Here’s Why Camila From ‘Ozark’ Looks So Familiar

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The following story contains spoilers for Ozark Season 4, Part 2.

After the thrilling ending of Ozark's Season 4, Part 1—the first half of the show's final season—you probably thought you had an idea of how the second half of the show's last go-around would play out. With cartel leader Omar Navarro (Felix Dolis) in prison, Javi

Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera) gained full control—and a nice comfy deal with the United States government. With this protection, he went and murdered both Darlene Snell and Wyatt Langmore, the latter killing sending Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) into a rage. It would make sense to think that this developing face-off, between Ruth and Javi, would encompass most of the drama of the final run of episodes.

This was not the case. In an interesting subversion of expectations, Ruth tracks Javi to Chicago in the very first episode of Season 4, Part 2, shooting him to death right in front of Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney), and Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk). But as we saw both throughout and with the end of the show, you never get rid of the cartel. The cartel has its perseverance. And moves are always being made. Earlier in that first episode, we saw Javi speaking with his mother, Camila Elizonndro (Veronica Falcón).

And while it seemed that Camila might just be a minor character in the grand scheme of Ozark at first, she turned out to be one of the biggest power players of all. In the end, it's Camila who most impacts how the show plays out, and where things end up.

So, who, exactly, is Camila in Ozark?

In Ozark, Camila is the mother of hot-headed, MBA-educated cartel leader Javi Elizonndro. She's also the sister of Omar Navarro, the previous leader of the cartel until the FBI's Maya Miller blew the whole situation up and had him arrested.

Knowing that Camila is Omar's sister makes things a bit confusing when you recall that midway through the season, it's revealed that Camila was the one who put a hit on Omar, trying to have him murdered in prison. But then you must recall the fact that Omar told the Byrdes to make sure that everyone within his organization believed it was him, and not Ruth Langmore, who was responsible for Javi's death. He wanted it to seem like a seizure of power, and a move to firm up leadership.

This, then, is why Camila tried to have him killed in prison, and why Camila eventually (spoiler!) killed Ruth. She was enacting her revenge over Javi's death no matter who was responsible, whether it was her own brother or a young woman who lives in a trailer park.

Ultimately, Camila rises up to become the new cartel leader, proving just as capable of both violence—the murders—and business—the deal with the FBI—as her brother and son. Camila is a human embodiment of the idea that you cannot defeat the powers that certain dangerous institutions hold; you can only hope to kick the can down the road.

Camila is played by actress Veronica Falcón.

Falcón is not only an actress but a dancer and choreographer as well. She's been acting and dancing in Spanish-language projects (she was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico) for decades.

Starting in 2016—at age 50—Falcón moved her career to the United States where she began pursuing english-language roles for the first time in her career. Her breakout here was in the TNT series Queen of the South, on which she starred for three seasons and 39 episodes.

Falcón has been acting for a long time, but has made a particular mark on TV in recent years.

While Falcón has appeared in a handful of movies—including parts in Jungle Cruise and also the sci-fi movie Voyagers—she has become known for her roles across various TV series.

In addition to Queen of the South, she also has appeared in an episode of HBO's anthology series Room 104, and Season 2 of Paramount+'s Why Women Kill, produced by Desperate Housewives's Marc Cherry.

Fans of superhero stuff might recognize Falcón for her oft-mentioned by little-seen character Mama Donya in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, who was a mentor to villain Karli Morgenthau (many believe she originally had a larger role that was cut down). Prestige TV fans may remember her as a love interest of Matthew Rhys' in HBO's Perry Mason, who was also an accomplished and successful aviator and property owner.

Next up, Falcón will appear in Season 2 of Perry Mason, and has a role in a movie called Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, based on the novel of the same name.

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