In a post-Breaking Bad world, television viewers have been looking for similar shows to spend their weekends bingeing on. While we have been treated to a new Breaking Bad movie in the form of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie which debuted at the weekend, we had to wait six years for it to come along. We did have the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, which has run for four seasons so far (a fifth is on the way), but the landscape had been Barron for quality crime fiction on the small screen – that was until Ozark came along. In just two seasons, it has already established itself as one of the best shows on TV. Here’s why.
The story
The pilot episode of Ozark was, quite frankly, gripping from the outset. We meet Jason Bateman’s character, financial advisor Martin “Marty” Byrde, in the first episode in his home town of Chicago. While everything seems quite normal early on, we soon learn that he is moving his entire family down south to Osage Beach, Missouri – the ‘Ozarks’ of the title where he must make amends to a Mexican drug cartel after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong, landing him in severely hot water. He is challenged to launder a whopping $500 million in five years or face the consequences from his employers. The opening episode was violent, ended on a massive cliffhanger, and more than anything else made viewers want for more.
The cast
One of the best things about the show is the cast. Jason Bateman is not only superb as the main character, Marty, but he’s supported by a stellar cast that includes the likes of Laura Linney as his wife, Wendy, who is slowly drawn into Marty’s dodgy operation, Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore, who is also pulled on board to work for Marty in a new local business (strip bar), and also British actor Peter Mullan and Lisa Emery as two married local farmers who go up against the cartel in an argument over territory and land.
The direction
The pace and direction of the show are top-notch, six of the episodes across the first two seasons directed by Jason Batman himself. His filmmaking skills have already landed him both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. He won an Emmy this summer for ‘Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series’ for his work on the episode “Reparations”. Other directors on the show include Andrew Bernstein, Ellen Kuras, Amanda Marsalis, Benjamin Semanoff, Phil Abraham, Alik Sakharov, and Cherien Dabis.
The legacy
We know that the third season is already on the way. According to rumors, casino space evolution will be the main theme in the new run. Allegedly filmmakers are apparently thinking of putting real-life scenarios in the show. Rumors suggest that Marty’s casino won’t be only on physical business but also potentially on the digital platform. Executives want to make TV shows very modern-tech friendly (a bit like the TV-show Start-Up), so, we may see adaptation of casino to crypto platform. Rumors suggest that we will see a TV fiction story that looks like the real-life bitcoin casino already dominating the industry.
Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams’ series has a huge scope for the future, especially after the developments in season two. While that third season has yet to receive a release date from Netflix (it is apparently set for release before the end of the year), we assume that it won’t be it’s last.
With its dominance on the awards circuit, particularly in the past few months over awards season in 2019, and its near across-the-board critical acclaim, the show has the ability to run and run, just like the likes of Breaking Bad an similar shows that have led the way in crime television.
More on the third season of Ozark as it comes our way.
