Ozark: Netflix announces August 31 premiere date for season 2 of crime thriller
Netflix has announced that its critically-acclaimed crime drama web television series 'Ozark' will be returning for a second season on August 31. Season 1 composed of nine one-hour episodes and a final 80-minute episode, with Jason Bateman performance as Marty Byrde earning him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama.
The debut season followed Bryde and his family as they suddenly have to relocate from their home in the Chicago suburb of Naperville to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks after a money laundering scheme goes horrifically wrong. Bryde and his business partner, Bruce Liddell (Josh Randall), who had helped him launder the money, are left with a debt to pay to violent Mexican drug lord Camino Del Rio (Esai Morales).
Wendy Bryde, Marty's wife who is played by Laura Linney, becomes a realtor in Ozark and helps her husband identify businesses through which he can launder money. However, the family finds itself caught in the web of Jacob Snell, an established local crime lord, as well as the crime syndicate that prowls Ozark. The finale saw the family planning an escape from the town and Marty brokering a deal between Del Rio and Snell that relieved him of his troubles. Or so he thought.
A teaser that accompanied Netflix's announcement of the release date for season 2 indicates that the family has dark things in store for them at Ozark. Ominous music plays in the background as Wendy, with regret in her voice, says: "We've done a lot of things. Things we thought we would never do."
While there is no direct mention of the events of the season past, the use of suggestive imagery in the teaser indicates that the Bryde's are not in the clear. We see the family walking out of a funeral; a person, likely Jonah Bryde (Skylar Gaertner) because of his penchant for dead animals, can be seen carrying a severed deer head; the FBI unearthing a skeleton; a car crash; a planned execution; and, of course, plenty of the show's patent hard-hitting dialogues — "So that's it? We go back to that house, we go to bed, we wake up in the morning and we kiss the kids?" Wendy asks. "That's exactly what we do," says Marty.
Entertainment Weekly reported that the second season will also introduce us to the character of Helen Pierce, who is portrayed by Tony Award-winning actress Janet McTeer. According to Netflix's official description, Pierce is 'a Chicago-based attorney who has links to the cartel. In making a deal with the devil, she becomes a potential threat to the Byrdes.' The release of Ruth Langmore's (Julia Garner) incarcerated father (Trevor Long) will play havoc on the Brydes' lives as well.