ozark (TV series)

Ozark
Genre	Drama
Created by	Bill Dubuque Mark Williams
Starring	Jason Bateman Laura Linney Sofia Hublitz Skylar Gaertner Julia Garner Jordana Spiro Jason Butler Harner Esai Morales Peter Mullan Lisa Emery
Composers	Danny Bensi Saunder Jurriaans
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Jason Bateman Chris Mundy Bill Dubuque Mark Williams
Production locations	Lake Allatoona, Georgia Lake Lanier, Georgia
Running time	52–80 minutes
Production companies	Aggerate Films Zero Gravity Management Headhunter Films Man, Woman & Child Productions Media Rights Capital
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21) – present

Ozark is an American drama series created by Bill Dubuque. The first season comprises nine one-hour episodes with a final 80 minute episode, produced by Media Rights Capital. Jason Bateman stars in the series and directs the first two, and last two episodes. Bateman portrays financial planner Marty Byrde with Laura Linney playing his wife Wendy, who suddenly relocates from a Chicago suburb to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks. After a money laundering scheme goes wrong, Marty must pay off a debt to a Mexican drug lord. The first season was released on Netflix on July 21, 2017.

Cast

Main

• Jason Bateman as Martin 'Marty' Byrde, a self-employed financial advisor, based in Chicago. In 2007, he began to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel with his business partner.
• Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde, Marty's wife and mother of Charlotte and Jonah. After moving to the Ozarks, Wendy becomes a realtor and starts to identify businesses for Marty to use to launder money.
• Sofia Hublitz as Charlotte Byrde, Marty and Wendy's 15-year-old daughter, who strives to return to Chicago.
• Skylar Gaertner as Jonah Byrde, Marty and Wendy's 13-year-old son, who begins to show strange interests in dead animals and guns.
• Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore, a 19-year-old woman, who has the potential to become a dangerous criminal. She becomes part of Marty's money laundering operation and is in charge of the day-to-day operations of a local strip club, known as "Lickety Splitz".
• Jordana Spiro as Rachel Garrison, hotel owner and Byrde's business partner
• Jason Butler Harner as Roy Petty, an FBI agent investigating Marty
• Esai Morales as Del, a ruthless crime lord for the cartel and Marty's boss
• Peter Mullan as Jacob Snell, local established crime lord
• Lisa Emery as Darlene Snell, Jacob's wife

Recurring

• Michael Mosley as Pastor Mason Young.
• Josh Randall as Byrde's partner Bruce Liddell.
• McKinley Belcher III as FBI agent Trevor Evans and Roy Petty's former lover.
• Harris Yulin as Buddy Dyker, Byrde's live-in tenant.
• Kevin L. Johnson as Sam Dermody, real estate agent in the Ozarks.
• Marc Menchaca as Russ Langmore. Wyatt's and Three's father, Ruth's uncle, and Boyd's brother.
• Christopher James Baker as Boyd Langmore, Uncle of Wyatt and Three. Part of the Langmore family gang.
• Charlie Tahan as Wyatt Langmore, Russ's eldest son who is surprisingly well read.
• Adam Boyer as Bobby Dean, Owner of the Lickety Splitz strip club that goes into business with Marty
• Sharon Blackwood as Eugenia Dermody, Sam's controlling overbearing mother who works for her son's real estate business.
• Joeseph Melendez as Garcia, an enforcer for Del and watchdog for the Byrde's.
• Bethany Ann Lind as Grace Young, Pastor Mason Young's pregnant wife
• Michael Tourik as Ash, an enforcer for the Snell's.
• Robert C. Treveliar as Sheriff John Nix.

Production

The show 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 dock hand at the resort while he was at school in Missouri during the 1980s. Rather than filming at the Lake of the Ozarks, most of the shooting locations are in the Atlanta area (Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier) because of tax breaks offered by the State of Georgia. The film crew constructed a set in Georgia after extensively studying the Alhonna Resort property. Some scenes are filmed at Chicago locations. Only a few scenes from the pilot were shot in the actual city of Lake Ozark, Missouri, which include shots of the locally famous "Welcome To Lake Of the Ozarks" sign and the Injun' Joe Muffler Man statue. Michael Mosley will play recurring character Pastor Mason Young, a charismatic and mysterious preacher who becomes involved with the Byrdes' plan to build a new church. Kevin L. Johnson plays recurring character Sam Dermody, an affable dog lover and local real estate agent with an idle business around the Lake of the Ozarks.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Sugarwood"	Jason Bateman	Story by : Bill Dubuque & Mark Williams Teleplay by : Bill Dubuque	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
After his business partner cheats a dangerous client, financial adviser Marty must devise a radical plan to save the lives of himself and his family.
2	"Blue Cat"	Jason Bateman	Story by : Bill Dubuque & Mark Williams Teleplay by : Bill Dubuque	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
In the Ozarks, Marty struggles to find a local business he can use for money laundering, while his kids make new friends but neglect a crucial duty.
3	"My Dripping Sleep"	Daniel Sackheim	Ryan Farley	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Marty finds a way to control Ruth. Wendy worms her way into a job. Looking for another business to invest in, Marty digs for info on the strip bar.
4	"Tonight We Improvise"	Daniel Sackheim	Paul Kolsby	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Marty hires Ruth to pull off a heist. Agent Petty forges a relationship with a member of the Langmore family. Jonah exhibits disturbing behavior.
5	"Ruling Days"	Andrew Bernstein	Martin Zimmerman	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Marty decides to invest in the religious sector, unaware he will disrupt a discreet business operation. A surprise visitor shows up at the Byrde home.
6	"Book of Ruth"	Andrew Bernstein	Whit Anderson	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Jacob educates Marty on his business. Ruth devises and sets in motion a deadly plan. Rachel learns Marty is cooking the books at the Blue Cat Lodge.
7	"Nest Box"	Ellen Kuras	Alyson Feltes	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
To stop Jacob from carrying out his threat, Marty makes an offer. Agent Petty gets what he needs to turn Russ. Charlotte grows desperate to escape.
8	"Kaleidoscope"	Ellen Kuras	Ryan Farley	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
In a flashback to 10 years prior, Wendy struggles with depression, Del asks Marty to be his financial adviser, and Agent Petty faces a family crisis.
9	"Coffee, Black"	Jason Bateman	Whit Anderson	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
Russ learns Agent Petty's true identity and makes plans to murder, steal and flee. Wendy stumbles on an ideal business to add to the Byrde portfolio.
10	"The Toll"	Jason Bateman	Chris Mundy	July 21, 2017 (2017-07-21)
During his next sermon, Mason falters. Wendy and the kids are caught trying to flee their home. Marty brokers a deal between Jacob and Del.

Critical reception

Ozark has received positive reviews, particularly for Bateman's non-comedic performance. On Metacritic, the series has a score of 67 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 65% approval rating with an average score of 6.8 out of 10 based on 46 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Ozark hasn't yet reached the same level as the classic crime dramas to which it will inevitably be compared, but its satisfyingly complex plot – and a gripping performance from Jason Bateman – suggest greater potential."

Brian Lowry of CNN wrote, "While the fish-out-of-water concept is one of TV's oldest, Ozark carves out its own path with clever twists — including a late-in-the-run flashback explaining how the cartel came into his life — and the sheer strength of the performances." TV critic Sonia Saraiya of Variety wrote that Ozark is "smart, well-crafted, and says something," and that the series "comes together under Bateman's disarming and deceptively complex performance as Marty."

Critics compared Ozark positively to Breaking Bad, both of which involve a seemingly normal protagonist suddenly immersed in a world of crime. According to Film Daily, "Once you get past the surface similarities, Ozark shines as something special and inventive, an intense crime opera where the scenery is as much the star as anyone in the cast."

Symbols in the O at the beginning of each episode

Each episode of Ozark begins with a recurring vignette consisting of a white O that grows in size on a black background, followed by a white crosshair that emerges at the centre. The crosshair divides the O into quadrants, each of which shows a picture that symbolizes a major event or theme in that episode. The O with each symbol spells out "Ozark". The word "ZARK" is spelled starting from the top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right in each episode inside each symbol area.

External links

• Ozark at IMDb