Season Three All Episodes Talk

[TexasGal]

Howdy Ozarkians!  In hopes that Netflix will take pity on us and drop this season early, I have created episode threads.  Use this topic for general season talk.

[AZChristian]

We're going to re-binge Season 2 today in readiness!!!

[rocketinu]

On 3/20/2020 at 11:01 AM, AZChristian said:

We're going to re-binge Season 2 today in readiness!!!

We just did and had forgotten ALOT!

[TexasGal]

It's here!  And the episode names have shuffled from what was on IMDB pre-release.  I think I've gotten them all right now but please PM me if I missed something and I'll clean it up.

Happy watching!

[iMonrey]

So Marty and Wendy buy a new casino in or near St. Joseph, MO, which is a good four hour drive from the lake of the Ozarks, possibly more depending on exactly where they are supposed to be. And yet characters were zipping back and forth between the two locations like they were just down the street from each other.

In the episode where Ruth was sent to the new casino, only to find it closed and locked up, she calls Marty to tell him and he tells her to come back. I expected her to go "I just drove four fuckin' hours to get here and now you want me to turn around and drive back again?"

I did not feel like re-watching Season 2. It's been over a year since that season dropped and I had forgotten a lot of plot points and details. Yet I had very little trouble following this season, which is the mark of good writing I guess. That ending was fantastic. I was maybe sort of expecting it and yet it still took me by surprise, mostly because of how it happened I guess.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't re watch either because there's just tons of original content out there that you can watch something new year round now. I think that's fantastic. There's some shows that think you're going to rewatch and remember every detail, and I don't think that's a feasible model anymore because if it's just too byzantine then I don't really care (****westworld**** knock it off. you're a show about a robot revolt.)

Here, with just the previouslies and Wendy's sort of exposition in the form of phone calls with Navarro, which really was part of the plot anyway, I don't feel like I missed anything glaringly important. 

I didn't remember the daughter tried to run away or whatever, but I like the narrative direction for the character this season. 

[qtpye]

I really enjoy this show and it has been a pleasant surprise to see how talented Jason Bateman is as a director.

That said, season 3 really left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like they made the Wendy character incredibly stupid and delusional for no reason than plot.

Wendy goes against everything Marty says and it always bites them in the ass.

She than berates Marty for lying to her and being jealous of her awesomeness.

Wendy can be awesome but it is Marty's money laundering skills that are keeping them alive. He is the one who is supposedly irreplaceable according to the world of the show.

Marty even wanted the brother out of the picture from early one and it was Wendy that said no. When I mean out of the picture, it refers to telling him to go somewhere else not killing him.

It almost felt like they were trying to turn Wendy into Darlene light complete with dreams of killing her husband.

I felt a little betrayed but Laura L's great acting did save a lot of it.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

I really enjoy this show and it has been a pleasant surprise to see how talented Jason Bateman is as a director.

I think he's been in tv for like 40 years, and he's maybe 50. Almost like Ron Howard. Which is a kind of weird. 

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

Wendy can be awesome but it is Marty's money laundering skills that are keeping them alive.

I think the show was fair in showing their communication problems, and how Wendy is actually pushing back after a long time to assert herself. Marty just says things flatly - we're not buying the second casino and thinks everyone else knows what he's talking about. I don't think anyone really knows how good he is at what he does, and he doesn't really go around saying anything. I think Ruth gets that part of him. 

Not that he should be bragging because that's going to get you killed, but if Wendy had a better grasp of his talent, she might take him more seriously than him just being bitchy. 

Honestly, if they get on the same page, they're unstoppable. As much as Marty doesn't like killing people he knows that Ruth's dad had to go, and Wendy knows that his skill in laundering money is providing her the flexibility to pitch the legit casino/hotel to Navarro. 

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I think he's been in tv for like 40 years, and he's maybe 50. Almost like Ron Howard. Which is a kind of weird. 

I think the show was fair in showing their communication problems, and how Wendy is actually pushing back after a long time to assert herself. Marty just says things flatly - we're not buying the second casino and thinks everyone else knows what he's talking about. I don't think anyone really knows how good he is at what he does, and he doesn't really go around saying anything. I think Ruth gets that part of him. 

Not that he should be bragging because that's going to get you killed, but if Wendy had a better grasp of his talent, she might take him more seriously than him just being bitchy. 

Honestly, if they get on the same page, they're unstoppable. As much as Marty doesn't like killing people he knows that Ruth's dad had to go, and Wendy knows that his skill in laundering money is providing her the flexibility to pitch the legit casino/hotel to Navarro. 

They are awesome together. The lack of communication was so ridiculously frustrating and I felt it was more on Marty. 

[DoctorAtomic]

Depending on the narrative direction, there's no where to go but up. I root for the bad guys on tv because it's tv and not real. I want the Byrds to end up the preeminent criminal family in the state. For all of Mya's 'integrity' she called up Marty to warn him about going to visit Navarro and I cannot wait till she is working for him, whether inadvertent or willingly. 

Darlene represents the old guard drug empire and the Byrds are the new, so I'm hoping they deal with her next season. 

Now, TPTBs may be taking this show in another direction, where they finally get caught, but that doesn't strike me as nearly as interesting. 

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

For all of Mya's 'integrity' she called up Marty to warn him about going to visit Navarro and I cannot wait till she is working for him, whether inadvertent or willingly. 

Did she?  I thought she called him because she saw the forged agreement that Helen made with the other FBI agent.  Mya was upset that Marty took that deal (witness protection), rather than the one she'd been offering him (18 months in a federal jail and then off the hook).  She called Marty to talk to him about that. 

Then Marty told her he was getting ready to get on a plane, and she asked him if the plane was going to Mexico.  He did not respond.  She kept saying, "Do NOT get on that plane!"

I may be wrong . . . wouldn't be the first time.  But this is kind of how I remember it.

[DoctorAtomic]

That's what I meant. Her telling him not to get on the plane was the breach. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Depending on the narrative direction, there's no where to go but up. I root for the bad guys on tv because it's tv and not real. I want the Byrds to end up the preeminent criminal family in the state.

The Byrd's aren't really the "bad guys" though, even if Wendy is steering them in that direction. Remember, it was Marty's business partner in Chicago that was stealing from the cartel. Marty only agreed to launder their money to save his own life. He's been trying to get out of it ever since. Meanwhile Wendy is digging them deeper and deeper into the whole Marty is trying to get them out of. Her actions are purely selfish and self-serving IMO. She's just trying to assert herself and prove to herself that she's relevant - or perhaps even more important than Marty.

[DoctorAtomic]

Marty did kill a dude because he kind of ruined his church and the guy went nuts, and Wendy ordered Ruth's dad to get whacked. They're kind of not not good. 

Marty already was laundering money. That's also not not so good. When he found out the partner was stealing money, he threw out the Ozarks, like it was his plan all along (also a testament to his skills that no one seems to really be respecting). 

It's like making the case whether the lawyers at the Firm from the book are bad because they represent the mafia. I mean, no, kind of, but still. 

Edited April 15, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[Sir RaiderDuck OMS]

On 4/12/2020 at 7:39 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I think he's been in tv for like 40 years, and he's maybe 50. Almost like Ron Howard. Which is a kind of weird.

Denis Leary wrote a book a few years ago where he talked about child actors and said there were only two child stars who became normal, well-adjusted working showbiz adults: Ron Howard and Jodie Foster. I think we can safely add Jason Bateman (and, for that matter, Justin Timberlake) to that list.

[DoctorAtomic]

Shit, I remember the guy on Silver Spoons. 

[TexasGal]

He did have addiction issues in the past, but it seems like he's overcome them.

[qtpye]

22 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The Byrd's aren't really the "bad guys" though, even if Wendy is steering them in that direction. Remember, it was Marty's business partner in Chicago that was stealing from the cartel. Marty only agreed to launder their money to save his own life. He's been trying to get out of it ever since. Meanwhile Wendy is digging them deeper and deeper into the whole Marty is trying to get them out of. Her actions are purely selfish and self-serving IMO. She's just trying to assert herself and prove to herself that she's relevant - or perhaps even more important than Marty.

This was so ridiculous to me. I know couples in real life where both of the spouses were successful and not of the women had a need to prove that they were more important than their husband. 

I felt that Wendy and her skills were very necessary for their survival in the past seasons.

Perhaps this insecurity stems from Wendy feeling that she missed out on her opportunity to be successful in politics in their previous life?

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, qtpye said:

Perhaps this insecurity stems from Wendy feeling that she missed out on her opportunity to be successful in politics in their previous life?

I don't think there's any doubt about that. Even if she was thinking about a second act, Marty's crackpot scheme to launder money in the Ozarks (and they were literally dead otherwise) ripped her out of her life so now what? She's using those skills to strengthen their position with Navarro, literally proven in the finale, and legitimately getting into MO politics, with the foundation, etc. 

That's why I said if they both get on the same page and understand each other's skills, they'll be unstoppable. 

[Suzywriter]

Total aside, but I love Ruth's curls!

[TexasGal]

Quote

Ben said that his sister "left when she was 18 and was never around" when he was growing up. He might have even been born after she left. 

I remembered that too when people were discussing the age difference and thought similar.  But then at some other point he was talking about their family dog (I think) and they had a whole remember when xyz happened that made me think she was home at least some of his childhood or how could they reminisce like that?

[AZChristian]

In real life, Laura Linney is 57 and Tom Pelphrey is 37 . . . but I think she looks younger.

That doesn't count for anything, but I thought it was interesting, since we're discussing their possible ages as siblings.  I think they "feel" like about 8-10 years different in ages as siblings.

[Artsda]

This season made me really dislike Wendy. Offering up her brother's location and running like a coward was horrid.  When he first showed up Marty said he's a loss cannon, he can't stay. She refused to see his side and had to have her way, when he went off the meds, her reasoning was she'd talk to him about it? Yes Wendy, how did that work out?  

I find it odd that this entire season had no interaction with Wyatt and Charlotte when she was all ready to emancipate and wanting out this season to move with him. She took quite the about face this season. 

[TVbitch]

I hope Marty and especially Wendy pay for their crimes. It is unconscionable the physical risk and psychological burdens they have put upon their children. Not to mention all the people they have gotten killed directly or indirectly. Having said that, Marty is way more likeable than Wendy. I still can't believe she arranged for her brother to be murdered by a hitman. She had other options that would have been gentler. Or she could have used common sense earlier in the situation and avoided it entirely. I hope Wendy's ego gets ever bigger since Navarro chose them over the lawyer and that her fall is spectacular. 

There are not a lot of people to root for in this show, but I guess I am rooting for the kids and maybe Wyatt. I have sympathy for Ruth, but she is a murderer, too.  He needs to wake the fuck up about Darlene though. 

 

[qtpye]

On 6/5/2020 at 3:13 PM, TVbitch said:

I hope Marty and especially Wendy pay for their crimes. It is unconscionable the physical risk and psychological burdens they have put upon their children. Not to mention all the people they have gotten killed directly or indirectly. Having said that, Marty is way more likeable than Wendy. I still can't believe she arranged for her brother to be murdered by a hitman. She had other options that would have been gentler. Or she could have used common sense earlier in the situation and avoided it entirely. I hope Wendy's ego gets ever bigger since Navarro chose them over the lawyer and that her fall is spectacular. 

There are not a lot of people to root for in this show, but I guess I am rooting for the kids and maybe Wyatt. I have sympathy for Ruth, but she is a murderer, too.  He needs to wake the fuck up about Darlene though. 

 

 

On 5/16/2020 at 4:51 PM, Artsda said:

This season made me really dislike Wendy. Offering up her brother's location and running like a coward was horrid.  When he first showed up Marty said he's a loss cannon, he can't stay. She refused to see his side and had to have her way, when he went off the meds, her reasoning was she'd talk to him about it? Yes Wendy, how did that work out?  

I find it odd that this entire season had no interaction with Wyatt and Charlotte when she was all ready to emancipate and wanting out this season to move with him. She took quite the about face this season. 

Yes, for her bother's own safety, she should have given him a little money and sent him on his way the second night of his visit. This has nothing to do with his illness as she should want to protect him from the dangerous game that she is beginning to enjoy a little too much.

[Bannon]

So I finally started watching this show, and am now in season 3. My thought is that it is extraordinarly well acted, even the child actors, and they get about as much as they can from some highly derivative material. I wouldn't say it is badly written, or even just average. It's good, but it really isn't especially vivid. I'll watch it the rest of the way.

[Bannon]

On 6/5/2020 at 1:13 PM, TVbitch said:

I hope Marty and especially Wendy pay for their crimes. It is unconscionable the physical risk and psychological burdens they have put upon their children. Not to mention all the people they have gotten killed directly or indirectly. Having said that, Marty is way more likeable than Wendy. I still can't believe she arranged for her brother to be murdered by a hitman. She had other options that would have been gentler. Or she could have used common sense earlier in the situation and avoided it entirely. I hope Wendy's ego gets ever bigger since Navarro chose them over the lawyer and that her fall is spectacular. 

There are not a lot of people to root for in this show, but I guess I am rooting for the kids and maybe Wyatt. I have sympathy for Ruth, but she is a murderer, too.  He needs to wake the fuck up about Darlene though. 

 

Yeah, there's a distinct lack of any sympathetic characters, besides the kids. Wendy's a complete monster at this point, and hubby's only marginally better. Ruth might still be capable of redemption; what is she 20 or 21? Her whole life has been a descent into trauma at the hands of violent people older than she. It would be  consistent with her character to be capable of change; watch her resolve to be a more moral and ethical human being, and get killed for it...

[DrSparkles]

On 4/15/2020 at 2:31 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

Marty did kill a dude because he kind of ruined his church and the guy went nuts, and Wendy ordered Ruth's dad to get whacked. They're kind of not not good. 

Marty already was laundering money. That's also not not so good. When he found out the partner was stealing money, he threw out the Ozarks, like it was his plan all along (also a testament to his skills that no one seems to really be respecting). 

It's like making the case whether the lawyers at the Firm from the book are bad because they represent the mafia. I mean, no, kind of, but still. 

Phew, thank you!!!

[DoctorAtomic]

I still want them to get away with it. 

[DrSparkles]

7 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I still want them to get away with it. 

I kind of do too, but they’re not good people in any way.

[DoctorAtomic]

No. They are good at their jobs. That's a big draw for me in a show. I can't stand when people can get by being incompetent. 

[Anela]

On 4/15/2020 at 12:50 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

Shit, I remember the guy on Silver Spoons. 

I remember him from It's Your Move. That's where I first saw him, and had a crush. :) Then "Valerie" although I think it was called something else in England.

Edited September 5, 2021 by Anela

[Rootbeer]

23 hours ago, Anela said:

I remember him from It's Your Move. That's where I first saw him, and had a crush. :) Then "Valerie" although I think it was called something else in England.

After Valerie Harper had a dispute with the producers and left the show, it was called Valerie's Family for the next couple seasons and Sandy Duncan was brought in as the aunt who came to live with the family after Valerie's untimely death (TPTB really weren't ever bringing VH back).

[EllaWycliffe]

On 9/5/2021 at 11:39 AM, Anela said:

I remember him from It's Your Move. That's where I first saw him, and had a crush. :) Then "Valerie" although I think it was called something else in England.

I'll date myself. I remember him from Little House On The Prairie. 

[EllaWycliffe]

Did a rewatch of season three, anticipating season four. Some thoughts:

I found it... odd, and potentially interesting, that Charlotte seems to have completely dumped Wyatt without a backward glance or even a mention of how and why she and Wyatt split. I mean, sure, Wyatt went off the deep end over Ruth killing his dad but... Charlotte seemed pretty invested in getting him to college etc. It was all dropped like a rock. Charlotte either doesn't know (unlikely) or doesn't care that Wyatt is hooked up with - both figuratively and literally with Darlene Snell the Craziest Bitch This Side of Kansas City? I am genuinely wondering if these two will ever acknowledge each other's weird choices - as near as I can tell they were never on scene together in this season. 

I love the actress playing Ruth and she worked it, but I never bought that she would pick Ben as a heartfelt love. I think she would have fun with him on dates and socially, but I also think his crazypants, potentially violent beat-the-shit-out-of-anyone routine would shy her off. I also think as a reasonably modern and reasonably educated woman, that she would have some idea of what bi-polar or maybe schizo-affective disorder (Ben struck me both ways). I do think Wendy allowing Ben to be murdered was a break point for Ruth, less because she was madly in love with Ben and more because Wendy fell well down the rabbit hole of violent crime with that. She broke with Wendy, which means she had to break with Marty... but I don't think she's really broken with Marty.

Darlene really should be dead. Helen should have arranged her death because she knows too much about the casino business and clearly isn't keeping her head down. I assume Frank Jr survived his junk being shot off and I can't see him leaving that alone or his dad for that matter. That said, I also don't think Frank Sr will dump the casino for the heroin delivery business because honestly the casino is more lucrative.

Don't care about the sad sack from Season 1 losing his mom's money in the casino and getting arrested but he's clearly the obvious idiot for the FBI to pump for info. He'd break in seconds, especially since he's been arrested and I am a little annoyed it wasn't even hinted at. 

Helen died because she lost her focus after her kid found out the truth. It went from business to revenge and it was pretty clear she was setting Marty and Wendy up not because she was all that worried about the business but because she was super pissed with them and wanted them out. Its a shame to lose her from the show but I knew she was done when she told Wendy she was done with them playing at being friends.

And... Wendy has evolved into a monster. A sympathetic monster but here's the thing. If she will get her brother killed to save her family, then Marty has to know she will sacrifice him to save the kids. Whereas Marty would sacrifice himself to save the kids and her. That makes me wonder who will live to the end of the fourth and supposedly final season....

[Totale]

We never watched this show before, and finally finished season 3 last night.  I've read the episode threads, but one thing has been bugging me which I haven't seen mentioned.  You don't just harvest opium poppies and end up with heroin.  Refining it is a dangerous, labor intensive process and from what simple googling tells me Darlene's fields would yield maybe $60K street value at the end of it all (and as a wholesaler she'd be lucky to get half).  How is this a viable business plan?

[SlovakPrincess]

So I liked Season 1, kinda hate-watched much of Season 2, and then found Season 3 a big improvement over Season 2 and enjoyed it.  I liked most of the Ben arc, loved Tom Pelphrey in the role, and my main quibble was how over the top they went with Ben (and how stupid they made him) right before he got killed off.   

However.  For all the fast-thinking, fast-talking crime and negotiation ... how are these people so unimaginative when it comes to lying around the normal people in their life?  There were so many different ways to handle Ben that did not involve telling him the truth about the cartel and eventually killing him because he knew too much.  Like, when Ben saw Marty kidnapped, Ruth, Wendy and Helen could have at least tried to come up with a consistent cover story around him (claim the local mob had been threatening Marty for some reason, like they didn't like the competition of the casino or something? pretend Helen is the family lawyer and that she's been calling law enforcement already, so Ben doesn't ask about calling the cops?  I dunno, try something).  

I also didn't get the whole thing with Maya being "compromised" if she followed up on a lead to an unrelated case given by Marty.  In fact, she got in trouble with her superior when she didn't do that.  Since the FBI apparently didn't see that as an ethics violation ... why would Marty be able to supposedly control her that way?  I mean, Roy Petty was doing blatantly illegal shit, you could see how he could be compromised.  Evans does grossly unethical shit, like lying to suspects in ways that makes them violently attack others, and ok-ing a CI trying to seduce a teenager.  But I didn't understand what they could possibly have to hang over Maya's head.  

It was weird that Charlotte and Wyatt went from besties to never interacting.  However, Charlotte improved immensely as a character in Season 3, leading me to believe that smoking pot with Wyatt all the time is what made her so stupid in Season 2.  

The huge weak spot in Season 3 was Darlene and Wyatt.  Everything about her strains credulity at this point.  Wyatt is simply dull.