A Deep Dive into the Wild World of 'Ozark'
With great care, Ozark constructs a story that is based around a financial planner named Marty Byrde, played by Jason Bateman, who relocates his family to the Missouri Ozarks to wash drug money for a dangerous drug lord. This leads to a series full of suspense and ethical questions.
The themes of the series are moral complexity, the tendency towards corruption, family relationships in the conditions of stress. There are no moments of comedic relief or light-heartedness; it is a dark, suspenseful show from start to finish.
Despite his past as a child star on Charles in Charge, Jason Bateman really gets to show off his acting chops with Marty Byrde, a man pushed to his limits and yet still with obvious vulnerabilities. Laura Linney, as Wendy Byrde, is also very strong as a woman who is caught between competing sources of authority, and Julia Garner continues to be dazzling as the brilliant but emotionally troubled Ruth Langmore.
With Bateman as a director and others, the show remains well structured and has measured pacing which only adds to the intensity of the story. Every episode is built in detail and thus reveals the layers of the storytelling.
The show has an appropriate score and a scary soundtrack that enhances every turn in the show, and the psychological elements depicted in the show.
The show is, however, very cinematographic with the low contrast of colors which depicts the dreary themes of the shows. The visuals succeeded in painting both the Ozarks as dark but also posts unbearably beautiful, thus adding an exceptional depth to the show.
The production design is highly detailed and contrasts sharply with the dilapidated exterior of this ‘hillbilly’ environment, yet boasts very realistic interior scenes, reflecting the show’s main characters’ sophisticated but extremely disordered, criminal lifestyle.|Special effects are used sparingly and more or less enhance exposition-heavy scenes The series keeps changes as sudden and fluid as to make each change of scene lose minimal time and offers consistent intensity throughout every episode.
The tension and pacing of Ozark are moderate as the show gives each step enough time for the audience to anticipate the oncoming events to happen. Subtexts are incorporated effectively in the shows, thereby making the conversations richer and complex.
While the show does a great job in developing tension and depth of characters, it sometimes meanders with side stories that are not directly related to the main plot, making them rather slow-paced at times. However, these do add dimensions to character.
In a nutshell, Ozark is an engaging and thrilling exploration into the muddy and murky world of money laundering and cartel operations. It enchants with the passion and the drama combined with action and crime that shake up family relations and makes the audience spellbound and thoughtful.
