'Ozark' season 3: Will Wendy and Marty's marriage be affected now that she has begun exerting her power over the Byrde business?
Netflix's 'Ozark' has piqued viewers' curiosity with its second season and shed light on the Byrde couple's tussles and scuffles. In the first season, Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife Wendy (Laura Linney) already reconciled after her infidelity. Throughout the ten episodes of season two, the pair are at loggerheads with each other while making life-changing choices.
Wendy's evil side first came through in 'Ozark' when she ordered the murder of Cade Langmore (Trevor Long), leaving the audience shell-shocked. Soon, she exerted control over the Byrde's criminal enterprises and more than made up for her husband's fall into depression. She navigated through her 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?"
Gradually, she took the ropes in her hands and decided that the family will stay back in the Ozarks without consulting Marty even as he plans to run away to the Gold Coast. Viewers, who follow the series, are fangirling over Wendy's character and how smartly she took precedence in the second season. A fan wrote on Twitter, "Wendy keeps the family/business together, Marty would’ve folded a few times without her #Ozark," while another one posted, "Miss Wendy Byrde is the real star of Ozark. Marty? Jason Bateman? Lit really never heard of him."
However, with the duo constantly taking decisions without each other's consultation, will their marriage crumble to bits? Recently, Jason Bateman teased a "six-month jump" and that might also have repercussions. "The casino is up and running, and that provides us with more opportunities both positive and negative, some that are tempting and some that are calming. That affects the family in interesting ways, and certainly the relationship that Marty has with Wendy," he told reporters at the Emmy press room.
His statement certainly sparks some room for doubt that there might be trouble in the couple's paradise. Writer Chris Mundy recently dropped some major hints in an interview with Thrillist. "As we delve into the marriage more next year - to me, the show is always about the family and the marriage first - and see that suddenly Marty's goal, which was always a shared goal, is just his, solo, well, how can he talk about that? How can he try to do it? If he and Wendy are operating kind of on the same page, but not completely, it gets trickier. At least a lot more emotionally complex," he said.
Teasing "new faces" in season three, he said that the characters could have an effect on their marriage. "Obviously, there will be the new people that we have to deal with in law enforcement, on some level, that we haven't met yet. There will be people in the inner workings of the casino that we haven't met yet. And there's any number of people who can get close to the marriage in certain ways that we'd love to bring in. I don't think we'll overwhelm people with new faces, but there's definitely going to be a few significant ones."
The next season is due for release in spring 2020 and there are several answers the makers need to be ready with.