S03:E10: All In

[TexasGal]

Quote

While Wendy battles personal demons, Marty struggles to keep their lives from falling apart. Darlene does Ruth a favor.

Airdate 03.27.2020

Keep your discussion to this episode only - thank you!

[showme]

OMG! Can we talk about the ending, please? What happened? What give Helen away? She seemed to have a perfect plan?

[AZChristian]

6 hours ago, showme said:

OMG! Can we talk about the ending, please? What happened? What give Helen away? She seemed to have a perfect plan?

I sensed what was going to happen about 1/2 second before it did.  And then I cheered and cheered and cheered.

[LavenderLove]

Woah! I was not expecting that at all! 

Obviously Navarro had to pick a side because it was clear the Byrds and Helen couldn't work together anymore but I wonder what made him trust Wendy and Marty over Helen? 

This was a great season, I loved it!

[Chaos Theory]

On 3/28/2020 at 5:06 PM, showme said:

OMG! Can we talk about the ending, please? What happened? What give Helen away? She seemed to have a perfect plan?

Her plan didn’t take into account how all in the Byrds actually are.  Marty has been fighting it all season but the one thing Wendy has actually been 100% right about is there is no turning back for them. They can’t just walk away.   Even FBI lady has confirmed as much.   They either go into witness protection or Marty spends the rest of his life indebted to the FBI.   Either way they will have a price on their head.       Helen forced the issue which was her big mistake and Navarro knew enough about the Byrds to know they weren’t going to turn on him in such an obvious way.  Besides I tho it also came down to just picking who was more useful since they could no longer work together.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[Tighthead]

I’ve tried to work Navarro’s decision into his “tell me what you want” approach and can’t do it. 
 

Bottom line is he trusted/needed the Byrdes more. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Knowing from Wendy that they were going trying to sic the U.S. military on the Lagunas cartel probably undermined Helen's pitch that Marty was going to go to WitSec. The two strategies are not particularly compatible.

There's also the notion that no one can do what Marty can do for Navarro's business vs. pretty much any high-powered and unscrupulous lawyer could bring to the table.

 

[DonnaMae]

Wow, that final scene!!!! 

Was the actress playing the FBI lady really pregnant?  If not, what was the purpose in having the character pregnant?  She seemed pretty far along in her pregnancy.

[AZChristian]

5 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

Was the actress playing the FBI lady really pregnant?  If not, what was the purpose in having the character pregnant?  She seemed pretty far along in her pregnancy.

My gut feeling is that she is not pregnant in real life.  I've never seen a real pregnant women waddle as much as she does, especially professional women.  The only person I ever saw doing that was a drama queen, and she waddled and always had her hand on her stomach from about 6 weeks to the end of her pregancy.

I am intrigued by the fact that there is never a mention of a husband or significant other by someone who is that close to delivery, that far from home.  And no wedding ring.  

[Geillis]

I started to wonder if her pregnancy was to indicate timeline.  At one point she said she had 6 weeks to go.  By having her very pregnant and still working and not going on maternity leave' it gave the impression that all the events were within a very tight time period.  Sometimes on a TV show or movie it is difficult to know exactly how much time has elapsed.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

I spent the entire season thinking the pregnant special agent was going to go into labor at some inopportune time. So maybe her presence was just supposed to be anxiety-inducing? After all, she was working with and around unpredictable criminals and their families so it's easy to be worried about her just by her being there and her being pregnant takes it up a notch. They use babies to great effect in this show. Last season it was all about Zeke but this season they had the pregnant agent and during the baptism every one was gunned down around Navarro's baby. I do wish Zeke had been taken away from Darlene, but maybe by someone other than the Byrds.

Navarro chose the Byrds over Helen because they were more valuable to him and that's what they had "requested" not "demanded." They lucked out by Jonah having the drone footage because they were able to "win the war" for Navarro against Laguna, like they had discussed, by tying up Navarro's rivals with the US military. Helen's mistake was not executing her plan earlier. The Byrds made their move before she even had a chance to make hers.

So next season it's going to be Darlene/Ruth/the Kansas City mob against Navarro/The Byrds. If there is a next season. I hope so.

[DoctorAtomic]

HOLY FUCKING FUCK. 

That's how you end a show. 

[DoctorAtomic]

21 hours ago, LavenderLove said:

I wonder what made him trust Wendy and Marty over Helen? 

I think Wendy said it - they end the war for him. Wendy's been thinking big all season and Helen was trying to get a casino license. It turned personal with Helen and even though he said 'you only did what was required', she still did it, while the whole season she was all business (to Navarro). 

12 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

There's also the notion that no one can do what Marty can do for Navarro's business vs. pretty much any high-powered and unscrupulous lawyer could bring to the table.

Marty even showed that in person to him. 

I hope Wendy gets rid of Darlene next. 

 

[showme]

Two questions:

1. Has Helen told Navarro about Marty's fictional confession yet? I think that makes a big difference. If she had, that means Navarro chose not to believe it. If she hadn't, the supposed confession will get leaked and causing issues for the Byrdes next season.

2. Why did Navarro decide to kill Helen? I don't quite see the motive behind it. Helen has been a loyal and capable "lawyer" for a long time, even if her desire to take over the management of the casino didn't win Navarro's favor, he could easily veto her and still use her in her previous role, why kill her?

 

[RealReality]

On 3/28/2020 at 2:06 PM, showme said:

OMG! Can we talk about the ending, please? What happened? What give Helen away? She seemed to have a perfect plan?

I was shook! I watched it twice.  I was wondering the same thing and I can only think that somehow Navarro found out about her going to the feds to set up Wendy and Marty or he found out that her daughter knew everything and she never told him.  I believe when Navarro hooked up with the byrdes the situation was already that the kids knew.  But Helen had Erin out there and hadn't said anything....knowing full well that erin would talk. 

Or, it could have been clear to Navarro that he was gonna have to choose between Helen and the byrdes and since marty and Wendy ended his war with the cartel, they were more valuable.  

[UnknownK]

I think in the world of the drug trade shooters are disposable, lawyers can be easily replaced, but people that can launder money in vast quantities are rare.

Marty has proven over the 3 seasons that he can think his way out of any roadblock AND get what he wants done. It is rare to have an idea man who can get things completed.

Nobody was going to think of a way to get the cartel war won but Marty did.

[Marci]

I never would have thought Darlene would become of my favorites.

Well, this episode certainly made up for the last one.  

[showme]

3 hours ago, UnknownK said:

I think in the world of the drug trade shooters are disposable, lawyers can be easily replaced, but people that can launder money in vast quantities are rare.

Marty has proven over the 3 seasons that he can think his way out of any roadblock AND get what he wants done. It is rare to have an idea man who can get things completed.

Nobody was going to think of a way to get the cartel war won but Marty did.

You mean Wendy did?

[DoctorAtomic]

With hindsight, the plot with Ben bothers me because its sole purpose was to get Ruth to quit. I wasn't really buying that he was this great love of hers and it certainly didn't come across. Further, it wasn't like there was growing resentment with Ruth to Wendy until now either. 

And to be fair, it was her fault. 

If the show wanted Ruth to quit it seemed like the lack of retaliation to Frank Jr could have been sufficient. 

[DrSpaceman73]

I thought the last few episodes dragged quite a bit. 

Yes the ending was exciting and unexpected, but beyond that the last two episodes are pretty much :

Wendy's brother is killed

Helen is killed. 

OK so Ruth switched sides too.  Still pretty well drug that out for all its worth the last two hours. 

Marty and Wendy were working to end Navarro's drug war by getting the govt involved, they offered him more than Helen.  So he chose them, best I can figure

The most interesting part of the show this season was how EVERYONE split apart the whole season.  There is no one working together right now by anyone.  Even the brother/sister are at odds now.  Marty and wendy.  Wendy and Helen.  Ruth and Marty/Wendy.  Helen and Marty......you name it, its an everyone for themselves dynamic this season and it all became a huge unorganized business shit show because of it at everything they tried

Then there is the Hubris or Marty and Wendy thinking they can control this and have it handled when they don't, not any of it.  Wendy thinking she could manipulate and handle Navarro like one of her US political clients.....no, not the same thing.  She ventured into Breaking Bad territory with Skyler this season.  Not quite that bad, but she was on that course. 

But marty too, I don't think he is as smart as he believes.  Turning an FBI agent?  I don't think he is going to do that.  Again with the breaking bad comparison, Heisenberg he is not. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

10 hours ago, showme said:

Two questions:

1. Has Helen told Navarro about Marty's fictional confession yet? I think that makes a big difference. If she had, that means Navarro chose not to believe it. If she hadn't, the supposed confession will get leaked and causing issues for the Byrdes next season.

2. Why did Navarro decide to kill Helen? I don't quite see the motive behind it. Helen has been a loyal and capable "lawyer" for a long time, even if her desire to take over the management of the casino didn't win Navarro's favor, he could easily veto her and still use her in her previous role, why kill her?

 

We didn't see Helen tell Navarro on-screen about Marty's fictional confession, but one would have to think that Helen had to. Just showing up to Mexico and saying for the first time, "Oh by the way, Marty's turning snitch and here's the proof" for the first time would no doubt get Navarro to angrily question Wendy about why he didn't tell her before she came down to Mexico.

In that light, I don't think the faked confession is going to have any ramifications on the drug cartel side of things. Heck, even if Navarro didn't know about it AND one of his underlings happens upon the letter while dealing with Wendy's things, I don't think Navarro is going to be any more paranoid and violent towards the Byrdes than he had been.

Where it is going to have ramifications is with his relationship with the FBI. Petty thinks he has finally caught his great white whale. What is he going to do on learning that Helen is missing and Marty is denying that he was up for a deal? What is Maya going to do when she learns of Helen's disappearance and has to come to the conclusion that a) Marty and Wendy played a role in it and b) it was her tip to Marty that Wendy was setting him up that led to Helen's murder?

To add to what people have been speculating before about why Navarro decided to kill Helen (Marty and Helen are more valuable and it's become clear that the Byrdes can't coexist with her after 1. Helen put them in the position where Ben had to go 2. Helen was making moves to make the Byrdes relatively expendable 3. Wendy asked him to get rid of Helen), I think Navarro kinda has a thing for Wendy. 

I also think that Helen's ambition and straight-up lying to Navarro meant that she had to go.

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 minute ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

But marty too, I don't think he is as smart as he believes.  Turning an FBI agent?  I don't think he is going to do that.  Again with the breaking bad comparison, Heisenberg he is not. 

The only reason he wasn't successful is that Maya is too rigid with her moral code. His plan was simple: get Maya to use the information that he leaked her to prosecute other criminals. A normal agent might have done that in a heartbeat (and the bosses above her did). Then he could lord over her that she had bent the rules and taken information from someone she was supposed to be investigating. How she would react to being compromised in such a fashion is I suppose anyone's guess, but it's not a crazy plan.

Ironically, he has just what he needs to compromise her fall into his lap. There is now a record of her calling his cell phone just before Helen "disappeared." Marty could use this to implicate Maya in Helen's "disappearance." That combined with his engineering the boost in revenues to renew the warrant so she can stick around might make a convincing argument that she is now a co-conspirator in a far more serious scenario than an ethical breach. She would be in this scenario a murderer.

[DoctorAtomic]

40 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

b) it was her tip to Marty that Wendy was setting him up that led to Helen's murder?

 

33 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Ironically, he has just what he needs to compromise her fall into his lap. There is now a record of her calling his cell phone just before Helen "disappeared."

As much as I wanted more scenes with Maya and Marty, I do like that he wasn't able to flip her so easily, but still, again, he's indispensable because no one else would have the stones to tell Navarro he could flip her, and he spikes the profits to keep her there. Yes, he got lucky with the phone call, but I'd say she was already marginally compromised at that point because she was getting more casual with him, bore the brunt of her boss for not taking the information, and knew damn well Ruth was there and looked the other way. 

I don't want her to be all in (see how clever I am) with Marty, but I am going to enjoy the pay off that she's kind of a victim of her own circumstances and Marty gets what he wants out of her. 

 

[RealReality]

4 hours ago, Marci said:

I never would have thought Darlene would become of my favorites.

Well, this episode certainly made up for the last one.  

This season was so strong and I love that no female character has been written as one dimensional.  

Helen was a perfect villain and had her weaknesses and some inkling of humanity too.  

Wendy is in a role that could have so easily been "one dimensional nagatha" and so many other shows....good shows....have had a female character written that way when she was the main character's wife or s/o.  But I cannot bring myself to hate Wendy, even when she does something boneheaded.  Not sure if that's because of Laura Kinney but I think it's the writing.  

Charlotte has become so, so much better of a character.  

Ruth will always be one of my favorites and even crazy ass Darlene isn't just a Disney villain.  

[roughing it]

What I hated the most was the breakup between Marty/Wendy and Ruth.  They all work really good together (at least when Wendy isn't off on her own crusade), and it looks like next season is setting up to be Marty/Wendy vs. Ruth/Darlene.  Ugh! 

I miss the therapy sessions with Sue.  Although I appreciate really good drama, I love a bit of comedy thrown in.  When Sue rode up in the car she bought!!  

I realize nothing more came of the former casino owner and his "fallen" wife.

[PsychoDrone]

Helen made herself expendable.  Despite Marty's failings, he has proven to be very valuable.  Initially, laundering the money in the Ozark, then getting the casino established proved his worth.  Wendy pitching the legitimacy angle to Navarro also proved their worth.  Helen was right in her understanding of Navarro's moods, but she seriously misjudged on the last one.  Although, she had no way of knowing the Byrde's did an end run around her.  Her ambition exceeded her station and she paid the price.

Darlene, Darlene, Darlene.  With that kind of retaliation, NO WAY she should have made it to the end of this episode.  Having Frank Jr beat to a pulp and winding up in the hospital, OK.  Blow off his junk and all bets are off.  Ruth is fair game too since she isn't with the Byrde's anymore.  Cut off the head (Darlene) and her empire is over.  She's getting a percentage of the casino, but she doesn't have the cartel backing her.  As much as she is out in the open, killing her would be too easy.  Last season, she and her husband only survived the previous hit because the plot called for it.  I fully thought when Wyatt and Ruth were overlooking the poppy fields someone was going to shoot Darlene in the head.  Her end is not going to be pretty.

Ben had some excellent scenes, but I was ready for him to be gone.  Regardless of how Ruth feels, SHE was the catalyst that led to Ben's death.  And, it's not like she didn't see that Ben was a ticking time bomb.  Wendy had it right when she yelled at Ruth about not knowing the full scope of Ben's psychosis.

Like the Byrde children, especially Charlotte.  She was the voice of reason, on more the one occasion, and not the petulant teenager as many shows write teenage girls.  The kids didn't play as big a role, but they were effective in what they were given.

Edited March 31, 2020 by PsychoDrone

[DoctorAtomic]

43 minutes ago, PsychoDrone said:

With that kind of retaliation, NO WAY she should have made it to the end of this episode.

She should have been dead in season 1 when Helen first showed up. I mean, she had the therapist whacked after 5 minutes. I know they made the deal to lay off with Jacob, but once he went, all bets are off. She goes, what happens? The local cops aren't going to dig too much. So what if they do? They're wetwork guy isn't from there. Look how easy he took care of Ben. 

She's got plot armor like she's Jon fucking Snow ffs. 

I'm assuming (hoping) that Ruth does her in to protect/save Marty. Even when she stormed out she told Marty she was grateful for all he'd done for her. 

Now if they're going to sell their own product, how is that not going to run afoul of Navarro? That was the whole point of the first season. 

[LilaFowler]

RIP Helen. You were a great anti-hero.

Thank God she told Jonah the truth about Ben. It's really sick how Marty and Wendy have totally integrated their kids into the business. Won't shock me if Jonah has the two of them whacked, because why not?

[DrSpaceman73]

I did feel bad for Ben because while he may be bipolar, he was correct here in his thinking and what he was telling the family

There is no part of the business or situation that should not make a normal person FREAK THE **** OUT!!!  Watching everyone else just be so calm and laissez faire about it all, to anyone from the outside coming into this situation, would surely make one think "What the hell is wrong with you people and why do you keeping doing this stuff!".  I suppose though the typical reaction after that would be just to leave and forget everyone else, not trying to retaliate or convince them.  Its like in the haunted house movies where the family stays.  A normal person would be just like, "Well this is nuts, I am leaving, none of this is worth it".   That was Ben here.  The smart thing to do is just leave.  Which he actually tried to do with Ruth, but then she wouldn't leave with him.  Of course she is not in quite as deep and has family there NOT involved, but still.......would have been the smartest move

The bipolar person off his meds though had the most genuine and natural reaction to all this. 

[RealReality]

I wonder if another reason that Helen was killed was her almost "soft spot" for Marty and Wendy.  

Navarro told Helen to do what she felt she had to do when they were on the phone.  What she had to do to protect his interests.  Yeah, she set Marty and Wendy up, and she knew it would get them killed, but she didn't have her henchman just do it. 

Instead she just set the situation so that Navarro had to do the hard work. 

She KNEW that one of them had to go, but she didn't do it, even when Navarro said to do what she had to do. 

especially if she, as she implies to Navarro, thought killing the byrdes was best for HIS interests.  

16 hours ago, roughing it said:

 

I miss the therapy sessions with Sue.  Although I appreciate really good drama, I love a bit of comedy thrown in.  When Sue rode up in the car she bought!!  

My favorite line of the season has to be "that's not a car, that's a transformer"

 

[PsychoDrone]

13 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

She's got plot armor like she's Jon fucking Snow ffs.

I can't stand characters like Darlene.  There is no reason that she wouldn't be dead already.  The Snells were fine in their little corner (Ozark), but once they drew the attention of the Mexican cartel and KC mob, it's over.  She's the reason the cartel rep was killed and her and Jacob tried to hide it.  She spiked the cartel's heroin shipment.  She cut Jonah's hair (big no-no messing with connected people's kids, ask Ben).  She manipulated getting custody of the preacher's kid.  And now she shot off the junk of the son of the head of the KC mob.  I don't include Jacob's death because that's internal.

Darlene has ownership in the casino with no backing from anyone.  She's just re-starting up her heroin business, which will bring her in conflict with the cartel AGAIN.  She has men, but they're not family, so how long would they stick by her?  The cops definitely won't shed any tears over hear death.  Why would the KC mob go into business with her?  They can't let what she did go unanswered.  It's not a good look.  And, Ruth needs to get as far away from Darlene as possible.  Without Marty's protection, Jr will absolutely blame her for Darlene's actions.  The first episode of next season should be Darlene being killed in a very public way.  End of her Story.

That's how it should go, but it will be contrived to have Darlene stick around.

Edited March 31, 2020 by PsychoDrone

[DoctorAtomic]

Take Frank Jr out of it, why would Frank want to run afoul of a cartel? That's high powered resources. Of course, you want to find opportunities to make money, but he's a construction, union, trucking guy. Taking a cut of casino profits is rather low risk, so I'm not buying he thinks Darlene is a good investment. Unless he wants to stick it to Marty, which I don't see why he'd waste his time, or he's plotting to get Darlene. 

 

[showme]

Moved to previous thread, it is more appropriate there.

Edited April 1, 2020 by showme

[tzad]

I don't think Jonah just shot through a window. If you listen closely there were footsteps in the background! He may have accidentally shot Charlotte, as she was the only one in the area! Wendy foreshadowed it via "Jonah needs some support".

[Chas411]

If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t look at Wyatt or Darlene without feeling so sick and reminded of that sex scene I think Darlene would have been one of my top characters this season. She’s absolutely batshit but she gets shit done.

[Kiddvideo]

I don't find "The Continuing Clusterfucks of Marty and Wendy Byrde" entertaining. I only finished the series just to put a nail in it. At least Helen died. Was half-expecting Jonah to commit suicide, and with all the resources the FBI is putting into catching them, no one has thought to follow them and locate the cash in Buddy's mausoleum? I'll watch next season if they turn state's witness in episode 1, otherwise, meh.

[roughing it]

7 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

no one has thought to follow them and locate the cash in Buddy's mausoleum?

They could say they are just paying their respects...  Speaking of the mausoleum, are those things locked?  Or can anyone go in?  And just lifting up the bench seating, you'd think they would be more secure too.

[DoctorAtomic]

32 minutes ago, roughing it said:

Speaking of the mausoleum, are those things locked?  Or can anyone go in?

In one of the shots this season, Wendy was walking away from it with keys in her hand. 

I'm not sure if the current warrant allows any of the Byrds to be followed. Mya said the purchase of the second casino triggered just an audit. Given what seemed like a tight time frame for the season, it looks like the bulk of the work was Mya modeling the money flow of the casino (when she told Marty that the intake increased 19%). The agents are all accountants and not like 'FBI agents'-criminal agents. 

Since they really don't know where the money is coming from, it could come from anywhere, so I would think unless there is some clear evidence they can bring to a judge to justify following anyone, it's probably too soon. They can monitor who is coming in and out - Mya was clearly trying to shake Sam - but Marty and Ruth are smart to keep each person to under $10K and everyone had a cover story. You can't just go arresting patrons on a whim.

Marty isn't dumb either. If him or Wendy saw the FBI at the cemetery they'd (rightly) raise a huge stink and likely a lawsuit. Given the mess the FBI made before with an agent getting involved with someone involved in their investigation and 'disappearing', I'm not sure they want to throw tons of resources at a casino in the Ozarks. 

Not that another warrant couldn't come down next season though. Now that Mya got the audit extended, it's imperative on Marty to put the screws to her sooner than later to head that off.

 

At the end when Jonah shot out the window - was he shooting *at* someone? Because he turned like he heard something. 

 

[AZChristian]

16 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I'm not sure if the current warrant allows any of the Byrds to be followed. 

Marty isn't dumb either. If him or Wendy saw the FBI at the cemetery they'd (rightly) raise a huge stink and likely a lawsuit.

I am not an attorney, but I watch "Cops."  And I google.  According to one lawyer's website:

"For the most part, search warrants are only required when law enforcement wants to search a particular place. ... Because a person walking or driving in public would be in plain view of police officers (and everyone else), law enforcement would not need to obtain a warrant to merely follow someone."

It would almost seem that following them might give them clues as to where they DO need to get a search warrant for . . . like the mausoleum.  

[DoctorAtomic]

I still think my point about Wendy or Marty raising a stink would be valid though. It's still only been a short time frame too, and may lack the resources like I said before. 

It would be easy I think for them to have sicced Helen on the FBI threatening them for harassing the Byrds, and the FBI may not want to burn that card so soon without having more data to make a theory as to who to follow.

 

 

[Pike Ludwell]

This season was largely about otherwise intelligent, tough people who lost someone in their lives that were really lowlife people, and the loss of whom could easily be viewed as a relief. But they go insane with grief, I guess because of neediness or similar issues. Wyatt is at the beginning set up as a sharp, logical guy. When Ruth, in a manner of utmost sadness and respect for him tells him she was responsible for his father's death, he goes off into a mindless tantrum leading him to fall for a 60 year old woman. Ruth really barely knew Ben, and she was told he's a total nutcase when off med's in time for her to not get emotionally invested.  She sees his insanity in action yet falls totally and madly in love with him. Then goes nuts when he's killed. Jonah barely knew Ben but also knew he was big trouble, yet goes totally insane when Ben is killed.  And yet I haven't even gotten to Wendy and her distress over Ben.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Pike Ludwell

[roughing it]

Maybe the grief is also indicative of the loss of their innocence - not only the loss of family members. but they are grieving what this business is doing to them and their loss of what their lives used to be.  

The first part of this season shows Wendy thrilled with her position that she convinces herself that she is invincible.  No, she doesn't want to leave to go hide in Australia, she wants more of this power.  It's become her addiction, her high.  But when she has to make the call to have Ben killed, her grief is not just for Ben, but for what she and the family have gotten themselves into.  This is real shit.  Loss of innocence.

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm going to give Jonah a pass because he's the youngest. He had a great friendship with Buddy, and then Buddy died. Ben comes along and he kind of transferred that him, and Ben wasn't involved in the family business. I would assume Jonah knew him when Jonah was a little kid, so there's going to be a highly emotional response. You'll recall he yelled at Charlotte 'why aren't you more upset?' because she was crying but not hysterical like he was. I think that's a fair response because she probably wasn't as close to him. 

I don't mind Ruth getting involved with him, but going all head over heels was a bit much especially in what looked like the short time period over which this season elapsed. This is where the plot missed the mark. Ruth is fiery, but she's not all moon eyed like that. Plus, really, while I can get Ben getting all off the chain about being in the hospital, Wendy was willing to put him in the private facility. There's no way they couldn't have gotten Helen to sue the police station or whatever to get it done. The cop says 'that's the law' and they just give up? Since when? 

When shaping the narrative for the season, it good drama to get to a point where Ruth walks out on them. It's believable she eventually would snap about Wendy having the dad whacked. She threw a made man into the river and Marty goes to bat for her and basically makes the mob boss of KC make her. Then when her status gets violated they do nothing. Do you really need to add Ben to that to give Ruth the motivation to walk? 

They really could have added more to the eventual Frank Jr beating. It did look fishy that she changed the drop and his crew got killed. The whole FBI spinning the narrative was just kind of off-screen, and we could have spent more time with them working Frank Jr and him slowly unraveling. I think they left way too much on the table with the FBI for the sake of The Ben Show at the end. We already knew Wendy was capable of ordering murders, so it's not like this was some big shock for me. 

The good thing is - no Ben next season. I'm looking forward mostly to Marty compromising the FBI. I think though that by season's end Darlene needs to go. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Oh, wait - Wendy doesn't know that it was Darlene who told the cop to discharge Ben from the hospital. She blamed Ruth, who does bear some of that blame, but Ruth still needed Darlene to give the order. 

I can buy them reconciling with Ruth which I do hope is a major resolution next season, but there's no way Wendy doesn't kill Darlene herself if she knows it was her that let him out. 

[RealReality]

On 4/2/2020 at 10:57 AM, AZChristian said:

I am not an attorney, but I watch "Cops."  And I google.  According to one lawyer's website:

"For the most part, search warrants are only required when law enforcement wants to search a particular place. ... Because a person walking or driving in public would be in plain view of police officers (and everyone else), law enforcement would not need to obtain a warrant to merely follow someone."

It would almost seem that following them might give them clues as to where they DO need to get a search warrant for . . . like the mausoleum.  

I don't know - walked into masoleum with purse, came out of masoleum with purse seems it it might be thin for a warrant.  They do have a dear family friend who died there so...

On 4/3/2020 at 1:06 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Oh, wait - Wendy doesn't know that it was Darlene who told the cop to discharge Ben from the hospital. She blamed Ruth, who does bear some of that blame, but Ruth still needed Darlene to give the order. 

I can buy them reconciling with Ruth which I do hope is a major resolution next season, but there's no way Wendy doesn't kill Darlene herself if she knows it was her that let him out. 

I thought Wendy has said that Ruth went to Darlene.  I mean, wendy would have to know because Ruth by herself doesn't have that kind of power over the sheriff...who had to go to a judge to get the order overturned

[DoctorAtomic]

If she does know, then not having Darlene killed for it next season is bs. 

[Avaleigh]

Great episode and a great season. Hope this gets renewed. 

Wendy reminds me a lot of Nancy Botwin from Weeds in a way. She's continually chasing a high from being up to her neck in an illegal business. 

Helen's death was awesome. I suspected that she was on the way out once she started moving against the Byrdes (since there'd basically be no show without the Byrdes) but I was still startled AF once it actually happened. I'll miss Janet McTeer. She's great in everything and this was a terrific role for her. 

As for why Navarro made his choice--I feel like in Navarro's mind, Helen was bracing herself for his eventually fall to the Laguna cartel. She was preparing for the likelihood that he would eventually be killed. The Byrdes OTOH hadn't given up on the idea of him winning and were ready to assist and possibly even go down fighting for Team Navarro. Helen came across like she was building a life raft to jump on once Navarro went down. 

[latincoffee]

On 3/28/2020 at 4:06 PM, showme said:

OMG! Can we talk about the ending, please? What happened? What give Helen away? She seemed to have a perfect plan?

Exactly what I was thinking. I was like 😮

Maybe the nanny ratted her out or someone in the Ozarks other than the Byrd's have been talking to the cartel. We'll just have to see in S4. 

I wonder if Marty & Wendy are going to be somehow punished for a bit in Mexico or is Navarro going to make more demands for them? 

Ruth working with Darleen was foreseen in my eyes...knowing that her cousin got close to her. 

Who else thinks that the other Cartel will come back to the Ozarks? I def. do. Season 4 is going to be so good!!! I can't wait!

Edited April 6, 2020 by latincoffee

[DoctorAtomic]

No one ratted her out. She tipped her hand to Navarro wanting to muscle out Wendy and Marty, when they were essentially producing for him. He may not know about the faked confession, but Marty has that information from Mya, and he can point out their last phone call as to him flipping her - which is another promise Marty delivered on. 

26 minutes ago, latincoffee said:

I wonder if Marty & Wendy are going to be somehow punished for a bit in Mexico or is Navarro going to make more demands for them? 

I think this very much of a be careful what you wish for. They wanted to ingratiate themselves to Navarro. Mission accomplished. Now he's going to raise those expectations. 

[Kiddvideo]

On 4/4/2020 at 11:41 PM, Avaleigh said:

As for why Navarro made his choice--I feel like in Navarro's mind, Helen was bracing herself for his eventually fall to the Laguna cartel. She was preparing for the likelihood that he would eventually be killed. The Byrdes OTOH hadn't given up on the idea of him winning and were ready to assist and possibly even go down fighting for Team Navarro. Helen came across like she was building a life raft to jump on once Navarro went down. 

I think that's an excellent point. She was also making contingency plans/expecting the Byrdes to fail, and since she ran them, it'd be her responsibility and her fault. 

I wonder if she'd told Navarro about the fake plea deal. Navarro knows Marty is smart. If Marty had turned, no way would he use the cartel's attorney, and if Helen had told him, he would've known Helen was lying.

Damn it. I was over this show, and now I'm going to have to watch the next season.