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Ozark Season 4 has been split into two halves, each containing seven episodes. When the second season was released, I speculated:
- For some reason, this series is set in 2021, as at one point, the year 2022 is mentioned, and it’s commented as being “next year”. Since Season 2 follows on directly from Season 1, and if it ends in 2021, does that mean that Netflix have a five-year plan for this series?
Okay, so it hasn’t worked out as one season per year exactly, but having started in 2017, I figured it would be a five-season production, and it’s basically ended up like that, if you treat Season 4’s two parts as separate seasons.
Season 3 certainly ended with a bang. You assume something big is going to happen at the end of any of these seasons, and it certainly did not disappoint.
NOTE: Beyond this point, I will assume you have seen all of Seasons 1-3, but I will avoid spoilers for season 4.
I’ll also note that unlike previous seasons, this one did not open with a summary, so I’ll include a link below which shows the one I saw. That season aired in March 2020, so while there’s a number of elements I can certainly remember, there are a fair few which I don’t.
Anyhoo, this latest chapter begins with proof that the Byrdes just can’t get a break, before it flashes back to rejoin events directly after the end of Season 3, when… THAT happened.
As Ozark Season 4 opens, Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy’s (Laura Linney) new best friend (ahem), Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), wants to keep certain information from his hot-headed nephew, Javi (Alfonso Herrera), otherwise it’ll be curtains for him, and everyone. Omar wants Marty to use his influence with the still heavily-pregnant FBI Special Agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes) – a tough cookie who doesn’t take any crap from anyone – to allow him to walk away from his business, and go back to and from the US as and when he sees fit, since he needs the Byrdes to set up his childrens’ business empire over there. Ooh… that tangled web is starting to weave again!
However, if they can do it, then they’ll be free of any further obligation to Omar. If they don’t do it? Well, it’ll be a short season for them.
Elsewhere, Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) wants to buy the Lazy-O – a seedy motel – for a big stack of cash, so she has a business through which to launder money; and Darlene (Lisa Emery) is going to start producing heroin again, as she used to do with Jacob many moons ago.
Meanwhile, Mel Battem (Adam Rothenberg) is an eager private investigator who’s looking for Helen Pierce, and trying to find out where she’s gone to. Again, the closure of Season 3 will answer that question, had he been watching, but since he hadn’t, he’s like a dog with a bone and won’t let go, and starts becoming an unwelcome pain in the backside to anyone he visits. This includes local Sheriff Nix (Robert C Treveiler) who, in hoping for a bit of peace and quiet, goes to check out Helen’s house to see if he can get some answers.
Plus, Sam Dermody (Kevin Johnson) is gambling again, although in time he’ll get a job offer that’s more suited to his needs. As always, everyone’s on top form in this, and Kevin Johnson gives a great understated performance as his character, but he’s not in it nearly enough. Since there’s still another seven episodes to go after these ones, is it too much to hope that at the very end of Season 4 Part 2, Sam will carry out something similar as happened at the end of Season 3, and then he walks into the shot and says, “I’m the Daddy, now!” 😀
But until then, as usual with Ozark, almost everyone’s at each other’s throats and can’t stand each other… but at the same time, they can’t do without each other.
It’s a place where you never know who’s going to double-cross who next, and I’m always wondering when the next character is going to be whacked at random. Obviously, I’m not going to say here, since that’s part of the surprise – as we saw with every Season so far, but it’s always in the back of my mind in tense situations – and there’s plenty of those.
The opening episode is a bit of a slow-burner, but it improves as it goes on, and each episode is approximately one hour in length, sometimes just over or under.
If you’re wondering why this review is light on detail for the events of the series, then you can’t have watched too much Ozark before, since the last thing I want to do is give spoilers.
On Wednesday February 23rd, it was confirmed that the remaining seven episodes will air on Friday April 29th.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Ozark Season 4 Part 1 is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from Friday January 21st.
Episode 1 Score: 7/10
Episode 2 Score: 8/10
Episode 3 Score: 8/10
Episode 4 Score: 8/10
Episode 5 Score: 8/10
Episode 6 Score: 9/10
Episode 7 Score: 9/10
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45-55 mins per episode (6 episodes)
Release date: December 31st 2021
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.10:1
Series Directors: Andrew Bernstein, Alik Sakharov, Robin Wright
Producers: Dana Scott, Paul Kolsby, Laura Deeley
Creators: Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams
Writers: Chris Mundy, John Shiban, Michael M Chang, Jed Rapp Goldstein, Miki Johnson
Music: Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
Cast:
Marty Byrde: Jason Bateman
Wendy Byrde: Laura Linney
Charlotte Byrde: Sofia Hublitz
Jonah Byrde: Skylar Gaertner
Ruth Langmore: Julia Garner
Omar Navarro: Felix Solis
Javi Navarro: Alfonso Herrera
Special Agent Maya Miller: Jessica Frances Dukes
Darlene Snell: Lisa Emery
Wyatt Langmore: Charlie Tahan
Sam Dermody: Kevin Johnson
Kerry Stone: Eric Ladin
Jim Rattelsdorf: Damian Young
Mel Battem: Adam Rothenberg
Agent Trevor Evans: McKinley Belcher III
Sheriff Nix: Robert C Treveiler
Three Langmore: Carson Holmes
Nelson: Nelson Bonilla
Frank Cosgrove: John Bedford Lloyd
Frank Cosgrove Jr: Joseph Sikora
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.