'Ozark' Season 3 Review: A deadly tale of backstabbing and betrayal spearheaded by badass female characters
Fiery and fierce, 'Ozark' storms into our world with an explosive third season. Created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams, the new season sprinkles a speck of happy dust over dark clouds of doom. Manipulation, control, desire are the keywords as there is a constant bloodthirsty battle for power.
With masterminds, Marty and Wendy Byrde (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney), the series embarks on a six-month jump as their riverboat casino, The Missouri Bell, is up and running! If you've closely followed the last two seasons, cuss words like “f**k” and “s**t” would be standard sounds ringing in your ears. Bada**, bold and bodacious, Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) steals the spotlight with her swagger as a ruthless ruffian manager. A foul mouth, she has the grit to go to any length to get her job done, even if it means flinging off mobster Frank Cosgrove Jr. (Joseph Sikora) from the deck.
Stranded in bits and pieces, this season adds just the right ingredients of murderous motives and marital woes to prove revenge is best served when cold. Through all of its ten episodes, 'Ozark' leaves no stone unturned to keep you in the dark about each character's motives. As the mystery unravels, every gang seems to be at loggerheads with each other, turning it into a selfish, callous world.
The Netflix series strikes gold with its marvelous performances. Jason Bateman shines as the strong-headed businessman and even in his moments of weakness, brings justice to his character. Laura Linney is spectacular, especially in scenes where she speaks volumes with mere eye gestures. Janet McTeer never ceases to amaze with her cool and calculative moves. But, most of all, it is a delight to watch Emmy Award winner Julia Garner spill equal amounts of sunshine and sadism with her brilliant performance.
Not just that, Tom Pelphrey brings his A-game as Wendy's maniac bipolar brother, Ben Davis. Lisa Emery's Darlene Snell is vicious and treacherous. Charlie Tahan, who plays Wyatt Langmore, delivers the biggest shock this season and his performance is worth a watch.
While the cinematography is doused in shades of grey, dark blue and black, the plot is middlingly slow and sluggish. Perhaps, that's the only thing that takes the series on a reckless road and hampers it from being the pick of the bunch. Nevertheless, the sinfully splendid dialogues are crème de la crème. With every satirical snub, the characters unleash life lessons, like when Marty is told, “How to have a good work-marriage partnership? Let your desires take a backseat,” or when Darlene smugly says, “There pain that uses you and there's pain that you can use.”
Surviving a ten-hour ordeal is not easy and the series surreptitiously tests your patience as it wanders away in the dim alleyways, but it manages to sneak up its head in broad daylight by the end. If all you want is a dose of drama, dereliction, and danger, go for this Netflix thriller that deserves no less than three stars.