Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for Ozark season 4, part 1.
Marty Byrde has skirted death many times in Netflix’s Ozark, but his end is likely coming in Ozark season 4, part 2 and there’s a reason he has to die. The dark drama series has been a hit for the streamer since 2017, following the corporate-turned-criminal Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) as he schemes his way out of death time and time again, managing to keep his family safe all the while. The final season of Marty’s death dance will be debuting in two seven-episode installments, with Ozark season 4, part 1 available to stream now on Netflix.
Marty Byrde is first seen in Chicago as a financial manager who launders money for a Mexican drug cartel on the side. After his partner is murdered for stealing funds from the cartel, Marty offers to earn the money back by relocating to the Missouri Ozarks to build them a money-laundering empire. The Byrdes take flight, land in the Ozarks, and become increasingly involved with the cartel’s work throughout Ozark, with Marty’s wife, Wendy, and even his kids, Charlotte and Jonah, becoming part of the criminal world.
Ozark season 4, part 1 follows the Byrdes as they prepare to finally bring Omar Navarro into the fold at the FBI. The Byrdes’ freedom is short-lived, however, with Omar’s successor, his nephew, Javi, keeping the Byrdes entangled in the cartel business. The final scene of Ozark season 4, part 1 sees Ruth Langmore (played by Waco actress Julia Garner) set off in a rage to find Javi after he kills Wyatt, however, even if Ruth is successful, it will not end the cartel, just as Omar Navarro having become an FBI informant would not have ended the cartel. As the FBI points out in Ozark season 4, part 1, episode 7, there will always be another Omar Navarro and Marty Byrde will never be free. As the end of Ozark approaches, it stands to reason that the only way Marty will ever win his freedom and complete his character’s story arc is to die, most likely sacrificing himself to free his family—something he has already tried to do once.
As the series draws to a close in Ozark season 4, Marty’s character is the only family member seeking to end his criminal career. Wendy (Laura Linney) thrives in her career as a cartel consultant and dirty politician and grows ever more ruthless, as was shown by her killing her own brother and using his death to gain the deal with Shaw Pharmaceuticals. Charlotte sets aside her college career in favor of continuing in the family business and even Jonah, who has had many qualms about the family’s choices in handling cartel matters, starts his own business as a 14-year-old money launderer. Marty, on the other hand, has spent four seasons trying to get out, suggesting many times that the family live a life in hiding and even considered suicide in Ozark season 1 to try and keep the cartel from reaching his family.
Ozark season 4, part 1 foreshadows the Byrdes getting into a terrible car crash, but it seems unlikely that Marty’s death will come that way. It also doesn’t seem fitting for Marty to simply be killed by Javi after escaping death so many times in the series. If Marty were given the opportunity to free his family from the grip of the cartel by sacrificing himself, however, this would allow his character to complete his story arc in a poetic, albeit tragic, way and allow the viewer closure in Ozark season 4, part 2. Whether the rest of the Byrdes would actually want to be free of the cartel is another subject entirely.
Ozark season 4, part 1 is available on Netflix.
