Samuel Brace on Ozark season 2…
Season one of Ozark, a crime drama starring Jason Bateman, wasn’t immaculate but it was certainly excellent, and a very welcome entry into Netflix’s catalogue of original programming. Season two premiered this Friday past, dumping a new batch of 10 episodes for viewers to consume. How is it? Well, it’s pretty darn great, without ever transcending to a higher plane, much like its premiere outing in 2017. Ozark, or as it should probably be renamed, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of the Byrde family, is, however, an incredibly enjoyable Netflix binge, with far more going for it than against it. But let’s get into a little more detail; let’s have a look at what worked and what didn’t with Ozark season 2.
What worked
Let’s start on a positive note, there are plenty of things that are very right about season two of Ozark, with two main points, in particular, being worthy of discussion. First of all, the pacing and structure (in-episode and as a whole) are wonderful. Netflix has often had a problem with this particular side of things when it comes to their original programming (their Marvel efforts being the ne plus ultra) but Ozark season two doesn’t suffer from any such issues and roars along both during individual episodes and when looking at the season as a broader chunk of content.
Making the decision to offer up 10 episodes instead of the dreaded 13 was an excellent first move, which helps the show avoid any unnecessary side plots for want of a substantial main story. Each episode is roughly an hour long, and while this might seem like a lot (and often does with inferior shows), the content never drags, the viewer (at least in my experience) isn’t tempted to clock watch, and this is thanks to a storyline that always feels important, never secondary, and certainly never tertiary to requirements. We can also thank the number of truly exciting events that populate each episode, helping each instalment feel like a worthwhile and satisfactory endeavour.
The second point that should be raised when discussing Ozark season two’s success is the level of unpredictability infused into its DNA. So many otherwise good shows are diminished by plot points that can be foreseen but not so with Ozark, somehow the show, more often than not, manages to surprise the viewer with the direction in which events turn, snaking one way when it would be far more obvious and expected to go another. It’s not at a level of a Better Call Saul for example, but Ozark season two does, nonetheless, an excellent job of keeping the audience on its toes.
With so many factors at play in the Byrde’s living nightmare, there exist myriad options for the writers to choose from, and, as a result, the viewer never knows who might hammer the next nail in the Byrde family coffin. Will it be the cartel? The heroin farmers? The mob? The FBI? Or any number of other groups and individuals that are after our protagonists? Ozark manages to juggle this all quite well and it results in a season of television that is far from a chore and one of the more engaging viewing experiences of 2018 so far.
What didn’t work
Okay, so we’ve touched on things that Ozark season two does well, but there seems to me to be a couple of things that aren’t so great, that hamper the series from ascending to a place beyond the merely excellent. First of all, there is no light in Ozark, none what so ever. Now, I am not talking about humour, though there is very little of that to be found either, but rather there is no one in the show to cheer for, no characters that win you over with redeeming features, no charming personalities, no bad guy or gal that at least makes you smile from time to time. Ozark is entirely devoid of light and hope, it’s a miserable world populated with wretched individuals.
Ozark is by no means the only show that is this dark but at least when it comes to a Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, there is something for viewers to latch onto, the endearing nature of Jesse Pinkman, the charm of a Tyrion Lannister and so on. Ozark is without anything of this nature, every character is either a piece of filth, a bad parent, morally bankrupt, or an outright demon. Heck, even the town’s preacher subjects his baby boy to a life on the street and engages in a kidnapping. We don’t need to adore a character through and through, but there needs to be something that isn’t laced with misery, evil, or indifference.
The second failing component that I think we should look at regarding season two is, I am afraid, another flaw in its cast of characters and the writing that brings them to life. Ozark is replete with stupid characters that make the most idiotic decisions on a consistent basis. It’s amazing how many of the issues plaguing these men and women could be solved if people stopped to think a little bit more.
Perhaps the ultimate example is the show’s main protagonist, Marty Byrde. We are told time and again how smart he is, that he thinks too much even, but surely a man like him would realise that the best way for his family to stay alive, or at least for his kids to have any kind of life after the horror he and his wife have inflicted upon them, would be to turn himself in. He has the cartel and psychopath heroin farmers all gunning for him and his family, but when the FBI offers him witness protection, he rejects this lifeline for some farfetched hope that his family can escape it all by plowing ahead and lying to everyone. It’s idiotic.
Of course, we don’t need everyone on the show to be a genius but some common sense from someone, anyone, would be appreciated. Heck, even the cartel murders a shop worker in a manner that can is best described as being the antipode of clandestine. This all means that dramatic things keep occurring which is great but it makes events laughable at times and sadly breaks the show’s fiction on occasion.
These flaws are by no means a deal breaker, they don’t ruin Ozark season two, it remains a great ride and if you’ve not yet tuned in for this second outing, I wholly recommend that you do. Ozark has secured its place as one of this year’s better offerings, that much is clear. Are there flaws? Sure. However, they don’t outweigh the positives that exist but only keep it from breaking into the truly upper echelons of TV hierarchy.
Samuel Brace
