S01.E02: Blue Cat

[biakbiak]

Quote

 In the Ozarks, Marty struggles to find a local business he can use for money laundering, while his kids make new friends but neglect a crucial duty.

 

[veronicalodge44]

two episodes in and i'm starting to dig this show.  i like that it contains unexpected swerves within its genre parameters and as an inheritor of the breaking bad mold.  love the cinematography.  the acting is solid, and i especially enjoyed how a different, shared past was evident in the scene between marty and wendy, where you could tell, despite the current circumstances and tension, that at one time there was love between them and it's still buried under there somewhere.  i look forward to seeing that explored more in coming episodes.  

two things that are slightly annoying, though: 1) they didn't film this in the actual ozarks, but in georgia, and a memphian who grew up going to the ozarks on vacation, i can definitely tell the difference and 2) so far, almost all of the locals are portrayed with the 'redneck' factor ramped up to eleventy.  would be nice to have a little more nuance, or at least to have the lighter, more comedic moments not so often reliant on stereotypes of southerners from this area. 

[wait.what]

I wish more were watching this so I could ask questions. Haha

[Whimsy]

25 minutes ago, wait.what said:

I wish more were watching this so I could ask questions. Haha

Just started watching. Hopefully it'll pick up viewers 

[pfk505]

Not too bad.. liked it more than I thought I would. Bateman's character has some balls. Hate the blue filter, but I guess we're stuck with it. Curious to see where this goes but the first two episodes were good enough to hook me for the rest.

[Cupcake04]

13 hours ago, wait.what said:

I wish more were watching this so I could ask questions. Haha

 

13 hours ago, wait.what said:

I wish more were watching this so I could ask questions. Haha

Me too!  I watched 7 eps last night and came here to talk about them and no one is here.....yet, hopefully!

I love me some Jason Bateman and he is delivering for sure. Love Laura Linney character too. Not sure about Charlotte though....she looks way older than 15 to me....so much so it is distracting.  

[Azgard12]

19 hours ago, veronicalodge44 said:

they didn't film this in the actual ozarks, but in georgia, and a memphian who grew up going to the ozarks on vacation, i can definitely tell the difference and 2) so far, almost all of the locals are portrayed with the 'redneck' factor ramped up to eleventy.  would be nice to have a little more nuance, or at least to have the lighter, more comedic moments not so often reliant on stereotypes of southerners from this area. 

Absolutely agree that you can tell that it isn't the Ozarks.  I live fairly close and have been many times, and it feels actually less nature-y than the Ozarks are.

However, I think the portrayal of the non-tourist people is a bit spot-on.  They always seem to be excessively bored with a dislike of outsiders.  You'll still hear slurs like the r-word or the f-word.

[AladdinSane]

'Ozark' in this instance is referring to be 'Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri ' hence the comment of 'more shoreline than the coast of Cali'. Here is the wiki link and it damn sure has a LOT of shoreline.

I am liking this show /Jason Bateman but hate it whenever it features a member of the 'Langmore' clan. All are too stupid to live, except the 'wise beyond her years 19yo daughter'.  

Edited July 23, 2017 by AladdinSane

[DoubleUTeeEff]

20 hours ago, veronicalodge44 said:

2) so far, almost all of the locals are portrayed with the 'redneck' factor ramped up to eleventy.  would be nice to have a little more nuance, or at least to have the lighter, more comedic moments not so often reliant on stereotypes of southerners from this area. 

That one Langmore boy with the fivehead likes to read. The woman who owns the Blue Cat just seems southern rather than redneck. But yes, the rest of the Langmores are pretty damn redneck. There are more characters coming up who aren't redneck, too.

13 hours ago, pfk505 said:

Hate the blue filter, but I guess we're stuck with it.

People were talking about how Bloodline was poorly lit, but this show! Yikes.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

At least we get some daytime outdoor scenes of the fake Ozarks.

Edited July 23, 2017 by DoubleUTeeEff

[preeya]

Just found out that Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) was a contestant on season #1 of Masterchef Junior.

[Negritude]

So...nobody's gonna talk about the very pregnant stripper lol. She looked like her water was about to break right there on the stage. Talk about making it rain.

[luna1122]

21 minutes ago, Negritude said:

So...nobody's gonna talk about the very pregnant stripper lol. She looked like her water was about to break right there on the stage. Talk about making it rain.

I just laughed out loud, literally. Yeah, that.

I love the name the Blue Cat Lodge. It's very David Lynch-ian.

[knaankos]

On 7/23/2017 at 6:58 AM, Cupcake04 said:

 

Me too!  I watched 7 eps last night and came here to talk about them and no one is here.....yet, hopefully!

I love me some Jason Bateman and he is delivering for sure. Love Laura Linney character too. Not sure about Charlotte though....she looks way older than 15 to me....so much so it is distracting.  

 

Believe me you aren't the only one distracted. The actress is 18 though, which makes me feel better about myself. 

[paulvdb]

According to IMDB she turned 18 on June 1, so she would have been 17 when this was filmed. I'm not sure exactly when it was filmed, but I know enough about production schedules to know that they could not have started filming after her 18th birthday and have 10 episodes ready less than 2 months later.

This makes her young compared to other tv teens who are often portrayed by actors in their twenties.

[Cupcake04]

14 hours ago, knaankos said:

 

Believe me you aren't the only one distracted. The actress is 18 though, which makes me feel better about myself. 

Wow....i am shocked she is only 18! I thought for sure she was in her mid 20s!  Thanks for looking that up for my lazy ass!. lol

[EtheltoTillie]

19 hours ago, paulvdb said:

According to IMDB she turned 18 on June 1, so she would have been 17 when this was filmed. I'm not sure exactly when it was filmed, but I know enough about production schedules to know that they could not have started filming after her 18th birthday and have 10 episodes ready less than 2 months later.

This makes her young compared to other tv teens who are often portrayed by actors in their twenties.

Yes and there's an example right here. Ruth plays Kimmy on the Americans and is supposed to be 15 or 16 on that show. The actress is in her 20s. 

[hincandenza]

On 7/25/2017 at 6:52 PM, GussieK said:

Yes and there's an example right here. Ruth plays Kimmy on the Americans and is supposed to be 15 or 16 on that show. The actress is in her 20s. 

Aha, THAT is where I know her from.  I was thinking I'd seen her before but couldn't place the face (and was too lazy to google it while watching).  Thanks for that.

[EtheltoTillie]

42 minutes ago, hincandenza said:

Aha, THAT is where I know her from.  I was thinking I'd seen her before but couldn't place the face (and was too lazy to google it while watching).  Thanks for that.

Yeah, it was driving me crazy too, so I did IMDB it.  The voice and everything else is so different.

Edited July 27, 2017 by GussieK

[Misstify]

On 7/25/2017 at 9:52 PM, GussieK said:

Yes and there's an example right here. Ruth plays Kimmy on the Americans and is supposed to be 15 or 16 on that show. The actress is in her 20s. 

Thank you! That's why she looks familiar!

I just started watching this and I think I've watched 3 episodes.  I, too, can not stand the scenes with the Langmores.  And there are a few too many moments where a character is conveniently explaining something aloud to another character for our benefit.  I'm intrigued though...and the money-laundering scheme is somewhat akin to stuff that happened in Fargo season 3, so I feel like I'm learning a lot of good lessons about not accepting investments from shady people.

[Guest]

On 7/23/2017 at 9:54 PM, preeya said:

Just found out that Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) was a contestant on season #1 of Masterchef Junior.

Wow, she's changed a lot.

http://www.buddytv.com/slideshows/junior-masterchef/meet-the-top-12-of-masterchef-junior-season-1-74235.aspx

She was supposedly 12 on that 2013-aired show and 18 now.  Unless they filmed MC two years before it aired, wouldn't she be 16 or 17 now?  Or did MC make her younger?  She reminds me a bit of the Maddie character on Nashville, though 100x less hate-able.  

I was really glad the violence level was down to non-existent this ep.  I was afraid they'd try too hard to be cutting edge and make every ep a nail biter.  I think a show needs some calmer, character developing episodes like this one.  

[Cheezwiz]

I am now fully invested. Pardon the pun.

I enjoyed both Bateman & Linney this ep - especially Linney's hilariously blunt explanation to her kids at the very end.

I'm curious to see where the relationship with their new house-mate will go. It reminded me of a funny news story I read a few months ago, where a house was put up for sale, but a condition of the sale was that the new buyer be willing to take on a mystery person who lived in the attic:

http://nationalpost.com/news/world/nightmare-house-a-mystery-tenant-a-hole-in-the-ceiling-and-the-tweet-that-started-it-all/wcm/2d36142a-1747-4d0c-957c-db28a0a39e1b

Although faux, I am enjoying the scenery - Lake Allatoona GA looks very beautiful. I guess the substitution rankles people who ARE from Lake of the Ozarks.

[Guest]

It would've made a lot more sense for Buddy to just do a reverse mortgage, and even hire an aide with that money if he didn't want to be left alone anymore.  But I'm cool with it, because I don't want to see the Byrde's live in some shithole all season.  

That attic house link above reminds me of a story... My ex-BIL and his girlfriend moved to Houston for his job and leased a house that appeared perfectly nice and normal.  After moving in they found out it was the site of some recent, gruesome child abuse, where one boy was left to live in the attic.  It must've been this one--

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/article/Teen-kept-locked-in-attic-closet-9544693.php

[Cheezwiz]

Good grief @Winston9-DT3, that is a horrifying story. I hope the kid recovers.

The story I posted turned out to have a much happier ending. They mystery person was simply an artist who was down-on-his-luck, and was allowed to stay rent free in the attic. The owner wanted him to continue living there after the house sale. He had no idea that he and the house listing had become a viral sensation until news crews showed up trying to find out his identity!

Edited August 6, 2017 by Cheezwiz

[mytmo]

On ‎7‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 11:08 AM, Negritude said:

So...nobody's gonna talk about the very pregnant stripper lol. She looked like her water was about to break right there on the stage. Talk about making it rain.

Mr. Mytmo said what the hell?  I thought it was hilarious and was pleasantly surprised this wasn't your run of the mill stripper joint T&A scene.

[AuntiePam]

On 7/22/2017 at 4:26 PM, veronicalodge44 said:

two things that are slightly annoying, though: 1) they didn't film this in the actual ozarks, but in georgia, and a memphian who grew up going to the ozarks on vacation, i can definitely tell the difference and 2) so far, almost all of the locals are portrayed with the 'redneck' factor ramped up to eleventy.  would be nice to have a little more nuance, or at least to have the lighter, more comedic moments not so often reliant on stereotypes of southerners from this area. 

The locals look like the stereotypes, but so far, most of them are smarter than what we're used to seeing.  I like that in the first two episodes, Marty wasn't able to get anyone to fall for his scheme, and he actually came out on the short end of the stick with that storage facility -- although it came in handy later.

I'm just confused about the basic premise.  Why does Del want his money laundered a second time?  Does he like playing with people?

I like that Marty told Wendy about the reason they had to leave, and that Wendy told the kids.  That ramps up the tension, and it's different from what we've seen before.  How long did it take for Walter to tell Skylar?  And Junior never did find out. 

[Diane M]

I've started watching and am enjoying so far.  This bugs me......every TV drama I've seen that has a teen-age girl has to show her as a total, unlikable brat.  Not all girls in their teens are like that, and I find this annoying.  I guess you could blame this on her parents and the way she's being raised....showing no respect for her parents, swearing at them, etc., but their son (so far) is a nice, likable boy.

[Mindthinkr]

On 6/14/2018 at 2:36 PM, Diane M said:

I've started watching and am enjoying so far.  This bugs me......every TV drama I've seen that has a teen-age girl has to show her as a total, unlikable brat.  Not all girls in their teens are like that, and I find this annoying.  I guess you could blame this on her parents and the way she's being raised....showing no respect for her parents, swearing at them, etc., but their son (so far) is a nice, likable boy.

Just began this show but I can tell you of a show where there’s a teenage girl who doesn’t have all these stereotypical behaviors...Bosch. It’s on Amazon and is a wonderful series. At the end of this last season of Bosch I loved the relationship Bosch had built with his daughter. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 12/30/2017 at 6:12 PM, AuntiePam said:

I'm just confused about the basic premise.  Why does Del want his money laundered a second time?  Does he like playing with people?

Del wanted to see if Marty could back up his smack talk about how the Ozarks were a great location to launder money, and apparently didn't care that he'd lose some percentage by cleaning it again. 

[PrePreBabylonia]

On 2017-07-24 at 11:08 AM, Negritude said:

So...nobody's gonna talk about the very pregnant stripper lol. She looked like her water was about to break right there on the stage. Talk about making it rain.

I laughed so hard when I saw her. It was the real-life version of the stripper/hooker on South Park!

On 2018-07-13 at 7:09 PM, Mindthinkr said:

Just began this show but I can tell you of a show where there’s a teenage girl who doesn’t have all these stereotypical behaviors...Bosch. It’s on Amazon and is a wonderful series. At the end of this last season of Bosch I loved the relationship Bosch had built with his daughter. 

I also liked Castle's relationship with his daughter. I actually think Charlotte isn't that bad. She goes from bratty and rude to someone that cares about her family, the highs and lows match many teenagers, from what I recall. I couldn't stand the children on Ray Donovan,  I think Charlotte and Jonah are more three dimensional.

[Ottis]

On 6/14/2018 at 12:36 PM, Diane M said:

I've started watching and am enjoying so far.  This bugs me......every TV drama I've seen that has a teen-age girl has to show her as a total, unlikable brat.  Not all girls in their teens are like that, and I find this annoying.  I guess you could blame this on her parents and the way she's being raised....showing no respect for her parents, swearing at them, etc., but their son (so far) is a nice, likable boy.

I agree this is stereotype, but also, it's a stereotype because it is often true. I think if both kids were shown as sweet and likeable, then their logical reaction to their parents apparently losing their minds, and then finding out about laundering for the cartel, would be stark, raving fear. I was hoping the show wouldn't do that, because I didn't want to see kids in constant distress. And so far it hasn't, though to get there it has made the girl bratty partially as a front to cope with what has happened to them.

Also, the daughter seems quite a bit older than her stated age of 15 to me. I don't know how old the actress is, but she could easily pass for 19 in looks and poise.