Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Ozark.
Ozark's biggest question, proposed by the show in its pilot episode back in 2017, has finally been answered by the series finale at the end of season 4. Although the concluding events of the popular Netflix original series have Ozark viewers divided, the seemingly never-ending chaos and turmoil concocted by the Byrde family has been laid to rest at last. As each season of the show has come and gone, the level of danger has increased and pushed the Byrdes beyond their breaking point, but the four primary Ozark characters have always prevailed in the face of danger.
Never before on television has there been a family better adapted to overcoming obstacles than the Byrdes, with parents Marty and Wendy acting as the focal point of said adversity. Their ability to maintain reason over retaliation knows no bounds. They are by no means the perfect and happy family they promote themselves as, but they refuse to buckle under immense pressure. Whether the danger is externally caused or — more often than not — internally caused, Marty and Wendy act in the best interests of protecting their children, as well as each other. The dark meaning behind the Byrdes' name is matched by the equally sinister actions that they have committed, and Ozark's final season and last episode take this perspective to a whole new level.
The question of whether or not the Byrdes would make it out alive has been prevalent since Marty's involvement with the Navarro cartel in Ozark season 1, and for good reason. However, the show's biggest question has actually concerned Marty and Wendy's relationship and whether his love for her is fact or fiction. The answer? Till death do us part. It would be totally understandable to doubt Marty's genuine affection toward Wendy at the end of Ozark season 4, as her promiscuous past and volatile nature have made for a hostile and toxic marriage between the two. Marty is by no means a saint either, but he is certainly the more level-headed of the pair and is often left to pick up the pieces of Wendy's wildcard persona.
Marty's love for Wendy is not only a key aspect of Ozark season 4 but also of the series finale, as the Byrdes are faced with three matters of life or death that test Marty's true affection for Wendy at the beginning, middle, and end of the last episode. Fresh off the back of Wendy's decision to check herself into a psychiatric institution as a means of forcing her children to stay by her side, Marty turns to Julia Garner's Ruth Langmore for assistance. Although Marty and Ruth have had a complex relationship, there is always a level of mutual respect between the former mentor and mentee. Yet Marty's act of blackmailing Ruth, which threatened her life unless she complied, proved his undying love for Wendy.
This notion is further evident as the finale showcases the car crash that had been teased throughout the final season of Ozark from the very start. Just as the Byrdes are seemingly playing happy family, Marty's reckless driving endangers their lives. While Marty, Charlotte, and Noah escape the wreck largely unscathed, there is a brief moment when Wendy appears to be not so lucky — opposing Ozark theories regarding Wendy's survival. Largely a character devoid of emotion and sentiment who usually displays a cool and calm nature, Marty is thrown into disarray as he fears for Wendy's life, projecting a rare sight of Marty's true love for her. The scene makes for a near uncomfortable reality, as Marty recognizes Wendy's importance to him.
After they've united at last as a family in spirit and in flesh, Mel returns to haunt the Byrdes and confronts Marty and Wendy about Ben's death. Marty has the chance to push a lying and heartless Wendy under the bus and admit her part in his death as a last throw of the dice. However, Marty stands firm alongside Wendy, showing his commitment to her and the plan they have formulated. Mel's obsessive nature over Ben's disappearance despite Ben having saved the Byrdes provides a stumbling block for Marty and Wendy throughout Ozark season 4, but in the end, they have the last laugh. Whether right or wrong, Marty's love for Wendy in Ozark, as seen in the series finale, is unconditional, and they truly make the perfect partners in crime.