Ozark: Laundering Cartel’s Illegal Money

Ozark (2017 – Present)

Marty Byrde, a money-related organizer who migrates his family from Chicago to a summer resort community within the Ozarks. With spouse Wendy and their two kids in tow, Marty is on the move after a money-laundering conspire goes off-base, driving him to pay off a considerable obligation to a Mexican cartel boss.

Creator: Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner

Here are some good aspects that make Ozark worth watching :

1. The Plot

After a money-laundering scheme for a Mexican drug cartel goes wrong, financial advisor Marty Byrde proposes to make amends by offering to set up a bigger laundering operation in the Lake of Ozark. Marty then relocates his family, and when they arrive in Ozark, they become entangled with local criminals.

2. The Main Characters

The series centers on Marty and Wendy. A couple with 2 kids. We won’t talk about the kids here. But both Marty & Wendy are smart, an equal par to Breaking Bad’s Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. Their relationship is dynamic too. We will never know where they are heading, how they think, and how will they do next.

3. How Money Laundering Works

After being pressured by the Cartels to launder their money cleanly, Marty and Wendy have to use their brain to do anything possible. It involves cleaning cash in some local business, such as a nearby hotel, a casino, or even from a local church pastoral activity. Each are interesting to follow. Plenty of financial lessons.

4. The Snells Couple

The Snells are one of the criminals in the lake of Ozark. They are fierce, ruthless, and hard to compromise. They keep their eyes closed to Marty and Wendy. See how they make all things difficult with all their threats. The Snells are not afraid of anyone too, even to the Drug Cartels that are chasing Marty & Wendy.

5. The Langmore Family

The Langmore Family are the new neighbors of Marty and Wendy. They have a lot of criminal records and are well known by police officers. The Langmores are poor and when they know Marty has plenty of cash available, each of them tries their best to snatch it with whichever means necessary. A kind of an outlaw family.

6. Endless Threats

Life is already hard for both Marty and Wendy as they are being chased by the Cartels to return their money cleanly, yet things are getting more & more difficult due to the presence of The Snells and The Langmore. Totally not the environment they expect Ozark to be. See how they are constantly an inch close to death.

7. New Characters

New characters keep popping up, but the most interesting is Ben Davis on 53. He is the brother of Wendy. Ben is young, naive, and often clumsy. He visits Ozark to stay with his sister without knowing all the threats she is dealing with. His action often creates troubles for himself and everyone around him. A fun character.

Ozark is a slow burn series & not made for everyone. It’s for the fans of top crime series (eg: The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, etc). Ozark is not winning many Emmys after being outshined by Succession, but trust me Ozark is pretty good. It takes a while to be able to enjoy it, but once you’re there, you’ll realize how good Ozark is.