Dark and Clichéd, 'Ozark' on Netflix is Nothing New
If you have room in your TV lineup for a dark, brooding, complicated sad man and violent anti-hero drama, then "Ozark," hitting Netflix in full on July 21, may be just for you.
Ever since "The Sopranos" debuted, there's been no shortage of these types of series - gritty programs with noir tones that don't flinch when showing gory violence or nudity and star a male lead you love to hate. From "Breaking Bad," "Mad Men," "True Detective," "The Walking Dead" and several more, audiences craved for cable dramas that aren't afraid to ask the very boring question: "Am I a good man?"
But the shows that did that kind of drama the best are in the review mirror. TV is now weirder than ever (are you watching the new "Twin Peaks? Or have you finally catch up with "The Leftovers"?) and "Ozark" feels like the kind of show that would have thrived in 2010, checking off all the boxes on the Complicated Tough Guy TV Show list.
Starring Jason Bateman, who directs a number of episodes and serves as an executive producer, as Chicago financial adviser Marty Byrde, "Ozark" follows the seemingly mild mannered businessman and his small family. Though he's a buttoned up father by day, he's been laundering money for a Mexican drug kingpin by night.
(Jason Bateman in "Ozark." Photo credit: Jackson Davis/Netflix)
Things go south in the first episode when it's discovered Marty's friend and partner is caught skimming money from the cartel, forcing him to move his family from the suburbs to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks. There, he's promised to launder millions for the kingpin by getting himself involved with local businesses. Of course, things aren't so easy as Marty bumps up against seedy locals and even his own family, who aren't too pleased that they have to upend their lives and move.
Netflix recently made headlines for promising to be more bullish when it comes to canceling or ending shows. In May, the company's sleepy Florida family drama "Bloodline" aired its third and final season, much to its fans chagrin. But when one boring show bows, another debuts. Much like the cough syrup-paced "Bloodline," "Ozark" plods along despite its wild premise and talented leads. Along with Bateman, the always-fantastic Laura Linney plays his wife, Wendy. But not even Linney, who, at one point in the first season, threatens a family of rednecks by tossing a dead possum at them, can elevate "Ozark" from a clich�d mess to something worthy of 10-plus hours of TV.
Though Bateman is good as the patriarch of the Bryrde family, often offering snarky matter-of-fact one liners to the local business owners, it's hard to buy him as a tough guy. Unlike the protagonists of "The Walking Dead" or even "Bloodline," Bateman's Marty relies on his smarts instead of his muscles. He's not beating anyone up, but instead threatens his foes with business facts and IRS laws - riveting. Occasionally, however, he'll let it slip that he works for a Mexican drug lord; one so feared that the roughest and toughest dues of the Ozarks will back off. That threat worked when a family of rednecks attempted to steal thousands from Marty early on in the season. Nevertheless, Marty was impressed with how a young woman named Ruth (Julia Garner) handled the situation and decided to take a chance on her, brining her into his fold.
(Jason Bateman, Julia Garner, Carson Holmes, Marc Menchaca, Christopher and James Baker in "Ozark." Photo credit: Jackson Davis/Netflix)
Over the course of the first half of the season, we see Marty involve himself with local business - bars, strip clubs and the like - in order to "wash" his millions of dollars. Ruth starts the season as a minor character, but as things progress she becomes the most interesting person on "Ozark." (It also helps Garner's performance is stellar.) Marty puts full trust into her and it becomes unnerving to see if Ruth, who has proven to be violent and unhinged, will fall in line or pull the rug from underneath him and bring him down.
Like "Bloodline," "Ozark" is a family drama (one of the most conventional types of serialized storytelling) - one riddled with crime, secrets and cover-ups. The stakes are high as Marty and Wendy have two children: Preteen Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) and teen Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz). Not only do the Byrdes have to start a new life under threat of a Mexican drug lord, but the F.B.I. are also keeping an eye on them, waiting for a moment to strike and book them.
For all its intrigue and David Fincher-esque cinematography, "Ozark" is ultimately a familiar show that recycles tropes from some of the biggest TV shows of the last two decades. But unlike those other series, "Ozark" plays things close to the vest and follows Netflix's binge guidelines, revealing its biggest moments at the end of an episode and forcing to press "Still Watching" to continue to the next episode and find out what happens next. "Ozark" does this well, unfolding like a bargain bin crime paperback. But we've seen this all before and there isn't too much to keep viewers hanging around in "Ozark" for too long.