'Ozark' season 3: After a brutal murder plot, how far will Laura Linney's Wendy Byrde take her villainous streak?
A dark future awaits the Byrde family as 'Ozark' ended on a deadly note in season two. Jason Bateman's Marty Byrde, a money launderer for a dangerous Mexican drug cartel, might have been the boss man when the series began but it is his wife Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) who seems to hold the key. From extorting a senator to bribing a woman and threatening a close friend, she crosses all limits to wiggle her way out of the complicated web of crime.
Wendy's evil side first came through in 'Ozark' when she ordered the murder of Cade Langmore (Trevor Long), leaving the audience shell-shocked. She plots his murder in such a way that leaves no hints or traces of her involvement. In a confrontation with Cade, Wendy expresses her anguish about how Cade attacked Charlotte while trying to find Marty's money, and offers him $500,000 to leave town.
Just as he attempts to flee away, a Navarro associate brutally shoots him and it is revealed that the pay-off was actually just a clever trick to get him out of her way. Gradually, she takes the ropes in her hands and decides that the family will stay back in the Ozarks without consulting Marty even as he plans to run away to the Gold Coast.
Marty's guilt and anguish drives him into a spiral of sorrow and repentance. It is then that Wendy exerts control over the Byrde's criminal enterprises and more than makes up for her husband's fall into a depression. She navigates through the questionable decisions by telling her husband, "I don't care if you think it was right. It was a good decision, and I did it for the family. What did you do for our family today?" She stands by her tough choices by being headstrong.
She started off as an anxious woman who was cheating on her husband but successfully streamlined herself into a confident charmer by the end of season two. Will Wendy turn into a villain in season three?
Women are already getting an upper hand in the Netflix show and it is yet to be seen whether Laura Linney could take the bigger piece of cake with the negative shades of her character being revealed as the series is renewed for a new season in 2020.