This post contains spoilers for the Ozark finale. I am not responsible should you choose to read further! At what point in Ozark did you realize that Marty and Wendy were terrible people? I think it was at the moment their kids figured out what was going on and they used them as assets for their business (Jonah laundering and Charlotte as an office assistant) instead of sending them to live with family friends or something.
The ending I wanted was Ruth happy in her lakehouse, the kids happy in Chicago and Wendy and Camilla taking out each other, which meant that the FBI needed Marty in charge in Mexico, so he would live out his days in his own personal hell, committing crime without a family.
I wasn't dazzled by the series finale but I'm not mad about it either. I thought the Byrds' ending was fine, if not inspired or terribly interesting. What I *LOVED* about the ending is that Ruth was so very Ruth right up until the end. She may have been the only character who stayed true to herself. Also, her flashbacks to her time with her family, especially Wyatt, were beautifully heartbreaking.
My pull for the entire series was Marty and his ability to take anything that came his way. It was amazing acting and a great new like “Breaking Bad” narrative. The ending had me thinking about how Marty picked this for his family the moment he started laundering/trying to impress his business partners. I do think the overall story is obv blown out of proportion, but Marty forever trying to fix what he started was I suppose impressive — but all he did was turn Jonah into himself.
I eventually liked the ending. The final episode felt so Great Gatsby to me (even down to the symbolic colors… a red coat in the entry, Ruth’s white dress, I loved that.) I kept thinking how I would’ve changed it, but ultimately it’s an ending everyone deserved.
Marty’s partner got them involved with the cartel. Marty grabbed the brochure and spun this story for Del that he could make him more money than Bruce did. Marty was next to be killed until he claimed the next move was to set up the larger operation to launder the money. Marty saved himself and then involved Wendy (and the kids) when they went to the Ozarks.
Wendy KNEW about the money laundering and it didn’t seem to bother her.
Marty & Wendy’s relationship was strange. He KNEW she was cheating. The viewing he did of her tryst with Sugarwood wasn’t the first he had watched. There was something there the writers kind of left behind in E1
Lastly, correct me if I’m wrong, we never hear about Marty’s past & background. What an interesting choice. We see what made Wendy who she is but not Marty.
I did like they ending of they show, especially because it remained true to its writing, from the beginning Ozark wasn't a show to "please" the audience, hence the death of Ruth. I'm pretty sure that everyone would've wanted Ruth to live and have her dream home and imagine her succeeding in life. We all fell in love with her but I see her death as a reminder not only about power dynamics and social status as you said, but also as a reminder of the fact that no character (except I guess for Three and Helen's daughter) was a saint, ultimately Ruth was also a criminal, even if her motives were different or "better" than Wendy's she still was one and her faith on the show completely changed once she decided to kill Navarro's nephew.
When it comes to Marty, if you really think about it he might really be just as bad as Wendy, after all he started this whole thing, he was the one to get his family into money laundering (do you remember when he taught Jonah how to launder?). I think Marty ended up sucking up so much to Wendy because he felt responsible for the mess they were (always) in, she did a great job reminding that to him so many times. While also I think he understood that making his own decisions would never stop Wendy from achieving her ambitions and she would probably just run over him to get what she wanted or worse, to give her more reasons to keep on blaming him for all of the wrong things he's done and the horrors and dangers he's put his family through, while completely ignoring what she's done. 'cause, at the end of the day, we all knew he wasn't going to leave her, I don't think he ever even considered that. Honestly, if you think about it, it seems more like an obsession than love, or even fear of realizing that leaving her wouldn't (again) stop her, he probably felt disposable.
Ruth’s devastation at losing Wyatt was felt by us all. He was the purest soul on the show. So heart breaking, but I guess that’s why he had to go.
My take is Marty is spineless when it comes to Wendy, even to the detriment of his kids. The ending was fitting for the show. It symbolized the complete absorption of the kids into the family business.
I was so sure I knew how it was going to end, and I loved my ending! In my head, Navarro was killed, and then with that done, Wendy, without Marty knowing, had Camilla killed. She then was going to step in and run the cartel in the interim, but her power was never going to stop. At this point, she gave Marty an out, and he took it, and the kids, and returned to chicago and started over. To add to the craziness of it all, Wendy decided to bring Ruth on, and even though Ruth had the chance to be legit, and already had all the money in the world, she couldn’t escape her past, and ultimately put their differences aside and because Wendy’s right hand man in running the cartel.
I didn’t like the ending I guess because I always want everything wrapped up in a pretty bow and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. When I first started watching it I just kept thinking how are they ever going to get out of that situation. I was even sure one of them would die in the car accident. It amazed me that they all could just keep going on, day after day, never giving up. Ruth was my fav character and I didn’t want to let her go. Our eternal hope for the underdog is not real life I know. The acting was superb, you couldn’t detest Wendy more, weren’t sure if you should feel sorry for Marty, and no matter how she felt inside, badass Ruth was not backing down for anyone. I’m kinda going to miss them.
I liked how the ending showed us how problematic Marty was - maybe all along. My only complaint about the ending was that I wish an affair between Rachel and Marty could have been the thing to trigger Wendy's mental breakdown, rather than just possibly losing the kids. Now that we know how morally bankrupt Marty really was, it seems weird he'd be so incredibly loyal. Maybe that was the point - we thought Marty cared but all he really cared about was Wendy's opinion of him.
I did not like the ending. I would have liked Ruth make it and live in her beautiful lake house but her choice to kill Javi cemented her fate. I felt that Jonah being a killer in the end was unrealistic. He was the one Byrd with any sense of conscience. I’m not sure how I view Marty but definitely feel that Wendy was off the deep end.
I liked how the ending really forced Marty and us to see that he was just as morally bankrupt as Wendy. He let her play the “bad guy” way too long and tried to convince himself and others that he was trying to protect Ruth and his family, but ultimately his selfish interest won out. If Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, and Julia Garner don’t win ALL the awards, that’s another injustice. 😊
I didn't like the ending, but I liked the ending. I love Ruth and since her arc was redemption there was no way she'd make it. That's not the story they were telling. Although I was still surprised, killing Ruth didn't really seem in keeping with "the rules" Javi killed her cousin, she killed Javi. Should have ended there. I was shocked that Mel was killed by Jonah, but Mel was reckless. He completely underestimated how far they'd go to protect their family. Showing up and confronting them like that made no sense.
The ending I wanted was Ruth happy in her lakehouse, the kids happy in Chicago and Wendy and Camilla taking out each other, which meant that the FBI needed Marty in charge in Mexico, so he would live out his days in his own personal hell, committing crime without a family.
I wasn't dazzled by the series finale but I'm not mad about it either. I thought the Byrds' ending was fine, if not inspired or terribly interesting. What I *LOVED* about the ending is that Ruth was so very Ruth right up until the end. She may have been the only character who stayed true to herself. Also, her flashbacks to her time with her family, especially Wyatt, were beautifully heartbreaking.
My pull for the entire series was Marty and his ability to take anything that came his way. It was amazing acting and a great new like “Breaking Bad” narrative. The ending had me thinking about how Marty picked this for his family the moment he started laundering/trying to impress his business partners. I do think the overall story is obv blown out of proportion, but Marty forever trying to fix what he started was I suppose impressive — but all he did was turn Jonah into himself.
I eventually liked the ending. The final episode felt so Great Gatsby to me (even down to the symbolic colors… a red coat in the entry, Ruth’s white dress, I loved that.) I kept thinking how I would’ve changed it, but ultimately it’s an ending everyone deserved.
Marty’s partner got them involved with the cartel. Marty grabbed the brochure and spun this story for Del that he could make him more money than Bruce did. Marty was next to be killed until he claimed the next move was to set up the larger operation to launder the money. Marty saved himself and then involved Wendy (and the kids) when they went to the Ozarks.
Wendy KNEW about the money laundering and it didn’t seem to bother her.
Marty & Wendy’s relationship was strange. He KNEW she was cheating. The viewing he did of her tryst with Sugarwood wasn’t the first he had watched. There was something there the writers kind of left behind in E1
Lastly, correct me if I’m wrong, we never hear about Marty’s past & background. What an interesting choice. We see what made Wendy who she is but not Marty.
I did like they ending of they show, especially because it remained true to its writing, from the beginning Ozark wasn't a show to "please" the audience, hence the death of Ruth. I'm pretty sure that everyone would've wanted Ruth to live and have her dream home and imagine her succeeding in life. We all fell in love with her but I see her death as a reminder not only about power dynamics and social status as you said, but also as a reminder of the fact that no character (except I guess for Three and Helen's daughter) was a saint, ultimately Ruth was also a criminal, even if her motives were different or "better" than Wendy's she still was one and her faith on the show completely changed once she decided to kill Navarro's nephew.
When it comes to Marty, if you really think about it he might really be just as bad as Wendy, after all he started this whole thing, he was the one to get his family into money laundering (do you remember when he taught Jonah how to launder?). I think Marty ended up sucking up so much to Wendy because he felt responsible for the mess they were (always) in, she did a great job reminding that to him so many times. While also I think he understood that making his own decisions would never stop Wendy from achieving her ambitions and she would probably just run over him to get what she wanted or worse, to give her more reasons to keep on blaming him for all of the wrong things he's done and the horrors and dangers he's put his family through, while completely ignoring what she's done. 'cause, at the end of the day, we all knew he wasn't going to leave her, I don't think he ever even considered that. Honestly, if you think about it, it seems more like an obsession than love, or even fear of realizing that leaving her wouldn't (again) stop her, he probably felt disposable.
Ruth’s devastation at losing Wyatt was felt by us all. He was the purest soul on the show. So heart breaking, but I guess that’s why he had to go.
My take is Marty is spineless when it comes to Wendy, even to the detriment of his kids. The ending was fitting for the show. It symbolized the complete absorption of the kids into the family business.
I was so sure I knew how it was going to end, and I loved my ending! In my head, Navarro was killed, and then with that done, Wendy, without Marty knowing, had Camilla killed. She then was going to step in and run the cartel in the interim, but her power was never going to stop. At this point, she gave Marty an out, and he took it, and the kids, and returned to chicago and started over. To add to the craziness of it all, Wendy decided to bring Ruth on, and even though Ruth had the chance to be legit, and already had all the money in the world, she couldn’t escape her past, and ultimately put their differences aside and because Wendy’s right hand man in running the cartel.
I didn’t like the ending I guess because I always want everything wrapped up in a pretty bow and I knew that wasn’t going to happen. When I first started watching it I just kept thinking how are they ever going to get out of that situation. I was even sure one of them would die in the car accident. It amazed me that they all could just keep going on, day after day, never giving up. Ruth was my fav character and I didn’t want to let her go. Our eternal hope for the underdog is not real life I know. The acting was superb, you couldn’t detest Wendy more, weren’t sure if you should feel sorry for Marty, and no matter how she felt inside, badass Ruth was not backing down for anyone. I’m kinda going to miss them.
I liked how the ending showed us how problematic Marty was - maybe all along. My only complaint about the ending was that I wish an affair between Rachel and Marty could have been the thing to trigger Wendy's mental breakdown, rather than just possibly losing the kids. Now that we know how morally bankrupt Marty really was, it seems weird he'd be so incredibly loyal. Maybe that was the point - we thought Marty cared but all he really cared about was Wendy's opinion of him.
I did not like the ending. I would have liked Ruth make it and live in her beautiful lake house but her choice to kill Javi cemented her fate. I felt that Jonah being a killer in the end was unrealistic. He was the one Byrd with any sense of conscience. I’m not sure how I view Marty but definitely feel that Wendy was off the deep end.
I liked how the ending really forced Marty and us to see that he was just as morally bankrupt as Wendy. He let her play the “bad guy” way too long and tried to convince himself and others that he was trying to protect Ruth and his family, but ultimately his selfish interest won out. If Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, and Julia Garner don’t win ALL the awards, that’s another injustice. 😊
I didn't like the ending, but I liked the ending. I love Ruth and since her arc was redemption there was no way she'd make it. That's not the story they were telling. Although I was still surprised, killing Ruth didn't really seem in keeping with "the rules" Javi killed her cousin, she killed Javi. Should have ended there. I was shocked that Mel was killed by Jonah, but Mel was reckless. He completely underestimated how far they'd go to protect their family. Showing up and confronting them like that made no sense.