S04.E03: City on the Make

[TexasGal]

Quote

Maya and Omar meet face to face.  Wendy has a contentious business meeting.  Ruth goes behind Darlene's back. Jonah finds a new place to set up shop.

Airdate: 01.21.2022

[Chaos Theory]

Like her or hate her Wendy does one hell of of monologue.

Launderer  needed.    Police  need not apply.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

”So do steal ten grand and buy a shitty van.”

“Well, you got to live a little.”

I know Charlotte gets alot of hate but she has grown  since  the first and even second season.  I really liked her scene with Erin.  I am enjoying her playing the family loyalist.    She is so much like Wendy while Jonah is like Marty

 

Darlene and Ruth a match made…..somewhere.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Chaos Theory

[Anela]

They’d better not hurt Maya or that baby.  

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Charlotte really was channeling Wendy when she spoke with Erin.  I liked the instinct to tell her in person which can be seen as caring on the surface.  Then it's backed with doing it in an open public place and ending the scene with the threats.  Chilling.  Charlotte knows who they are and has embraced it.

Jonah is seeing a little more of the seedy side of the business.  He is having some of the awakening that Marty had.  Being the money guy doesn't keep your hands clean.  That child is so far in over his head. It did get me how much they all talk where others can hear.  Also, curtains open on windows in front and back of his motel room.  

I do enjoy on these shows when the purity of drugs is checked by color only.  At least Breaking Bad really analyzed it.  With the scam the non-Sacklers are pulling, they would need absolute certainty of quality. 

 

[EllaWycliffe]

18 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

That child is so far in over his head. It did get me how much they all talk where others can hear.  Also, curtains open on windows in front and back of his motel room.  

The whole set up in the motel just struck as a bunch of kids playing at having a drug cartel head quarters. Granted almost everyone was under 20 but really, a motel room guarded by the cheap locks of a motel is not the place to leave expensive computer equipment and to your point, the open curtains don't help. Neither does having a young kid on a bike reporting in daily to his motel room after school. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

Wasn't sure if the Chicago scenes were filmed here. Didn't recognize any of the close-in locations (though the outdoor heat lamps were like the ones fancy places commonly use.) There were name drops for Portillo's (a fast-casual chain that started here and now has locations in a bunch of states -- the chocolate cake shake referenced involves putting like a half-piece of chocolate shake and blending it into a milkshake) and the Dan Ryan (one of the big highways that sometimes gets referred to as the Damn Ryan).

[PsychoDrone]

Filmed in downtown Atlanta.  I used to work at the 191 Peachtree building that was shown in the scene with the Byrdes and that couple.  Surreal seeing that street and recognizing it as Atlanta, when the show is selling it as Chicago.

[DoctorAtomic]

I liked that Maya held her own with Navarro. There's no way Navarro is going to agree to go to prison though. I think she played her hand too early. She should had asked, why now? 

Jonah better be glad Wendy only cut off the electricity. I do like that Marty kind of backed off. At this point Jonah is going to learn about this life on his own. There's not much either of them can do at this point. 

On 1/22/2022 at 5:49 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

Neither does having a young kid on a bike reporting in daily to his motel room after school. 

I don't understand why Ruth wouldn't install all that in the office. 

 

[Lone Wolf]

I was mildly surprised that Jonah came back home after setting up shop at the motel.  I know I'm more black-and-white in my own outlook on life than I should be, and Jonah's still a minor, but given how bad things are between him and Wendy, how (apparently) passive Marty is about the situation, and the fact that Jonah has access to a free room, I'd have gone off the grid (other than maybe texting Charlotte, since they seem to be getting along) at least until the parental units forced the issue.

 

  

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

19 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't understand why Ruth wouldn't install all that in the office. 

 

Plausible deniability, perhaps? Keeping it in the office would tie her and the motel to the money laundering, whereas having the equipment in a random motel room would allow them to claim cluelessness as to what was happening there.

Also...

I can't distinguish what episode it happens in, but assume it's later in the season than this one. Eventually, Ruth gets that clueless dude who used to be the manager of the strip club to manage the motel. Having the money laundering going on in the office would get even him to wonder what was up.

[DoctorAtomic]

He's still using the same internet connection, so the location isn't really important for cyber surveillance. Ruth can't really deny anything if there's a record of internet activity using the motel IP. Jonah better be using a VPN.

However, an FBI or PI peeking into the window of the motel seeing all the fancy computer equipment may be able to argue probable cause, whereas an office inside the motel, they can go in and try to poke around, but Ruth could tell them to leave in her own colorful way. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by DoctorAtomic

[EllaWycliffe]

8 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

but Ruth could tell them to leave in her own colorful way. 

"Y'all need to get the fuck out!"

I assume? ;)

[DoctorAtomic]

She can't do that if they're peeking through the window of one of the rooms and they get a warrant. 

[Johnny Dollar]

I love when Omar orders Marty to do something that is as close to impossible as it can get and then threatens his life if he can’t do it. Omar meets with Maya and can’t intimidate her to get him a deal, so what makes him think Marty can do any better? And who would launder his drug money if he has the Byrde family killed. 

[DoctorAtomic]

He killed Helen in front of Marty and Wendy. He knows they're indispensable. I think he's just venting. Marty isn't out unless Omar is out, and they both know that. He's a drug lord; he's using to issuing orders and things happen. This is far more complicated and nuanced, and Omar knows that and doesn't like it. He conceded that he knows he has to make concessions, but won't say what they are. I think he's giving Marty some latitude to see what they can get first. Making Maya make a concession. 

[SnarkAttack]

On 1/22/2022 at 6:28 PM, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Charlotte really was channeling Wendy when she spoke with Erin.  I liked the instinct to tell her in person which can be seen as caring on the surface.  Then it's backed with doing it in an open public place and ending the scene with the threats.  Chilling.  Charlotte knows who they are and has embraced it.

Jonah is seeing a little more of the seedy side of the business.  He is having some of the awakening that Marty had.  Being the money guy doesn't keep your hands clean.  That child is so far in over his head. It did get me how much they all talk where others can hear.  Also, curtains open on windows in front and back of his motel room.  

I do enjoy on these shows when the purity of drugs is checked by color only.  At least Breaking Bad really analyzed it.  With the scam the non-Sacklers are pulling, they would need absolute certainty of quality. 

 

She really was! 

Laura Linney has that fake smile down pat - her mouth smiles but her eyes are razor sharp with evil.  She's done it in other things (Mystic River), but in Ozark it really works well.

On 1/21/2022 at 2:37 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Like her or hate her Wendy does one hell of of monologue.

Launderer  needed.    Police  need not apply.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

”So do steal ten grand and buy a shitty van.”

“Well, you got to live a little.”

I know Charlotte gets alot of hate but she has grown  since  the first and even second season.  I really liked her scene with Erin.  I am enjoying her playing the family loyalist.    She is so much like Wendy while Jonah is like Marty

 

Darlene and Ruth a match made…..somewhere.

 

They really are fun to watch together.

I love Ruth's potty mouth!  She says "fucking" like she REALLY means it, lol.

[Dminches]

The original triangle was Marty/Wendy vs. Omar vs. Helen.  Now Helen was replaced with Javi who is way more dangerous than Helen ever was.  At some point one of the 3 will perish and there will be 2 left (just my guess).  Then we will see who outsmarts whom.

Darlene is just a special kind of crazy. 

 

[tennisgurl]

Charlotte really is becoming her mothers daughter, her talk with Erin was so good. A sweet sympathetic smile mixed with those cold murder eyes, everything she says sounds so pleasant but with such menace hinted at. Its interesting how Wendy and Marty are handling Jonah, Wendy is all emotion while Marty is just disengaging. Probably due to pragmatism as well as being a bit proud of him. 

Ruth and Jonah are going to be in for a rough time if they manage to actually get the cartels attention. Javi is not the kind of person who will take competition, especially from these local yokels, lightly. 

Say what you will about Wendy, but the lady has one hell of an elevator pitch. 

[Johnny Dollar]

Jonah: “I hate you! You’re ruining my life! I’m going to move my money laundering operation to the Lazy O!”

Wendy: “How dare you talk to me like that! You don’t seem to understand how dangerous these people are!”

Jonah: “You’re to one who had Uncle Ben killed! You’re the dangerous one!”

Also Jonah: “So what time is dinner?”

Wendy: “Six o’clock. I’m making your favorite - fried chicken.”

Jonah: “Thanks mommy”

[Shermie]

On 1/21/2022 at 10:00 PM, Anela said:

They’d better not hurt Maya or that baby.

Apropos of nothing, or maybe something… I wonder what’s with all the babies in this show. The minister’s baby that now is Darlene’s (don’t remember how that happened), Omar’s baby surviving the massacre, and the FBI agent having a baby. I mean, none of those babies are relevant to the plot; any storylines involving them could have been written differently without a baby, especially Maya’s. Typically, babies are show killers and yet, here are three of them. It’s not like the show is otherwise filled with families and children. What’s the point of including so many babies in a show like this? 

[Paloma]

2 minutes ago, Shermie said:

I wonder what’s with all the babies in this show. The minister’s baby that now is Darlene’s (don’t remember how that happened), Omar’s baby surviving the massacre, and the FBI agent having a baby. I mean, none of those babies are relevant to the plot; any storylines involving them could have been written differently without a baby, especially Maya’s. Typically, babies are show killers and yet, here are three of them. It’s not like the show is otherwise filled with families and children. What’s the point of including so many babies in a show like this? 

Probably to increase the drama by putting babies in actual or possible danger and/or to make you care more about characters who might otherwise seem one-dimensional (the latter would apply mainly to Maya). In the case of the minister's baby, that was an important plot point in Seasons 2 and 3 that involved several complicated events but basically started with the minister's wife (the baby's mother) being murdered by the Snells (I don't remember which one actually committed the murder, but I would bet it was Darlene). After the minister's life gradually went to pieces thanks to the Snells and to the Byrds, Marty and Wendy took in the baby as a foster child. But Darlene wanted a baby and managed to get custody of this baby. Someone else may be able to give you a more accurate and detailed summary of how Darlene ended up with the baby.

[sugarbaker design]

I did love the visual metaphor of Jonah, who is slowly distancing himself from his family of origin, eating Chinese with a fork, while the rest of his family ate with chopsticks.

[SlovakPrincess]

On 1/30/2022 at 5:05 PM, Paloma said:

Someone else may be able to give you a more accurate and detailed summary of how Darlene ended up with the baby.

Darlene tried to block the casino at the end of Season 2, and if the casino didn't start operating and laundering money soon, Navarro was gonna kill Marty and family, probably.  Darlene also threatened Jonah.  The only thing Darlene would take in exchange for not stalling the casino (or threatening the Byrde kids) was the baby, and Marty handed Zeke over.  There is no way social services would've gone along with this (they already told Darlene she was too old to foster a baby).  But the plot must bend to accommodate Darlene apparently!

Maya handled Omar quite well.  A shame she didn't slam her door in Wendy's obnoxious face, though.  Also ... why on earth did Maya give Marty her personal cell # and home address??  

Javi flirting with the drug company lady (and her looking horrified) - LMAO.  I have to hand it to him, he kept a good poker face after his gun shipment was busted.

I have to begrudgingly admire how quickly Marty thinks on his feet.  And honestly, the guy just wants out and to live a normal life.  I can't help hoping it works out for him.  

I enjoy Jim the lawyer, but if Wendy is going all in on politics, it's weird Wilkes isn't more involved in this story so far.

Poor Erin.  Despite Charlotte's best efforts to keep her quiet, I can't imagine the kid won't crack at some point.  She's supposed to just keep the knowledge of what her mother was - and that she was likely murdered - to herself forever??  When her dad and brother are probably asking her daily what she knows?  Poor girl's gonna end up drinking or drugging to numb the pain.

Ruth and Darlene are even more insufferable working together.