WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Ozark season 2
The Ozark season two finale was called Gold Coast and saw Marty Byrde (played by Jason Bateman) formulating a complex plan to get himself and his family out of Missouri and into the relative safety of Australia.
But his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) threw a monumental and potentially life-saving spanner in the works after she revealed that it wasn’t safe to leave town.
Shortly before Wendy broke the news to Marty in the final scene of the second run, she was seen having a conversation with Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer).
Helen was praising Wendy for her impressive lobbying skills and getting the local senators and businesses onside to get the bill passed on another casino in the state amid staunch opposition.
She also issued a warning to Wendy, who’d asked her for a deadly favour which is likely to have huge ramifications in any following seasons.
Helen told Wendy: “Your whole body changes, the way you smell, your reflection, how you feel when your husband touches you.”
It later emerged that Wendy had struck a deal with Helen and the Navarro Cartel to bump of the troublesome Cade Langmore (Trevor Long).
Cade was proving to be a thorn in the Byrdes’ side after he kept constantly trying to find their stash of money and even destroyed a load of coffins in the funeral parlour in his futile attempt to locate the cash.
Helen was referring to Wendy ordering the killing of Cade, which was a massive thing and shows a huge shift in her character.
Speaking to Thrillist about the moment, Ozark writer Chris Mundy said: “Obviously, for Marty and Wendy, it’s big just because Wendy crossed a line I don’t think either of them thought they would cross.
“There’s the little scene that Wendy and Helen Pierce, the cartel lawyer, have where she’s basically saying to her, If you do what you’re asking me to do, you’re going to change forever.”
He continued: “That’s going to be a huge thing, and it’s going to be part of their marriage now as well.”
Ozark has been compared by many fans to Breaking Bad due to its story involving ordinary folk becoming hardened criminals and in season two the parallels continued.
Many previously suggested that Marty was the Walter White of Ozark, however following Wendy’s major tactical manoeuvres in season two, it’s been hinted that she is actually the one who’s breaking bad rather than her husband.
Netflix has yet to confirm season three of Ozark but judging from Mundy’s quotes, this story thread is going to continue with her character development into a tough criminal mastermind.
Speaking about the deaths set to affect Wendy the most as the story continues, Mundy said: “In terms of the significance, I actually think it’ll be Mason’s.
“It really was the emotional linchpin of the season for us.
“We talked about the season going from this place of Marty being completely able to compartmentalize everything and Wendy being much more emotional about things, to, after that death, Wendy being able to compartmentalize and Marty, suddenly, not being able to compartmentalize.”
He added: “So it had a huge impact on the season, but as for the way we think of the Byrdes going forward, Mason’s death is also the one that’s going to echo the longest.”
Ozark season 1 & 2 are available to watch on Netflix now
