Warning: SPOILERS for Ozark season 3.
The stellar Ozark season 3 has one major flaw: it largely failed the Byrde children, Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner). The third season of Netflix's crime saga set in Osage Beach, Missouri, brings their parents, Wendy (Laura Linney) and Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), into conflict with each other as mistrust and miscommunication about their disparate business plans threatens their marriage. In addition, Wendy's troubled younger brother, Ben Davis (Tom Pelphrey), comes to stay and he proves himself to be a lit match thrown into the Byrdes' powder keg.
In Ozark season 3, as Marty and Wendy engage in a tug-of-war over how to survive in the employ of Mexican drug lord Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), Charlotte and Jonah, unfortunately, got pushed into the background. This is disappointing considering how integral Jonah and Charlotte were in Ozark's first two seasons, especially after their parents could no longer hide the fact that they're criminals. Jonah emerged as a chip-off-the-old-block when Marty taught his son the finer points of money laundering. Jonah learned quickly and began washing cash himself after ingeniously setting up his own Cayman Islands account under a fake name. Meanwhile, Charlotte was disgusted by her parents' criminal activities and attempted to have herself emancipated, which heightened the Byrdes' family drama. By the end of Ozark season 2, both Jonah and Wendy had no choice but to be all in with their parents' criminal exploits - and it often leaves Wendy and Marty's business partners gobsmacked that their kids are in on nearly everything.
However, Ozark season 3 failed to find equally compelling stories for Charlotte and Jonah compared to the first two seasons. Charlotte taking a job at Byrde Enterprises working for Wendy seemed promising on the outset, especially since Marty's Girl Friday, Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner), shifted to overseeing the Byrdes' riverboat casino, the Missouri Belle. But Charlotte's real role in Ozark season 3 turned out to be babysitting Erin (Madison Thompson), the bratty daughter of Navarro's lawyer, Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer). Jonah also ended up drawn into the subplot of minding Erin when he wasn't keeping his Uncle Ben company, though Ben and Jonah growing closer was a low-key highlight of Ozark season 3. But overall, Jonah and Charlotte spent too much time with Erin, although it resulted in some major developments in Ozark season 3's labyrinthine plot (and Jonah received his first kiss from Helen's daughter).
It was only late in Ozark season 3 when the gathering darkness over Jonah manifested itself and this ties into what happened to Ben, who is dangerously bipolar. After his uncle went off his meds and learned the truth about Wendy and Marty - not to mention he fell in love with Ruth - Ben turned into a tragic liability to the Byrdes and Navarro. In a gut-wrenching series of events, Ben was committed by Marty and Wendy, broke out of the hospital thanks to Ruth, and made the fatal error of telling Erin that her mother was the lawyer of a drug dealer. Ben had to die - a decision Wendy was forced to make to save her whole family from being murdered instead. But Jonah was so distraught by Ben's death and his mother's part in it that he held Helen at gunpoint in a riveting scene where she enlightened Jonah as to Wendy's complicity.
The fact that Jonah had a drone also played a major role because he and Ben filmed a massacre of the Kansas City mob's men by a rival drug cartel at war with Navarro. Yet, while Jonah did eventually receive important storylines that sets up his possibly falling out with his parents in Ozark season 4, Charlotte was still left out in the cold. She had considerably less to do besides growing increasingly frustrated with trying to rein in Erin and counseling her little brother. Ozark is, at its core, about a family entangled in impossible circumstances where their very future is always threatened. Ozark season 4 needs to find better ways to involve Charlotte and Jonah because they're absolutely vital players in the Byrdes' life of crime.
Ozark season 3 is available to stream on Netflix.