Warning: Spoilers for Ozark season 4, part 1.
Ozark season 4 showrunner Chris Mundy talks about the major character deaths from the first half of the show's final season. The acclaimed crime drama premiered the first seven of its fourteen-episode final season, with the back-half set to premiere later in 2022. The series stars Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, and Julia Garner, who's won two Emmy Awards for her performance.
Ozark follows the Byrde family, who launders money for a Mexican drug cartel through multiple businesses in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, getting involved with criminals and the mob along the way. One of the other prominent characters is Garner's Ruth, a criminal trained by Marty Byrde to launder money who leaves after being betrayed in season 3, joining her cousin Wyatt in the heroin business run by Wyatt's girlfriend, Darlene. This is seen as a problem by the cartel, with high-ranking member Javi murdering Wyatt and Darlene in the finale of the first half to stop their production.
In an interview with EW, Mundy talks about how the deaths were foreshadowed, with Javi's first scene on the series asking the Byrdes what they plan to do about Darlene. He goes on to say that Darlene's death in Ozark was inevitable, and how they ultimately combined it with Wyatt's to push Ruth to her most vulnerable point. He also talks about the frequent deaths of the new season, including Frank Sr. and Sherriff Nix, thinking it was almost too much, but was ultimately satisfied with how each death serves the story. Read Mundy's quote below:
"But with the Darlene and Wyatt, in every season we've kind of had a scene or two that lays out what the season is going to be but you don't know it in retrospect. We almost state it in code and then you see it. So we wanted there to be an inevitability to Darlene's death, but, like you said, you almost forget about it. But it was right there from the beginning, he said it, he was going to do it. And so we just wanted to make good on that, and in Javi's character."
Mundy also talks about how the conflict between Ruth and Javi will shape the final episodes of the series, despite the two not having any scenes together in the first half. It's also mentioned how Ruth is at her breaking point, having lost most of her family, putting her in a position where she doesn't have much left to lose in her revenge against Javi. Mundy also hints at the resolution of the cold open that opened Ozark's season 4, which sees the Byrde family in an intense car accident.
In the end, Ozark is setting itself up for a thunderous finale that will pay off all the twists and character developments the show has been exploring. Mundy's decision to end the show after the fourth season may be disappointing to some, but the decision serves the story and keeps the show from being stale and repetitive. Whenever the last episodes come out, they're sure to be Ozark at its very best.
Source: Entertainment Weekly