The acclaimed Netflix crime drama dropped the first half of its fourth and final season on Friday.
Spoiler alert! Do not proceed if you haven't watched season 4A of Ozark. If you're ready to talk all about that jaw-dropping finale, read on!
Ozark released the first episodes of their fourth and final season on Friday, setting up high stakes for what's sure to be a jaw-dropping and blood-soaked series finale.
The Netflix crime drama has earned a major fan following and consistent critical praise for stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney, who star as Marty and Wendy Byrde -- a Chicago couple who became embroiled in organized crime when they started laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel -- as well as Julia Garner, who plays Ruth Langmore, a member of a local crime family who starts working with the Byrdes. It seems the final episodes of the series will see that trio's loyalty put to the ultimate test, as season 4A ended on an ominous note of vengeance that could have repercussions for all of the show's major players.
After spending the final episode of 4A wheeling and dealing between drug lord Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), his volatile nephew, Javi Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera), and a full slate of corrupt FBI agents, the Byrdes thought they were in the clear, and were preparing for a return to "normal" life, when a major wrench got thrown into their plans.
Ruth discovered the bodies of her cousin, Wyatt Langmore (Charlie Tahan), and his new bride, heroin maven Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery), shot dead in their home as poor baby Zeke cried in the background. After determining that Frank Jr. (Joseph Sikora) and the KC Mob weren't responsible for the murders, Ruth stormed into the Byrdes' house, shotgun in hand, demanding answers.
"I know you know who did this," she demanded, threatening them with the shotgun when Marty first claimed ignorance. "You tell me his name!"
However, the Byrdes' estranged son, Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) also happened to be at the house at the same time, and he offered up the killer's name freely, to spite his parents.
"His name is Javi Elizonndro," Jonah told Ruth. "I'll tell you everything I know."
"Do not hurt this man," Marty warned Ruth, as Wendy also tried to caution her against tracking down Javi, who has both the backing of his cartel as well as the power of the FBI behind him. But Ruth wouldn't hear them out.
"If you want to stop me, you're gonna have to f***ing kill me!" she screamed, before storming out. The final shots of the season show her driving away in a panic, leaving the stunned Byrde family in her wake.
ET spoke with Gaertner and Sofia Hublitz -- who plays the Byrdes' daughter, Charlotte -- ahead of season 4A, who shared a tour of the Ozark set and a few hints about the drama to come for their on-screen family.
Gaertner noted that the final season is definitely a "turning point" for Jonah, who moves out of the family's home, feeling betrayed over his parents' criminal dealings and the revelation that Wendy ordered a hit on her own brother.
"Up until that point, he's been kinda inseparable from his family, 'cause they're kinda all he has," the actor shared of Jonah's evolution throughout Ozark's previous seasons. "He doesn't have a whole lot of friends or anything, but after he threatens Helen's life with a shotgun and he finds out that it was his mom that killed his best friend... Obviously that'll change the way he thinks about his family, so we'll see how that plays out."
On the other side, Charlotte has stood by her parents throughout their descent into the criminal underworld, and even through she and Jonah share a nice moment of sibling solidarity in the 4A finale, fans will have to wonder whose side she'll be on after Jonah's potentially world-shattering revelation to Ruth.
"If anything, I think she's been kind of super amenable to her parents' wishes and is sort of falling in line with the family business," Hublitz shared. "I think you're seeing Charlotte sort of be conditioned to become the successor to Byrde Enterprises and become kind of a little, mini Wendy. I've been wearing a lot of business outfits this year, a lot of sweaters, a lot of blazers. I'm in business mode a lot."
Check out the full set tour in the video above. Ozark season 4A is now streaming on Netflix.
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