S04.E14: A Hard Way to Go

[Chaos Theory]

Also at its roots Ozark is the making of a dynasty built on corruption.  I could see a sequel about Jonah’s grandson running for Senator or some low level government job based on some whitewashed version of his family’s history in the Ozarks and suddenly coming face to face with how his family truly were and all the bodies they dropped.  

This was always a warped morality tale.   The good guys got stomped all over.  Look at all the moral people from the start.   They either got corrupted by their own vices or stomped on by Wendy and Marty and their ability to make bigger and better deals.   Maya tried to do the right thing and was ultimately shut out for it.  And Mel the PI pulled at strings even after he was warned not to.    I honestly really like that the last death was Mel.  The PI who initially took the Byrd’s deal but realized he couldn’t be the kind of cop he promised himself he would be if he got a second chance.   He had to go back…..that last bit of sad irony is also why I thought the ending worked.

[BC4ME]

43 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

 The PI who initially took the Byrd’s deal but realized he couldn’t be the kind of cop he promised himself he would be if he got a second chance.   He had to go back…..that last bit of sad irony is also why I thought the ending worked.

Yeah, he and Ruth, the ones trying to "break good" get killed. I feel so jaded with the world to accept that as the way it goes.

[DrSpaceman73]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I thought the ending was brilliant,   I am not sure what people were expecting.   Marty and Wendy were always going to get away with it.  That was the shows entire point.   “That’s not how the world works.”  “Since when?”      
 

Is the vitrol because of Ruth’s death?  Because that was kind of telegraphed too.   From the moment she shot Javier her days were numbered.   She is exactly the girl who “almost makes it out” but gets caught up in the end by the Langmore curse.    Because that is how the world works.  

Charlotte and Jonah can rebel all they want and wish for another life but they are who they are and when someone threatens their family they will ultimately chose to defend their family.

i honestly don’t see another way the show could have ended.  I get that people wanted Marty and Wendy to get caught or dead  and Ruth to get everything she ever wanted but this show was never written as a fantasy.   The Byrds of the world win.  

They just do.

 

It's not just the ending but the whole last half season was just slow, plodding, boring.

And I didn't feel that way about the first half. 

The stupid flash forward with the car wreck and they literally walk away from it?  F*** you writers.  

Even beyond the Byrds all living, even if you expected that, how it happened was just all dull.  

[Soobs]

On 5/1/2022 at 4:14 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Mel: I have put together a whole bunch of circumstantial evidence that the powerful Byrde family has cartel ties and likely was involved in at least three murders (the lawyer, the sheriff and Ben). But building a stronger case by the book is for saps. I'm going to break into the Byrdes' house, casting doubts on any evidence I procure from there, and if it supports my suspicions, I am just going to confront them alone and in the dark at their home, rather than in a public place or with the full force of actual law enforcement behind me. 

Was he back on the evidence locker cocaine? If anyone knew that the ashes are not admissible because he broke in to get them, it's him!

Other complaints - Walking away from the car crash and going home and getting dressed for the party. No ER to check internal injuries or a concussion for Wendy who passed out? Did not like how no one told Jonah to put down the gun.

Things I liked - Ruth drinking with Wendy's dad was a fun scene. When she said, "you beat her" meaning bested her and he looked shocked/ guilty, I loled. She knew how to play him. Her mouthing off at Camilla before her death was very in character for her too. I think she was not willing to run or duck from the cartel and had a let the chips fall where they may attitude.

The ending didn't feel like a show ending to me. It felt like the end of another season. I would not be surprised if this show reappears in a couple of years with a real ending.

[Anela]

41 minutes ago, Soobs said:

Was he back on the evidence locker cocaine? If anyone knew that the ashes are not admissible because he broke in to get them, it's him!

Other complaints - Walking away from the car crash and going home and getting dressed for the party. No ER to check internal injuries or a concussion for Wendy who passed out? Did not like how no one told Jonah to put down the gun.

Things I liked - Ruth drinking with Wendy's dad was a fun scene. When she said, "you beat her" meaning bested her and he looked shocked/ guilty, I loled. She knew how to play him. Her mouthing off at Camilla before her death was very in character for her too. I think she was not willing to run or duck from the cartel and had a let the chips fall where they may attitude.

The ending didn't feel like a show ending to me. It felt like the end of another season. I would not be surprised if this show reappears in a couple of years with a real ending.

That was another thing: it felt like a setup for a reboot. 

[DrSpaceman73]

16 minutes ago, Anela said:

That was another thing: it felt like a setup for a reboot. 

Possibly. It felt very much like the sopranos ending. Which David chase has now admitted he wrote in part so a movie could be done later if that option was available. 

Then James Gandolfini died and that was out. 

[DoctorAtomic]

The show was originally Bateman's concept iirc, so it's probably up to him. 

[Rick Sanchez]

Just like Walt on Breaking Bad, just about everyone who met the Byrdes on this show regretted it.  

As for the ending, it was okay. I really wanted Ruth to live but when Camila brought it up at the party I just knew it was over for her. That shotgun blast to black was a great last shot though.

[Zonk]

I'm not against Ruth dying and the Byrds getting away with everything in principle. That is the worst ending possible from a morality-standpoint, but those can be done really well. This just wasn't.  At multiple points this season was really contrived and just didn't quite work.

On 4/30/2022 at 7:57 AM, Blue Plastic said:

I am just so pissed off.  The writers think they are really cute, don't they?  Killing Ruth off and leaving us on a cliffhanger regarding Jonah shooting the annoying private eye character. 

I mean we heard the shot. Jona shot his ass dead. Serves him right for coming to the Byrds to gloat instead of actually getting that evidence to the authorities.

Though if he had, nothing would have come off it anyway. So Ruth had Ben's ashes. That doesn't proof the Byrds killed him, if anything it points to Ruth. Obsessive Ex kills her boyfriend because he wants to leave her and keeps his ashes so he has to be with her forever. The story practivally writes itself.

On 4/30/2022 at 3:12 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

I also don't see the cartel or any mexican cartel accepting a woman at the head...

I don't see why not. Women usually like to work more from the shadows through men because it's less dangerous, but they are certainly capable, when put in the postiion. There were respected queens, female pirate captains, etc. throughout history.

On 5/1/2022 at 3:25 AM, Pike Ludwell said:

Plus the cookie jar as his big clue was ridiculous. There were several instances of him making a big deal of it over the season, but none of it was really merited.

Yeah his speech at the ending was dumb: "I mean who doesn't have a filled cookie jar, what's with that?"

To which I ask: Who actually fills up these cookie jars? I've only ever seen them used for decoration and never actually filled.

On 5/1/2022 at 11:30 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

He had Ben's ashes, but there's really only circumstantial evidence at best. They could have blamed it on Omar. 

Or Ruth. It's not like she'd mind or could defend herself...

 

[EllaWycliffe]

Like, I hate to generalize but most Mexican drug cartel gangsters seem to be sexist macho assholes. Your examples are more known for their rarity in male dominated fields. The never mentioned beyond the basic understanding that Javi must have a mom until after Javi was dead woman just doesn't seem viable.

[Zonk]

On 5/2/2022 at 10:00 PM, ICantDoThatDave said:

As far as being unarmed, she was going legit - she couldn't very well carry around a gun legally, either on her or in her car, & definitely not to that fund-raiser (a quick trip to Google tells me that getting your record expunged does not mean you can legally purchase a gun). 

A quick google search tells me the opposite: "When the Court approves the motion, both the arrest and conviction(s) are sealed and both the State and Federal prohibitions against being able to purchase a firearm are removed."

I actually would have been shocked if it was any other way. So yes Ruth could have owned a gun legally, and as the owner of a casino, a cash-business, would have had any reason to. She should have had at least one in her car.

On 5/4/2022 at 4:56 PM, Rootbeer said:

Not only that, but Camila knows they lied to her about who killed Javi and she isn't likely to forgive and forget anytime soon.  They're screwed and they know it.

The pharma-lady said the Byrds didn't know and Camila seems to have bought it. Which seems contrived, but whatever...

 

[Zonk]

12 minutes ago, EllaWycliffe said:

Like, I hate to generalize but most Mexican drug cartel gangsters seem to be sexist macho assholes. Your examples are more known for their rarity in male dominated fields. The never mentioned beyond the basic understanding that Javi must have a mom until after Javi was dead woman just doesn't seem viable.

Queens really aren't that rare. Female pirate captains were rare yes, but they did exist (and some were crazy successfull), so a female cartel leader could also exist, as the rare exception. It's not like we are talking about all cartels becoming female-led all of a sudden.

If Camilla was a young woman I would even agree with you, but she is older and already had an adult son. All these sexist gangsters still love and respect their mothers and the matriarach of the family usually has quite a bit of invluence in mexican society, as far as I know. So I can totally see a matriarch reigning the cartel.

[Raja]

22 minutes ago, Zonk said:

 

The pharma-lady said the Byrds didn't know and Camila seems to have bought it. Which seems contrived, but whatever...

 

After giving the last chance to come clean threat I am sure Camille thought she broke her and thought no way would she chance only giving up half of the truth

[EllaWycliffe]

Queens aren't rare.... queens with power are. A drug cartel led by a woman who previously was not a player? Thats where I'm having an issue. Camila came out of no where. Now to a point, its a minor nit... I just find it implausible that anyone thought she'd last longer than ten minutes. The FBI in particular.

[endure]

I could never understand why they made the finale a two part, now I think possibly because they couldn’t come up with an ending.  So this is what we got and it seems like a huge cop out.  The entire finale felt just tossed together like scrambled eggs, too bad.

[endure]

And wouldn’t Camilla know that she needed Ruth too and wouldn’t Ruth also know the whole purpose of the Casino was to launder money, nothing made any sense in the finale.  The whole drama of the car accident was so stupid too.  Even the scene with Wendy’s dad and Ruth threatening to shoot him ~ ridiculous 😕

[Pj3422]

On 4/30/2022 at 8:41 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

WHy not both? I rather like the idea of Three shooting Camila but I did like Jonah killing the PI too.

Me too, but I’d like it even more if Jonah killed Wendy. (At least that’s the way the ending plays in my head.) 

[hoodooznoodooz]

Wendy said, “Yadda, yadda.”

[Nunyabiznis]

I had a real problem with Wendy checking herself into that mental institution. That made no sense whatsoever, especially with her political ambitions.  It was totally out of character!  Wendy was one cold ass bitch so why would she totally go off the rails.

Also as soon as Camilla came on the scene I recognized her from Queen of the South and I thought it was pretty bad ass that they used the same name for her character.

[Dobian]

On 4/29/2022 at 4:09 PM, DiabLOL said:

I’m so angry and disappointed. I wanted Ruth to be the only survivor of the bunch. I desperately needed to see the Byrdes either killed or in prison. Ruined. Also the episode was just plain bad. No way would Ruthie who was born ready just walk up to that car like that no gun nothing. No way. 
I feel so cheated.

Especially condsidering she had been tailed by a hitman the previous episode...

Wow, the Byrdes win.  Yay...NOT.  One happy little evil family now.  The kids suddenly embracing the drug cartel lifestyle with their soulless parents after ll the shit they have seen.  And after all the evil Wendy has committed, she has one conversation with her kids in a rehab center she faked to join to manipulate them, and she has achieved redemption.  Now she's nice and we hope she lives at the end.  Uh...NO.  And of course the accident wasn't really a hit, just a random accident.  Truck hauling cars happening to be driving on the wrong side of the road in broad daylight.  That happens all the time.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Dobian

[Mama No Life]

On 5/6/2022 at 6:58 AM, BC4ME said:

My own takeaway from that last scene was the corruption of the family was complete, with Jonah finally coming into the fold full force by killing Mel to “save the family.” Even more meaningful because he killed the man who found out the truth about Ben, who he loved and held his death against his mother. They are all complicit now, even their 15 year old son. 

Yes the showrunners and writers have confirmed that Jonah shot Mel. He was the last one to buy in and that's why they chose him to end the series.

[Anela]

11 hours ago, Nunyabiznis said:

I had a real problem with Wendy checking herself into that mental institution. That made no sense whatsoever, especially with her political ambitions.  It was totally out of character!  Wendy was one cold ass bitch so why would she totally go off the rails.

Also as soon as Camilla came on the scene I recognized her from Queen of the South and I thought it was pretty bad ass that they used the same name for her character.

She faked it, to manipulate her children. It also ended up helping them both to manipulate Ruth into helping them.

[CaptainE]

On 5/6/2022 at 4:54 PM, Chaos Theory said:

I thought the ending was brilliant,   I am not sure what people were expecting.   Marty and Wendy were always going to get away with it.  That was the shows entire point.   “That’s not how the world works.”  “Since when?”      
 

Is the vitrol because of Ruth’s death?  Because that was kind of telegraphed too.   From the moment she shot Javier her days were numbered.   She is exactly the girl who “almost makes it out” but gets caught up in the end by the Langmore curse.    Because that is how the world works.  

Charlotte and Jonah can rebel all they want and wish for another life but they are who they are and when someone threatens their family they will ultimately chose to defend their family.

i honestly don’t see another way the show could have ended.  I get that people wanted Marty and Wendy to get caught or dead  and Ruth to get everything she ever wanted but this show was never written as a fantasy.   The Byrds of the world win.  

They just do.

 

Of course it’s written as a fantasy.  An accountant goes to Mexico and pretends to be a tough guy and makes it back alive?  That’s just one of many times Marty could have been killed, Wendy too, but she’s so tough she can convince a cartel head to do what she wants when she wants. 
 

Let’s add the gargantuan plot hole of a cartel leader captured, televised all over the planet.   This would be followed by the press until the trial.  The trial would be big news.  In Ozarkland, however, the druglord tries to escape, while being transferred by two dudes.  Transferred where?  On who’s authority?  And is shot after he shot one guard.   Believable?  The Ozarkland FBI was willing to go along with this?

Also, Javi’s mother having more pull than her brother re: prison shankings rings hollow.  He had eyes everywhere even on the kids in the mausoleum with the shotgun.  Doesn’t add up.  As soon as he knew his sis was behind everything, he’d make the call to end her.  His henchman (who was shot) would not have been doing Wendy’s bidding, scaring whatsherface.  No way, no how.  That’s fantasy.

[cpcathy]

My husband and I discussed the finale at length (we don’t have kids, what else are we going to talk about?) I was okay with the finale at first, but then I thought what was the point of the ambiguity? Setting up for a sequel, a Sopranos ripoff? Why not just give the fans what they want? Was the shock supposed to be that we didn’t get the Byrds’ deaths? 
I thought they could have ended with a little cheery, ironic shot of the Byrds back in Chicago, enjoying lunch in their house, then Marty looks out the window and is visibly concerned. There’s nothing out there, but someday there might be….

My husband took it one step further, and had the same scene, except a sniper gets Wendy and Marty. 

[IslandGirl]

I rewound several times attempting to hear the goat cookie jar shatter, but never could. Maybe my TV and/or hearing is bad, but I also wondered for a minute if Jonah committed matricide. I suppose he killed the cheesy film noire detective, but I still don’t get why the shattering cookie jar was inaudible (assuming it was)…

[iMonrey]

I mostly liked the ending, although I recognize the weaknesses in this season as a whole. There was a lot of hand-waving for the sake of expediency. But I've been annoyed by Ruth's plot armor for a long time now so I'm kind of glad to see it finally wore off.

It might have been a little too "on the nose," but when Mel was telling Wendy her family didn't get to be the Kennedys or the Kochs because life didn't work that way, I liked her response of "Since when?" I think that kind of summed up Marty and Wendy's journey and the point of their story. Those kinds of power couples break a lot of laws and leave a lot of collateral damage in their wake.

I didn't mind the ambiguous ending because I think it was pretty obvious Jonah shot Mel to protect his family. The only thing that bugs me is the loose end of what happens when he finds out Ruth is dead. He might end up flip-flopping all over again.

I watched the "Farewell to Ozark" doc and only because of that did I realize Charlotte was standing next to Jonah when he was holding the rifle. I don't remember seeing her in the shot in the actual scene. 

I'll miss the show. It was a good ride.

[Tabbygirl521]

On 4/29/2022 at 5:58 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

I am still weirded out by John Boy Walton saying "have a blessed fucking day" 

Spoiler - this should tell you my age :)

My husband and I burst out guffawing. 

[qtpye]

On 4/30/2022 at 1:57 AM, Blue Plastic said:

Me too.  I don't even remember his character's name - I just thought of him as John Boy.  An evil John Boy.  The actor did a great job doing a totally different character.

I am just so pissed off.  The writers think they are really cute, don't they?  Killing Ruth off and leaving us on a cliffhanger regarding Jonah shooting the annoying private eye character.  WTF?  That's the kind of show this is, but this time they are not coming back to show us what happened next, so that's just a nice howdy-doo.  Guess they were afraid to tie everything up too neatly and make it too much of a Pollyanna ending, but that was just mean.

Oh, and as another poster mentioned, NO WAY would Ruth just walk up to an unknown car like that.  They had to really dumb her down to get that scene.

 

On 4/30/2022 at 7:45 AM, Badlands said:

Well, that was really disappointing. I don't understand why they'd have an ending that most people won't like. I don't buy that they were staying true to the show. Ruth survived impossible situations before, so why not this time? Many evil people died on the show and many evil people survived. 

Jonah shooting the PI at the end wasn't particularly interesting. He wasn't even the first (or second) person he wanted to shoot. He should have at least told him to put down the ashes before he shot him. Now poor Ben is probably blowing in the Ozark wind.

I get that the Byrde's couldn't as much as gesture toward Ruth or their kids would be in jeopardy, but they could have simply called her during the time when they were out of sight and nobody would have known (or to protect themselves further, called Rachel and had her tell Ruth).

I enjoyed this season up until the last ten minutes.

 

On 5/1/2022 at 1:38 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

The PI showing up and having Ben's ashes after breaking into the Byrd's home was a weak point for me. 

Mostly because his loyalty to chasing the case made no sense, and worse, once you let yourself be bought, you can't regain the moral high ground. He knows the Byrds are in the cartel and that they consistently "make things happen" to people. He knows that they had the power to wipe out a drug charge and get him reinstated. He's a cop - a reinstated cop - so he has to know that *breaking into their house and stealing Ben's ashes* makes Ben's ashes as evidence inadmissible.

Also, maybe I am over thinking this but didn't the Byrds install a massive, super loud alarm system after Darlene etc got into the habit of breaking into the house?

 

On 5/1/2022 at 2:19 PM, cdnalor said:

I'd rather think that Jonah shot the cookie jar, scattering the ashes, and then they chased the PI away while they cleaned up the ashes.

Totally out of character for Ruth to just walk up to that vehicle empty-handed after everything that's happened on this show.  She would have either u-turned out of there, dropping f-bombs all the way, or marched into her trailer to get the shotgun like she's done so many times.

That deep into it, there's no way the Byrdes are getting free of anything.  At best, it's a temporary respite until the cartel or the FBI want something else.

A disappointing finale, in my opinion.

 

 

 

 

On 5/3/2022 at 1:03 PM, Anela said:

All of that crap about "you know how she is" when it came to the kids wanting their dad to leave Wendy, and then they're all cool with it, and joining in? I'm so pissed.

I'm also pissed that the PI ended up doing something I hoped he would do, and then he waited around to explain in great detail, what he planned to do with it. I thought about the evidence being *right there*, so take the damn thing, or get a warrant, don't tell them, like the villain in a stupid book or movie.

Good, God! 

If the PI was back on drugs then his actions MIGHT make sense. 

However, to be so stupid to break into the house and just hang around with the cookie jar to give a lecture on morality was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. 

Not to mention all the other stupid things from this season like gee, I am sure Javi's mother is totally okay with Omar killing her son...those are just the breaks.

The worst thing a show can do is have such a terrible final season that you wonder why the Hell you invested your time in the first place.

I think the Jump The Shark moment was when Darlene blew Frank Jr's balls off and not even his father cared.

Little did I know that this signaled the beginning of the writing going totally downhill.

I also wanted to add that Wyatt was no innocent victim. He knew what Darlene was like and how unstable she was but was perfectly willing to be her boy toy and even help her adopt an innocent child.

Edited May 10, 2022 by qtpye

[Haleth]

I'm sad that Ruth died.  After killing both Javi and Nelson she should have been more cautious than to walk around her property with a big, black SUV idling in the driveway.  It was reckless.  But the early scenes with her reminiscing about all her dead relatives was a sure sign it wasn't going to go well with her.

I'm sad Wendy and Marty didn't get caught up in all their scheming.  As someone above mentioned, like The Americans I guess it's a new tradition of the bad guys getting away, but at a price.  Not surprised Jonah ended up corrupted, but sort of surprised he killed Mel for his parents.  

Ok, my take will be that 3 of the family actually died in the car crash and the 4th (Wendy or Marty) is in a coma hallucinating everything that happened afterward.  Ruth is fine, swimming in her new pool.  Mel is fine, policing in Chicago.  (After that horrendous crash, they all walked away without a scratch?  Really?  And no one witnessing it stopped or called the police?)

Or maybe Jonah shot Wendy instead.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 5/7/2022 at 3:27 PM, Zonk said:

I mean we heard the shot. Jona shot his ass dead. Serves him right for coming to the Byrds to gloat instead of actually getting that evidence to the authorities.

Though if he had, nothing would have come off it anyway. So Ruth had Ben's ashes. That doesn't proof the Byrds killed him, if anything it points to Ruth. Obsessive Ex kills her boyfriend because he wants to leave her and keeps his ashes so he has to be with her forever. The story practivally writes itself.

The trouble with Ruth as a suspect in killing Ben is she doesn't really have motive, means or opportunity. The motive of her being an obsessive ex driven to murder doesn't really fit with what her demeanor is or the known facts of the situation. But even conceding that for discussion's sake that hypothetically she could be an obsessive, murderous ex, she definitely did not have the means or opportunity to kill Ben and to have him cremated without anyone keeping any record of it.

Mel has at least some proof on the following:

• Wendy and the Byrdes are involved in the cartel,
• Ben had been spouting off about the affiliation with the cartel.
• Cartels don't like it when someone spouts off about them
• Ben and Wendy were on a road trip just before Ben's disappearance.
• Wendy suddenly disappears during this road trip
• Ben was last seen with a cartel hitman
• Wendy has lied repeatedly and publicly as to when/how she last saw Ben.
• Ben was cremated
• The Byrdes own a crematorium

Is the above proof beyond a reasonable doubt of the Byrdes' involvement? Probably not.. Would it likely win a wrongful death suit against the Byrdes at the lower level of proof of preponderance of the evidence? Probably, along with more evidence developed in discovery for a civil trial.

It is possible that Ruth worked in concert with the Byrdes, but the notion that the Byrdes are completely innocent is farfetched. 

On 5/7/2022 at 5:22 PM, endure said:

And wouldn’t Camilla know that she needed Ruth too 

Camilla doesn't really need Ruth, especially as long as she has Marty to do the laundering. 

Hell, she doesn't technically need the casino to launder money. It's just a very efficient way to do it that all things considered she'd probably be wise not to mess with.

But blood is blood, and is more important than mere money. So it'd be totally plausible to me that even if killing Ruth were a disadvantageous move financially, Camilla might still be "I don't care. Bitch killed my son and has to pay."

On 5/8/2022 at 1:46 PM, CaptainE said:

Let’s add the gargantuan plot hole of a cartel leader captured, televised all over the planet.   This would be followed by the press until the trial.  The trial would be big news.  In Ozarkland, however, the druglord tries to escape, while being transferred by two dudes.  Transferred where?  On who’s authority?  And is shot after he shot one guard.   Believable?  The Ozarkland FBI was willing to go along with this?

Also, Javi’s mother having more pull than her brother re: prison shankings rings hollow.  He had eyes everywhere even on the kids in the mausoleum with the shotgun.  Doesn’t add up.  As soon as he knew his sis was behind everything, he’d make the call to end her.  His henchman (who was shot) would not have been doing Wendy’s bidding, scaring whatsherface.  No way, no how.  That’s fantasy.

Omar is killed before the trial. While Omar is incarcerated awaiting trial, there's not all that much for the press to follow. There's nothing to say that the death of Omar isn't big news. Where he's being transferred doesn't really matter. Among the plausible reasons for a transfer is that there was already one attempt on Omar's life at the prison he was at. If we accept the premise that the highest ranks of the FBI are corrupt, I'm sure they could fake a few more, and that they would go along with the "shot while trying to escape" narrative. All the Ozarkland FBI cares about is that they can semi-regularly make million dollar seizures and come off as heroes in the war against drugs. Turning the other way when a druglord (or even a prison guard) is murdered is in this FBI's wheelhouse.

Camilla having more pull than her incarcerated brother who may or may not be an FBI rat seems pretty plausible to me. Omar has limited access to the outside, mainly through Camilla, Marty and Wendy. As soon as he pieced things together that Camilla was responsible for the attempt on his life, he told Wendy and Marty to call a number to have Camilla taken care of. Omar could not control that Marty and Wendy simply refused to do so. 

On 5/8/2022 at 2:14 PM, cpcathy said:

My husband and I discussed the finale at length (we don’t have kids, what else are we going to talk about?) I was okay with the finale at first, but then I thought what was the point of the ambiguity? Setting up for a sequel, a Sopranos ripoff? Why not just give the fans what they want? Was the shock supposed to be that we didn’t get the Byrds’ deaths? 
I thought they could have ended with a little cheery, ironic shot of the Byrds back in Chicago, enjoying lunch in their house, then Marty looks out the window and is visibly concerned. There’s nothing out there, but someday there might be….

My husband took it one step further, and had the same scene, except a sniper gets Wendy and Marty. 

I thought that with the name drops to Portillo's (a real Chicagoland chain restaurant that has now expanded to other states. It is known for taking a piece of chocolate cake and blending it into a shake as well as Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago-style hot dogs and other delights), that they were going to close out in such a restaurant. 

But ending with a scene of people eating would be too like the Soprano's. (Not to mention they would have to film the stars on location in a pandemic.)

On 5/8/2022 at 3:50 PM, IslandGirl said:

I rewound several times attempting to hear the goat cookie jar shatter, but never could. Maybe my TV and/or hearing is bad, but I also wondered for a minute if Jonah committed matricide. I suppose he killed the cheesy film noire detective, but I still don’t get why the shattering cookie jar was inaudible (assuming it was)…

I think the scene/series closed too immediately after the shot for either the cookie jar to have been hit, or for Mel to have dropped it and it to have hit the ground to shatter. 

[EllaWycliffe]

11 hours ago, qtpye said:

I think the Jump The Shark moment was when Darlene blew Frank Jr's balls off and not even his father cared.

Darlene blew Frank Jr.s *penis* off :)

Lets be accurate ;)

[TVbitch]

Of course, Wendy wins. She gets the kids back, gets Marty's love back (which I didn't buy seeing as he just recently wanted to punch her face in), gets a final power play over her dad, survives the car accident, and smirks as her son kills the pesky PI loose end. Ugh, I hate Wendy!!!!

The car accident was so left field and bizarre that for a moment, I also thought Wendy was the only one who survived and was dreaming the magical happy ending. If it wasn't going to be something like that, they should have just omitted that stupid red herring. 

The finale could have been easily saved for me if only when Jonah comes out with the gun, and Wendy is smugly smirking, we see a micro-expression of realization, dread and horror flash across her face. Laura Linney could have pulled that off expertly, but no. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by TVbitch

[Rootbeer]

On 5/7/2022 at 4:49 PM, Zonk said:

 

The pharma-lady said the Byrds didn't know and Camila seems to have bought it. Which seems contrived, but whatever...

 

But the Byrds themselves told Camila that her brother ordered the hit.  After all was said and done, Camila knew that wasn't true.

[EllaWycliffe]

1 hour ago, TVbitch said:

The car accident was so left field and bizarre that for a moment, I also thought Wendy was the only one who survived and was dreaming the magical happy ending. If it wasn't going to be something like that, they should have just omitted that stupid red herring. 

Agreed but here's how it works if they had done it right.

Everyone is fine after the accident. We get to the moment Jonah takes the shot. Blackness.

Then Wendy opens her eyes in the hospital to find out it was some sort of cartel hit, the FBI - preferably  the original crazy as fuck gay FBI agent who hated her - tells her that her entire family is dead from the hit. 

[CaptainE]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

 

Camilla having more pull than her incarcerated brother who may or may not be an FBI rat seems pretty plausible to me. Omar has limited access to the outside, mainly through Camilla, Marty and Wendy. As soon as he pieced things together that Camilla was responsible for the attempt on his life, he told Wendy and Marty to call a number to have Camilla taken care of. Omar could not control that Marty and Wendy simply refused to do so. 

Omar had plenty of pull.  He knew where the kids were, so he was in contact with the outside.   Again, his sister wasn’t in charge long enough to have as many contacts in the US as Omar.  
The FBI running a Mexican cartel?  We’re debating fantasy.

[Chicago Redshirt]

3 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

But the Byrds themselves told Camila that her brother ordered the hit.  After all was said and done, Camila knew that wasn't true.

There are at least two possibilities that could occur to Camilla:

1. The Byrdes had no idea who actually killed Javi and were just following Omar's orders to tell her that Omar ordered the hit.

2. The Byrdes knew very well who killed Javi, and played along when Omar wanted to claim he did it. 

2 hours ago, CaptainE said:

Omar had plenty of pull.  He knew where the kids were, so he was in contact with the outside.   Again, his sister wasn’t in charge long enough to have as many contacts in the US as Omar.  
The FBI running a Mexican cartel?  We’re debating fantasy.

That Omar has enough outside influence to know where the kids are doesn't necessarily mean that he has more influence than Camilla after his incarceration. It seems common sense to me that she would. All of Omar's men in general are going to have less to fear as to reprisals from Omar while he's locked up. Omar repeatedly said that if anyone suspected that he turned rat, they would kill him. Well, he turned rat. Not to mention that at least some people were presumably ready to back Javi and don't like the notion that Omar claims to have wacked him. Not to mention that Omar put a couple of gringos in charge. Not to mention that Camilla was given the blessing to run the day to day things. Omar's contacts for the most part would seamlessly become Camilla's contacts.

As to the FBI running the cartel effectively, that's what the show presented as the case.

[SnarkAttack]

12 hours ago, Haleth said:

I'm sad that Ruth died.  After killing both Javi and Nelson she should have been more cautious than to walk around her property with a big, black SUV idling in the driveway.  It was reckless.  But the early scenes with her reminiscing about all her dead relatives was a sure sign it wasn't going to go well with her.

I'm sad Wendy and Marty didn't get caught up in all their scheming.  As someone above mentioned, like The Americans I guess it's a new tradition of the bad guys getting away, but at a price.  Not surprised Jonah ended up corrupted, but sort of surprised he killed Mel for his parents.  

Ok, my take will be that 3 of the family actually died in the car crash and the 4th (Wendy or Marty) is in a coma hallucinating everything that happened afterward.  Ruth is fine, swimming in her new pool.  Mel is fine, policing in Chicago.  (After that horrendous crash, they all walked away without a scratch?  Really?  And no one witnessing it stopped or called the police?)

Or maybe Jonah shot Wendy instead.

I thought the PI WAS on drugs in that scene, I got that impression.

I thought Ruth seeing her relatives was a way for the show to let them take a bow since it was the finale.

I love Jason Bateman, but he just wasn't believable acting like a boss in Mexico.  I thought maybe we'd see a different side of him, but no.

[CaptainE]

8 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Omar put a couple of gringos in charge. Not to mention that Camilla was given the blessing to run the day to day things. Omar's contacts for the most part would seamlessly become Camilla's contacts.

As to the FBI running the cartel effectively, that's what the show presented as the case.

Yes, Omar put gringos in charge, and everyone followed Marty, including torture and murder.  Because of Omar.  Who was locked up.

FBI part is still fantasy.  That what the show is.  I am just not one to handwave away bs.  I prefer realistic writing, most viewers want drama and family stories without having to think too much, and that’s ok too.

Edited May 11, 2022 by CaptainE

[millennium]

I've been watching Jason Bateman since It's Your Move.  I thought he was great as Marty Byrd.  So much excellent acting on this show.   Julia Garner, Laura Linney, Peter Mullan, Lisa Emery, Tom Pelphrey, Richard Thomas, the Navarro siblings (Camila was chilling even before she threatened Clare) ... wow.

The ending ... I can take it or leave it.  I wasn't offended by it.   It worked in the context of what has gone before.  Shame about Ruth.   Like everybody else I questioned why she would approach that car armed with nothing more than a pair of strappy heels.  For a moment I thought Camila might see the steel inside her and let her live out of respect for another badass woman but I suppose that would have been a cliche.

The only characters I never warmed up to were the Byrd kids.   I didn't like Jonah at all.  He came across as a sociopath throughout the whole series.  Charlotte was just meh.

I guess I'm in the minority because I liked Wendy Byrd (I also liked Skylar White so maybe there's a pattern).   Hope Lisa Linney takes a good long rest after this.  Ozark seems to have aged her before her time.

I'll miss this show.  

 

[qtpye]

A good break down of why this season was terrible including all the plot holes. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I didn't think Marty did so good as the cartel boss when he went down there. I thought that was the point. Camila ran circles around him, and he killed the wrong guy. Then he spent the entire time auditing everyone. Which he is good at. 

[Andre LaPlume]

If the point of the ending is that they finally corrupted their youngest child, why not show it?    The reactions of Marty and Wendy would have been meaningful as well.    You’re telling a story, show us how it ends

[DoctorAtomic]

To be fair, we did get Marty's reaction before the shot. Jonah was done before he took the shot. 

[NUguy514]

So, that finale, especially post-car crash?

And that's all the effort I'm putting into it since that's roughly the same amount of effort the writers put into it.

[qtpye]

All I got from the car crash is that the Byrds are covered in plot armor and therefore will always win, even if all their decisions are stupid.

[Raja]

16 minutes ago, qtpye said:

All I got from the car crash is that the Byrds are covered in plot armor and therefore will always win, even if all their decisions are stupid.

I still think that since so many shows end with a big character death an episode before the end they attempted to flip expectations by teasing Wendy's death with the entire episode left

[Kiddvideo]

I think teasing the car wreck was a really lazy trailer to keep people watching the entire S4. It wasn’t even connected to the story, just a random event to make them realize what was important in their lives…like drug dealing, and money laundering, and turning their teens into killers.

Edited May 14, 2022 by Kiddvideo

[IslandGirl]

On 5/13/2022 at 5:22 PM, Kiddvideo said:

I think teasing the car wreck was a really lazy trailer to keep people watching the entire S4. It wasn’t even connected to the story, just a random event to make them realize what was important in their lives…like drug dealing, and money laundering, and turning their teens into killers.

I basically agree with you, except I think it was connected to the story in that when it looked like Wendy was killed in the crash, Jonah at that moment was supposed to have had an epiphany (which was kinda’ corny/cheesy) where he realized he did actually love his mother…

[kn51]

One hell of an efficient government they have in that neck of the woods.  Let's see, Ruth got her record expunged, she settled some legal/probate issues, and got a casino license in less time than it takes me to renew my license plates by mail.

Lazy writing all around besides all that.  I know you have to suspend disbelief, but c'mon.

[Bluesky]

On 4/30/2022 at 11:22 AM, tomsmom said:

I liked the end. The whole reason Marty and Wendy did everything they did was to get out of that life and go legit and that’s what happened. 

I hoped Ruth would make it out but unfortunately she had to pay for Javi, just like Javi did for Wyatt.

At at least one point they could have escaped, they had it all set, new identities, everything, then Wendy got greedy and power hungry.   Every episode she became more ruthless and didn’t care who got killed.   Every episode Marty got stupider and stupider with his passiveness.   
Especially dumb was the boy went from having nothing but contempt for his mother to murdering someone to protect her role in her brother’s death.  
It’s a cliche ending to have criminal parent’s formerly sweet kids become just like their parents.