Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Ozark.
Ozark season 4 is coming to Netflix soon, which means that it’s the perfect time to rewatch some of the most crucial episodes from the one of the greatest antihero crime series of all time. Ozark season 3 was released back in March 2020. After almost 2 years without new content, Ozark will be returning to Netflix on January 21, 2022.
Ozark’s protagonists Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney) were last seen in Mexico, attending the second baptism of the infant son of Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), the series’ main antagonist. Navarro has Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer) executed in front of the Byrdes, who are covered in Helen’s blood before being embraced and welcomed into the cartel by Navarro. In the sneak peek trailer for Ozark season 4, the Byrdes are in the bathroom trying to compose themselves and clean up after their bloody baptism into the Navarro cartel.
Ozark season 4 will wrap up the series with a total of 14 episodes, divided into two parts. Part 1 will be released on January 21, 2022, while Part 2 is slated for release sometime later in the year. Following Helen’s death and the Byrde’s deeper involvement with the Navarro cartel, Ozark season 4 will be starting off under new paradigms that tip the balance of power in both Mexico and Missouri. As it’s been almost two years since these paradigms were established, here are the key Ozark episodes to rewatch before diving into the final season.
“Sugarwood” (Season 1, Episode 1)
In Chicago, Marty’s partner and fellow cartel money launderer Bruce Liddell (Josh Randall) gets caught by Navarro cartel lieutenant Del (Esai Morales) skimming $8 million in cash. Del executes Bruce and several others involved in the scam, while Marty saves himself by using Bruce’s promotional flier to improvise a plan to launder $500 million in five years in the Lake of the Ozarks. Marty’s initial plan establishes the foundations for the Byrde’s ventures in Ozark season 3. After Marty pays back the $8 million Bruce stole, Del spares his life and then sends the Byrdes to the Ozarks to launder the $8 million in three months. The pilot is a great reminder of why the Byrdes are in this convoluted mess in the first place.
“Blue Cat” (Season 1, Episode 2)
The Byrdes move into the titular neighborhood. Marty and Wendy’s kids Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) and Charlotte Byrde (Sofia Hublitz) fail to secure the $8 million, which ends up in the hands of the Langmores: Ruth (Julia Garner), Wyatt (Charlie Tahan), Three (Carson Holmes), Russ (Marc Menchaca), and Boyd (Christopher James Baker). Marty and Wendy discover that the Blue Cat Inn and restaurant, owned by Rachel (Jordana Spiro), could provide the foundations for a massive money-laundering scheme. Many of Ozark season 3’s surviving cast members are introduced in this episode, including FBI agent Roy Petty (Jason Butler Harner), who follows Marty to the Ozarks after investigating the cartel’s activities in Chicago.
“Tonight We Improvise” (Season 1, Episode 4)
As the Blue Cat is up and running, Marty sets his sights on the Lickety Splitz, a failing local strip club, to expand his money laundering activities. After Ruth Langmore successfully breaks into the Lickety Splitz’s safe for Marty, the Byrdes acquire the strip club, but at the expense of Bobby Dean’s (Adam Boyer) life, who gets eliminated by the Snells. Apparently, the Lickety Splitz was a money-laundering front for local heroin producers Jacob (Peter Mullan) and Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery), who now have eyes on the Byrdes. Marty teaches his son Jonah the very basics of money laundering.
“Coffee, Black” (Season 1, Episode 9)
Wendy leverages her hold on real estate agent Sam Dermody (Kevin L. Johnson) to complete laundering Del’s $8 million on time, after which the cartel sends the Byrdes $50 million. As this is just the first 10% of the $500 million Marty promised to launder, the Byrdes acquire a funeral home. Agent Roy Petty turns the Langmores against each other, inadvertently forcing Ruth to kill his uncles Russ and Boyd to protect Marty.
“The Toll” (Season 1, Episode 10)
The season 1 finale is the reason why Ozark was one of the biggest TV shows of 2020. After Mason Young (Michael Mosley) refuses to use his church to distribute heroin for the Snells, his pregnant wife Grace (Bethany Anne Lind) goes missing while their newborn baby Zeke is left inside their home. Buddy shoots and kills cartel operative Garcia (Joseph Melendez) in order to let Wendy and the kids escape the Ozarks. Marty finally brokers a mutually beneficial plan between the Navarro cartel and the Snells, involving a casino on the massive Snell property to handle both money laundering and distribution for both parties. However, when Del replies with a racist insult to Darlene’s own racism, Darlene shoots Del in the head and throws a wrench in Marty’s casino plans. Wendy and the kids return to the Ozarks to be with Marty.
“Reparations” (Season 2, Episode 1)
This episode introduces both the billionaire power broker Charles Wilkes (Darren Goldstein) and Navarro cartel attorney Helen Pierce to the Byrdes. Meanwhile, Jacob Snell rightly decides that the only way for the cartel to accept Del’s death and continue doing business is by killing their own lieutenant Ash (Michael Tourek), which greatly distresses Darlene. Marty’s casino is underway, but severe tension lingers between its main investors.
“Game Day” (Season 2, Episode 5)
Ruth Langmore proves her toughness and loyalty to Marty and Helen when she doesn’t crack during a waterboarding interrogation by cartel operatives. As the FBI closes in on the Snells, Helen tells them to burn their poppies to get rid of the evidence. After the Snells refuse, Wendy distracts Darlene while Buddy burns the Snell’s poppy field – at the expense of Buddy’s life.
“The Gold Coast” (Season 2, Episode 10)
Ruth reveals to Wyatt that she killed his father Russ and their uncle Boyd. Marty reveals to Ruth that the cartel’s $50 million is inside Buddy’s mausoleum. Ruth’s dad Cade Langmore (Trevor Long) kills Agent Roy. Setting the tone for Ozark season 3, Wendy uses the cartel to kill Cade, and then tells Marty that it’s safer for the family to stay than to flee to the Gold Coast, as their casino is now operational.
“Wartime” (Season 3, Episode 1)
Charlotte gives Jonah an aerial drone. Ruth helps Marty manage money laundering operations at the Missouri Belle casino. At Charlotte’s insistence, Marty and Wendy attend couple’s therapy, but Marty is secretly paying off the therapist to swing his way. This episode also sees the introduction of Wendy’s plans to help the Navarro cartel expand into legitimate businesses, which is approved by Omar Navarro personally. Darlene pays off Wyatt’s bail and gets him to work and live at the Snell farm with her and Zeke, Mason and Grace’s orphaned baby.
“Kevin Cronin Was Here” (Season 3, Episode 3)
As Marty’s decisions contradict both Wendy and Helen’s moves, Wendy dreams about killing Marty, similar to the surreal dreams of Sopranos protagonist Tony Soprano. Meanwhile, FBI special agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes) pressures Marty to work for the FBI and voluntarily surrender for just 18 months of prison. When Marty uses software to listen in on a call between Wendy and Omar Navarro, Omar tells Wendy that her line is compromised. After Marty accepts Agent Maya’s offer, cartel operatives kidnap Marty, which is witnessed by Wendy’s brother Ben Davis (Tom Pelphrey), who gets increasingly distraught by the Byrde’s involvement with the cartel.
“Boss Fight” (Season 3, Episode 4)
Marty gets tortured by Omar Navarro in Mexico. Helen finds out that Omar is doing this to test if Wendy, Ruth, and Helen can continue laundering without Marty. After one of Omar’s accounts is frozen for suspicious activity, Marty shows Omar how to unfreeze the account, prompting Omar to let him go and return him to their home.
“All In” (Season 3, Episode 10)
After Wendy reluctantly agrees to let Helen order the death of Ben Davis because he is a liability to the cartel, Ben’s body is cremated at the Byrde’s funeral home. Meanwhile, the Lagunas cartel, Navarro’s rivals, guns down Omar’s family during his son’s baptism, but his son survives. Wendy and Marty realize that the only way to gain Navarro’s approval and protection is to win the cartel war. Jonah reveals that he has drone footage of when the Lagunas cartel attacked the Byrde’s business associates, which Marty uses as evidence to get Agent Maya to go after the Lagunas cartel for operating on U.S. soil. Maya reveals to Marty that Helen is trying to make it appear like Marty is making a deal with the FBI. Omar then calls Mary, Wendy, and Helen to Mexico to attend his son’s second baptism. And in the last scene of the Ozark season 3 finale, Helen’s own enforcer Frank Nelson (Nelson Bonilla) shoots Helen in the head, covering Wendy and Marty Byrde with blood – essentially baptizing them into the Navarro family.