S01.E01: Sugarwood

[biakbiak]

Quote

 After his business partner cheats a dangerous client, financial adviser Marty must devise a radical plan to save the lives of himself and his family.

 

[biakbiak]

I thought this episode could have been tightened up and combined with the second episode into one hour but I will continue to watch.

[Guest]

This had a very Breaking Bad feel to it, to me.  I hope the tension isn't as high each episode.  

I love Jason Bateman in this.  Good for him for being EP and director.  I think he was underutilized being the straight man in Arrested Development.  

[Azgard12]

I completely agree that this feels like Breaking Bad.

I felt somewhat lukewarm toward the first episode.  I mean, I want to keep watching, but if this show somehow were to disappear from my queue, I wouldn't go searching for it.  I'm on for episode two.

[ethalfrida]

2 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

This had a very Breaking Bad feel to it, to me.  I hope the tension isn't as high each episode.  

I love Jason Bateman in this.  Good for him for being EP and director.  I think he was underutilized being the straight man in Arrested Development.  

I was thinking a cross between Ray Donovan and Breaking Bad when I first watched this episode. But now it is way more Breasking Bad.

35 minutes ago, Azgard12 said:

I completely agree that this feels like Breaking Bad.

I felt somewhat lukewarm toward the first episode.  I mean, I want to keep watching, but if this show somehow were to disappear from my queue, I wouldn't go searching for it.  I'm on for episode two.

I had to rewatch this episode because like others I wasn't following the storyline. It takes a minute sometimes. But then after the second time I just went ahead to the next one because I still didn't feel it. But I like it a lot and feel like it is binge-able.

[PsychoDrone]

This show does have a Breaking Bad feel to it, but it does separate itself from that show.  The one thing that is irritating me is the daughter.  First episode and I'm already tired of seeing the rebellious, screw-my-parents/sibling attitude.  She redeems herself somewhat in the end, but if this will be her character, then the cartel kingpin can take her out first.  Put her out of the audience's misery.  Not sure why, but Hollywood portrays teenage girls like that too often.  It's cliche and ridiculous to see.  Regardless, I'm intrigued and will finish this out.  Cartel kingpin is real about his business, which should make this very interesting.

Edited August 1, 2017 by PsychoDrone

[Cheezwiz]

I kind of thought this might be a warmed over Breaking Bad, but I like Jason Bateman & Laura Linney, so I decided to give it a try.

It was a pretty slow start, but I got into it about halfway through once Bateman's associates were wiped out. The actor who plays the Mexican Cartel kingpin was really excellent - he's one of the things that kept me watching. The scramble to accumulate the cash and move house was suspenseful, although I don't know how realistic it was. I'm unclear on the police investigation - it seems they were bugging Bateman's partner, and hoping to nab the kingpin as a govt witness? Wouldn't they be hot on Bateman's trail? I was a bit confused by that bit. Even if the family managed to get new identities in that short time-frame, it seems someone would have caught up with them for questioning at the very least.

It will be interesting to see how the marriage dynamic plays out - and how similar it will be to Breaking Bad. It's going to be hard for this show to escape those comparisons, but so far I'm liking it. I actually thought Linney's side-dish was supposed to be her father at first!

 

3 hours ago, PsychoDrone said:

The one thing that is irritating me is the daughter.  First episode and I'm already tired of seeing the rebellious, screw-my-parents/sibling attitude.  She redeems herself somewhat in the end, but if this will be her character, then the cartel kingpin can take her out first.  

Agreed about the bratty teenage daughter - I was over her within the first 5 minutes or so. I hope she doesn't spend the rest of the series bitching and whining.

[iMonrey]

I guess Breaking Bad is the "go-to" of stories about ordinary suburban dads turning out to be criminals tied into the drug world, but any resemblance between Ozark and Breaking Bad stops there. This show doesn't have any of the charm or tongue-in-cheek humor of Breaking Bad. So far it's a relentless stream of angst and drama without the levity to break it up. Sure Jason Bateman brings a certain amount of charm to almost any character he plays but the story itself is a total downer so far. It's an intriguing story, I guess, but it's more Scarface than Breaking Bad, tonally. 

[Cheezwiz]

I was lazy and didn't IMDB while watching episode 1. Wow, I didn't even realize the kingpin was portrayed by Esai Morales. He's been in tons of things over the years going all the way back to La Bamba in the 80's, but I didn't recognize him - I found him riveting in this.

[Juliegirlj]

Loved Justin Bateman in this, but Laura Linney seemed like she was phoning it in, and they have very little chemistry together. 

I know I am nitpicking, but to pack up all your belongings, put your house on the market, sell a car, and liquidate all your assets in 48 hours, and still have time for a leasurely morning at home making scrambled eggs??????!!!! 

I was glad the friend/partner actually felt compelled to convince the cartel guy that Bateman's character had nothing to do with any of it. 

I was hoping they would let the teen girl stay in Chicago with a friend to graduate there. She is annoying. 

[AllyB]

On 8/1/2017 at 6:23 PM, iMonrey said:

I guess Breaking Bad is the "go-to" of stories about ordinary suburban dads turning out to be criminals tied into the drug world, but any resemblance between Ozark and Breaking Bad stops there. This show doesn't have any of the charm or tongue-in-cheek humor of Breaking Bad. So far it's a relentless stream of angst and drama without the levity to break it up. Sure Jason Bateman brings a certain amount of charm to almost any character he plays but the story itself is a total downer so far. It's an intriguing story, I guess, but it's more Scarface than Breaking Bad, tonally. 

This times 1000. I just don't care about the characters and their ever increasing difficulty and danger is starting to feel relentlessly boring rather than stressful.

[KaleyFirefly]

On 7/31/2017 at 11:25 PM, PsychoDrone said:

This show does have a Breaking Bad feel to it, but it does separate itself from that show.  The one thing that is irritating me is the daughter.  First episode and I'm already tired of seeing the rebellious, screw-my-parents/sibling attitude.  She redeems herself somewhat in the end, but if this will be her character, then the cartel kingpin can take her out first.  Put her out of the audience's misery.  Not sure why, but Hollywood portrays teenage girls like that too often.  It's cliche and ridiculous to see.  Regardless, I'm intrigued and will finish this out.  Cartel kingpin is real about his business, which should make this very interesting.

I know! The teen girl is super annoying.

[Jolie]

 I just finished the first episode last night, and I really enjoyed it. Maybe because Marty's frugality reminds me of my husband. I had to laugh at some of the things that came out of his mouth because he was singing our family song. Anyway, despite the similarities to Breaking Bad (and let's face it, no show will really compare favorably with the original concept which was really a masterpiece of storytelling), Ozark has potential to be really good on its own merit. I'm looking forward to episode two.

[viamber]

Ok, the daughter looked EXTREMELY androgynous to me. A mixture of Cate and Claire. Wouldn't it have been interesting to have her be in transition from male to female? And have the conversation be "Mom! I can't leave town! What about my appointments? My hormone treatments?"  And she looked waaayyy older than 15!

[AuntiePam]

I'm just halfway through the first installment, but I'm in.  I especially liked the fantasy sequence -- which I should have realized was fantasy when the hooker said "Try not to come too fast".  Has any hooker ever asked that of a customer? 

[Paloma]

On 9/3/2017 at 9:01 AM, Jolie said:

I just finished the first episode last night, and I really enjoyed it. Maybe because Marty's frugality reminds me of my husband.

His frugality reminds me of myself, and I also laughed out loud at his wife's recitation of her exciting day--shopping for groceries, Costco, etc. That describes my typical day, too (though I also do freelance work from home), and I always feel like I accomplished so much when I get several errands done. Anyway, I liked the reality of this normal, if boring, married couple having to deal with this sudden danger and having to leave everything behind to start again in an unfamiliar environment while being in constant fear of their lives. The similarity to the Breaking Bad concept doesn't bother me, because this show has some unique aspects and is well written and tightly directed (although I was confused by what was going on a few times). I'm looking forward to watching the next episode.

 

On 8/3/2017 at 10:21 AM, Juliegirlj said:

Laura Linney seemed like she was phoning it in, and they have very little chemistry together. 

I think that was the point--there is no chemistry or romance anymore in their marriage, they are more like roommates than lovers.

On 7/31/2017 at 11:25 PM, PsychoDrone said:

The one thing that is irritating me is the daughter.  First episode and I'm already tired of seeing the rebellious, screw-my-parents/sibling attitude. 

Well, I've known a lot of teenage daughters with that kind of attitude, especially to their mothers, so I don't think it's unrealistic. Especially considering that they are telling her that she has to leave her home, her school, and all her friends on short notice and will be going to some place she's never heard of but in her mind has nothing she would like.

[atlantaloves]

Well I am loving the hell out of this show, and I really do not like Bateman at all, but WOW, this show is pretty damn good. I am getting ready to start episode 4 and it looks like I will be doing an all nighter binge. Hey, I'm retried so it's okay, I think Netflix was invented for we baby boomers.  Anyway, I was really surprised that the first episode got me hooked. 

[Bannon]

Very, very, derivative, poorly plotted, and really leaden dialogue. Other than that, I thought the 1st episode was great. 

To mention a few things, no, a drug kingpin doesn't tell a minion,  that the kingpin is considering for money laundering duties, to browbeat banks to produce millions in cash within 24 hours, because the drug kingpin would not want to have his launderer subjected to 24/7 physical and electronic surveillance. Watching the episode, I called the old guy gping splat on the pavement as soon as Bateman exited his car. My wife was saying lines of dialogue two lines before the actors were.

Ugh, not good at all.

[Ottis]

On 7/23/2017 at 8:48 AM, Guest said:

 I think he was underutilized being the straight man in Arrested Development.  

I don't know about underutilized. He was the center of that entire franchise, the straight man who also represented the viewer as we heard and watched, incredulous, the comments and actions of his family. At least for a while. When he started acting a bit silly it got away from that.

His character here is really just a step away from Michael Bluth. He is unflappable, and his reactions are sometimes almost comedic. You can practically see him rolling his eyes at the behavior of some of the more stereotypical characters on Ozark. What's different is his ability to think on his feet and drive toward a solution. Granted, the solution may get derailed, but he adjusts - to a far greater degree than you would assume for a middle-aged father of two who is a financial advisor. It's intriguing.

[sweetpink92]

Just wanted to say I am LOVING this show so far! My boyfriend's got me hooked on it. I wasn't completely sold by the plot until the third or fourth episode, but I'm glad I stuck it through. Still need to finish season 1 but yeah. Ozark is awesome. 😎

[kay1864]

We just started binging this. How did Del know about Wendy’s lover, and where he lived? Did they just follow Wendy from the bank? Or from her house, as insurance?

She seemed remarkably composed for someone who just had their lover killed and tossed over the balcony.

[Raja]

On 5/10/2020 at 10:31 PM, kay1864 said:

We just started binging this. How did Del know about Wendy’s lover, and where he lived? Did they just follow Wendy from the bank? Or from her house, as insurance?

She seemed remarkably composed for someone who just had their lover killed and tossed over the balcony.

The Cartel knows everything about their assets 

[scrb]

I thought when Marty kept watching that surveillance video of Wendy having sex with Sugarwood, while Wendy was on the other side of his laptop, that this show was something else.

Then of course he's summoned to the warehouse.

Even then it wasn't immediately clear that Marty was in on the money laundering but not the skimming thing.  Then Marty said Del was pulling a ruse, basically challenging if he was for real about threatening people.

Then Del just shot repeatedly into the bathroom until you heard the thud and started to execute them, then made Marty realize he planned to kill Wendy too.

He thinks the Lake of the Ozark (which is just in the news because of the big gathering there over the weekend, when people ignored all precautions for avoiding coronavirus infection) idea is bullshit but decided he would spare Marty until he checked it out.

At the end of the episode, Del tells him he didn't know if they'd stolen money from him but he found out the partner did something because he was uncharacteristically quiet.

Also tells Marty to launder the $8 million, to prove he can do it in this new area.

Lot of good and unexpected turns.

Have there really been that many BB wannabes or copycat shows?  Because I can't think of any that I've seen, about the main character having to do something under extreme duress and discover things he didn't know he was capable of, especially when it comes to criminality.

 

[AZChristian]

8 hours ago, scrb said:

I thought when Marty kept watching that surveillance video of Wendy having sex with Sugarwood, while Wendy was on the other side of his laptop, that this show was something else.

If I'm not mistaken, he had a couple of financial advisor clients on the other side of his desk, not Wendy.

[scrb]

That's where he first watched it.

Then later in the evening, he was watching on his laptop and Wendy was on the other side of his laptop watching something on an iPad or something.

Then she put iPad away, was going to bed, and they had a brief conversation, while the video was still open on his laptop screen.

[SlovakPrincess]

Trying to binge watch this now that it's ending.   Um ... is the whole thing gonna have the weird blue filter on it?  

Poor Sugarwood ... I mean Gary.  Although apparently he and Wendy were a-ok with clearing out the bank account and leaving old Marty out of luck!  

Marty and Wendy are horrifically toxic as a couple.  And now they're stuck with each other.  Yikes.  The kids are kinda annoying, but they never had a chance with these parents.  

I died laughing when Marty started watching the video at work ... when it was clearly labeled not safe for work.  I assume the private investigator sent that to him, as proof of Wendy's affair? 

Marty's gotta be at least kind of sociopathic to have gotten started with the cartel in the first place.  And even with people getting murdered around him, he was remarkably clear headed.  I dunno about this guy, man ... but interesting to see Jason Bateman in this kind of role.  

Edited May 6, 2022 by SlovakPrincess