Another fantastic, tense episode ends with one of the best scenes in Ozark’s history, as Ruth learns about the danger now facing her boss and colleague. Even before then, this is a tight hour of television, filled with the sort of darkly humorous beats that elevate this show’s best episodes. It feels like the beginning of a turf war at first, when Wendy pulls her brother Ben back to her side and Marty aligns withRuth.
But it concludes with Marty Byrde implying to a federal agent that he will be able to turn everyone on, leaving everything behind. Will he get the opportunity or is it too late?
Some of The Sopranos ‘best episodes filtered its protagonist Tony Soprano’s anxieties through his dreams. Ozark’s writers do that with this season, Wendy Byrde, starting with a vision in which our protagonist is singing along to REO Speedwagon’s “Time for Me to Fly” before dragging a dead dog out of her trunk and shooting her friend.
What do you mean by that? Time to leave the nest for Wendy, and float without Marty? Taken with the other dream in which she asks him to leave, Wendy’s subconscious clearly tells her that she can not be successful in her life with her husband. But without him, can it succeed? So certainly thinks Helen. She plays to the gigantic ego of Wendy, pretending to professionally eclipseMarty, and remembering that this same dynamic contributed to Helen’s marriage ending. Needs WendyByrde more Marty Byrde?
And if she holds him around she’s only going to end up like Helen or, worse, accidentally knocked down a hill to her death like the woman she’s threatened to sell a company she’s spent building her life? The empire includes the head of the Kansas City mafia, Frank Cosgrove, who was given a share of the new casino that is now closed. So he comes to Wendy and reveals what Marty has done to try and squash the deal. Uh yeah, yeah.
This adds to the atmosphere at dinner and that is until Wendy is called by Navarro. Is he flirting, or threatening? Or probably both? He speaks about her communication skills and discusses his manhood in relation to his newborn child. He’s still trying to sort her out, but the key piece of advice he offers her is simple: “If with justification you can’t get what you want, you’ve got to get it.
“Although Wendy is putting the final touches on her effort to replace the hotel/casino owners she is acquiring, Helen feels Ruth’s role in the process. She wonders if Ruth should run the Missouri Belle while Marty takes the lead on the new company, which certainly highlights the need for a greater role for Ruth to fulfill her skill set. But
Marty understands the darker undercurrent — Helen doesn’t try and figure out whether he should function at the other project, she’s trying to find out whether he’s still required.
And she just doesn’t know Ruth. If this really turns into a turf war, it’s almost inevitable that Ruth will side with Wendy and Helen alongside Marty Wendy finds out that the last holdout of her latest strategy has just dropped down a cliff, and she is only pausing until she takes on a dangerous new project. She is really a fish, always in search of something to keep her going.
The new idea is getting Zeke back from Darlene, which causes Wendy to pick a fight
and get hit by the “hillbilly.” She then acts weird about it with Marty — she doesn’t just need a new strategy, her husband needs a new secret.
Furthermore, Marty discovers that a good target for money laundering might be the REO Speedwagon concert for the Dental conference. Hysterically, so does the boss of REO Speedwagon, who knows what Marty does when he offers a $100 K bonus.
Another bid hits the table as Agent Miller informs Marty she might take advantage of his skill set. Head to jail for 18 months and Navarro would believe you haven’t talked and instead be a federal government contractor. It’s not a bad outing. And Marty seems to take it, only before Navarro’s men pick him up and throw him in the back of a car. Navarro knew that Wendy’s phone line had been compromised, and he also found out that Marty was the supervising man. What would He do about it?