From shocking deaths to ultimate betrayals, here's what happens in Ozark 's series finale
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the entire series finale of Ozark.
After every desperate deal, broken promise, and bloody murder, the Byrde family finally makes their final bid for freedom in the series finale of Ozark (on Netflix now). So how does it all end?
The 71-minute finale kicks off with Ruth (Julia Garner) in her unfinished pool, still haunted by visions of her beloved cousin Wyatt (Charlie Tahan), whose death she avenged earlier this season when she killed his murderer (and drug lord Navarro's nephew), Javi (Alfonso Herrera). She's busy burying the body of the cartel guy, Nelson, when Marty (Jason Bateman) shows up.
He wants her to help him get the kids back from Wendy's dad. He threatens to tell Javi's mom, Camila (Veronica Falcón), what really happened to him if Ruth doesn't help. She ends up agreeing to help him once again.
Setting in motion their final play to get Navarro (Felix Solis) out of the picture once and for all (which would also get them out from under the cartel), Marty meets with Camila and basically tells her if her brother somehow escaped prison and died in the process, it would be considered "fate" by all involved. But before she agrees to this plan, which would make her head of the cartel, she wants assurances from the FBI. She demands to know once more about the day her son died — it seems she has no intention of letting it go.
Wendy (Laura Linney) is still in the mental health institution she checked herself into, and she refuses to leave unless she gets custody of her kids back. Ruth wants Wendy to promise her that if she helps, the rest is on her. She can't control whether the kids ultimately go with their parents. In a final touching moment between the two women, they commiserate over their dads being "real pieces of s---." Ruth asks Wendy if the institution is bearable, and Wendy says everything is. Ruth admits if she had just left Wendy's brother Ben (Tom Pelphrey) at that place, he'd still be alive.
Making good on her word, Ruth goes to see Wendy's dad next — and he's completely insufferable, as usual. She calls him out on not really wanting the kids — he just took them to piss off Wendy — and he admits it. She ultimately pulls a gun on him and tells him he's going to tell the kids he doesn't want them, or she'll shoot him "in the f—ing head." Ruth wins.
Charlotte and Jonah (Sofia Hublitz and Skylar Gaertner) then go to see their mom. Wendy reveals what Ruth said about Ben, and she says to the kids that she wants them to know how fully she knows that Ruth is wrong, and it was really her fault, full stop, that Ben died — finally addressing the elephant in the room that's been between her and Jonah for a while now. In what feels like growth for her character, Wendy also admits to trying to control both kids, and tells them they need to do whatever they're going to do — she won't trap them inside of the world her and Marty are making for all of their futures. "I promise I will love you just as much," she says.
Marty arrives to take Wendy home, and he pretty much sums up the status of their relationship over the course of the series when he says, "I'm not saying I love you unconditionally, but we have been through a s---load of conditions, and I'm still here."
Just when they're all back together as a family, it seems possible it will all be ripped apart when the fateful car crash that's been teased all season finally happens. Everyone makes it out okay it seems, except for Wendy, who is stuck in the car. After a tense moment, they get her out and she's ultimately okay, if a little banged up.
Marty goes to Ruth and tells her Navarro is going to be out of the picture and he can keep her safe, which of course he's said many times before. He says they're meeting with the FBI to get Navarro out, but he needs Ruth to continue to money launder out of the casino for them. "I always have time for my f---ing government," she says, agreeing to the meeting in a way that only Ruth can.
First, Marty and Wendy go to see Navarro who (correctly) says he believes his sister was the one who tried to kill him earlier in the season. Navarro gives them a number of someone in Chicago who will "take care of it" — meaning, murder his sister. He thinks he's getting out. Wendy and Marty play along and lie, saying that all the steps in the process to free him are good to go.
At the meeting with the FBI, Camila, Ruth, Rachel (Jordana Spiro), and the Byrdes, the feds reveal that Navarro is being transferred that evening. The deal seems to be good for all involved (except, obviously, Navarro), but Wendy says fatefully, "No celebrating yet."
Steve Dietl/Netflix Laura Linney and Jason Bateman in 'Ozark'
At the gala for the Byrde family's foundation, things are going exactly to plan for Marty and Wendy and their hopes to become a political family in Chicago. All the big-wigs they need are in attendance. "So, we're bulletproof," Wendy says, gleefully. She goes to tell Schafer to take a hike, because they're pulling his voting machines. They no longer need him to get Navarro off the SDN list, because unbeknownst to Schafer, Navarro won't be in the picture for long. Wendy ironically says she's even talked to the FBI and this is going to be their first anti-corruption initiative.
Elsewhere, the kids are talking about what they'll miss about the Ozarks. For Jonah, it's being close to Buddy. Charlotte just can't believe it's all over, and the duo happily make plans to get chocolate shakes in Chicago. Jonah reveals he's thinking of "going legit" — at least until he gets through high school. A few tables away, Camila shows up with Marty and Wendy and pharmaceutical queen Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk). Camila backs Clare into a corner, and says if she finds out later there's something Clare's not telling her, she'll "have someone slash you from your c--- to your chin." This breaks Clare, who's been wishy-washy all season over the murder of Javi. Ultimately, she gives up Ruth and tells Camila the whole story.
Camila knows the Byrdes are close to Ruth. She tells them if they warn her or she senses someone is following her, she'll kill all of them. Marty and Wendy, clearly in shock, don't know what to do. Both are very obviously upset. Wendy tries to come up with a solution but they're out of options — anything they do is suicide. "What if this is too much to bear?" She asks her husband. "It won't be," Marty tells her. After all, what's one more body to get out?
Elsewhere, Navarro is finally getting moved. Just when it looks like he's actually going to escape (a guard hands him a gun and tells him there's a plane up the road), it's all revealed to be a set up. A gun cocks, and Navarro realizes he's been betrayed. He fires his gun, but there's nothing in it. He gets shot by the guard, who calls it in as an escape attempt that the inmate didn't survive. After four long seasons, Navarro's reign ends here.
Ruth, meanwhile, heads home from the gala, and there's a car waiting for her. Instead of driving away, for some reason she gets out. Camila steps out of the shadows with a gun. Ruth doesn't even seem surprised or sad — and she's definitely not sorry. "Your son was a murdering bitch, and now I know where he got it from," she bravely tells Camila, who raises the gun, but doesn't shoot. "Well, are you going to f—ing do this s—t or what?" Ruth finally screams at her. These end up being the famous last words from our favorite sailor-mouthed character, as a bullet pummels her in the chest, staining her perfect white dress deep red.
Back at Chez Byrde, Wendy and Marty share I love yous. But their ordeals are not over yet. The PI who has been investigating their affairs finally rears his head. It takes Marty and Wendy way too long to realize their living room door has been shattered, and that they have company. PI Mel (Adam Rothenberg) is there with Ben's ashes in tow. He tells them he couldn't do his job back on the force that they helped him get. All he could think about was stopping them. He finally realized how suspicious the cookie jar is, and discovered Ben's remains were in there — this could be the thing that finally puts Marty and Wendy away, since the money laundering stuff will never stick thanks to their deals with the FBI. Marty tries to bribe him with money, but Mel doesn't care. "You don't get to win... the world doesn't work like that," Mel tells him.
"Since when?" Wendy says with a devilish smile, as Jonah shows up with a shotgun, pointed right at Mel. The screen fades to black as a blast rings out, and presumably, the family has another body to bury. It seems the Byrdes' problems are never truly over, even when they come out on top.
All episodes of Ozark are now streaming on Netflix.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
