Ozark (Season 4): A bittersweet ending

I just finished watching the 4th and last season of Ozark and I have mixed feelings about its ending and not because I didn't like it, but because it is a very bittersweet ending and it shows you that just like life itself, life is often unfair, so the end of Ozark and in turn, all its seasons pose situations (in most cases) quite realistic.

I started watching Ozark a few years ago and immediately captivated my attention, I was sold this series as "if you like Breaking Bad you will like this series", and although in terms of arguments it has many similarities, in the end and in general they are very different from each other, having Ozark its own personality in different aspects: plot, music, image, storyline, among other aspects. Ozark quickly became one of my favorite series, although it does not reach the point of being in my Top 3 favorite series (which at the moment, are places that occupy: Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul and Mr.Robot). However, and without any doubt I consider Ozark to be one of the best drama series today, but at the same time one of the most underrated. You only have to see how little recognition this series has had over the years to realize that, and although it has several awards, at the media level and recognition by the public, it is underrated.

I had been waiting for this 4th and final season since the shocking final chapter of the 3rd season. An ending that left many with their mouths open, because if we as viewers already knew that the situation of the Byrde Family, was increasingly in an abyss of corruption and death, in this last season all those negative aspects (and even more), are intensified to reach a bittersweet closure, where, just like life itself, you show us that, many times evil, as long as it has the power, money and connections, can always come out well in any situation, of course, always with some sacrifices, but in the end, things will always be in its favor. And the story of the Byrde family, could easily be a real life story, a family that gained power through money, great connections, both political and criminal and through deaths. At the end of the series, they know that everything they have built was through the death of many people, and not only death, but also the theft and destruction of people economically, socially and mentally.

Without a doubt, the best characters of the series have been many, but the ones that stand out the most are: Wendy Byrde, a character that has had an evolution that can be compared to that of Walter White/Heisenberg. And although unlike Walter, Wendy was a character that from the beginning was shown to us with a certain darkness that gradually went deeper into the criminal field to the point of organizing the death of his own brother, which was a very disturbed character, and in which I really thought he had not died, but in this season his death was confirmed. Wendy on many occasions, due to her hunger for power, became the villain and main antagonist of several seasons, but in this last season is where we can see more of her psychological side by wanting to have "power" at all costs, really an excellent character and superbly interpreted.

On the other hand we have Ruth, which could be said to be the favorite character of most viewers of this series, a fairly complete character, both interpretive and plot level, is the heart of the series and the best. A character with a rather deplorable and tragic beginning, that since she met the Byrde family, her life and the lives of her relatives, went downhill, even more than it already was. In this season Ruth, without a doubt is the character who suffers the most and her end, even though I didn't like it, it was inevitable, you simply can't kill the boss of a drug cartel without anything else happening, that's why her death, despite being sad, was something that was going to happen, however, the way she faced that situation was something worthy of that character, with courage and guts until the end.

While the ending is a bit ambiguous, since in this season we are introduced to a new character, which is a detective who is trying to put the pieces together in order to solve the mystery behind the Byrde family, it was a character that really did not add much to the story and I felt that many times it was a bit boring. But that ending, where we are shown the Byrde family, "unscathed" (so to speak), in the face of all the evil they have caused during these 4 seasons, shows that as long as you have power, money and powerful connections you can get away with almost any situation. In the end, it was a quite "realistic" closure, these things really happen in real life, and I think it was a wise move by the creators of Ozark to give it a bittersweet closure, no one is that good, but also, no one is that bad.