Bateman to clean up with Ozark’s season two
AFAMILY MAN chooses to enter the murky American drug trade and, while outwardly keeping up appearances, is busy dodging the next bullet around the corner and attempting to conceal the literal boat-loads of cash coming his way. With a synopsis like that it is no wonder the Jason Bateman Netflix vehicle, Ozark, has drawn favourable comparisons with Walter White’s (Bryan Cranston) escapades in five seasons of Breaking Bad. Although such associations between his character, Marty Byrde, and White are perhaps a tad unfounded says Bateman whom we spoke to over the phone from LA in preparation for Friday’s drop of Ozark’s second series.
“I don’t think he (Marty) enjoys what he is doing,” Bateman said, which is in direct conflict with White’s story arc as he began to revel in becoming New Mexico’s drug kingpin and draw immense pleasure from his anti-hero status.
“I do think he does take satisfaction from making some progress and that his family is not dead. But he’s trying to get back to Chicago and get this thing done with. He’s not interested in season two, or season three, or season four, he wants to end this thing immediately.”
For those unfamiliar with the series, Ozark sees the Byrde family headed by whiz accountant Marty have to flee Chicago for a countryside seasonal resort town in the Missouri Ozarks. The reason for their escape - Marty has been laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel for the best part of a decade when the head of the cartel, Camino Del Rio (Esai Morales), discovers Marty’s partner had been skimming off the top. In return for his and his family’s safety, Marty pleads with Del Rio to be allowed to set up various cash businesses over the summer in a popular lakeside holiday destination. Del Rio agrees that if Marty can successfully clean eight million dollars of drug money in three months; he, his wife Wendy (Laura Linney), son and daughter will not be harmed. Series one charts this challenge over 10 episodes.
“That’s the burden that the writing staff took on each week and have been really successful,” Bateman said of the first season. “They put forth a set of obstacles that stand up to highbrow scrutiny. Why is it that things are continuing down a bad path? Why can’t he just cut and run? There are holes we are obligated to fill every week.
“I think, as a viewer myself, my natural instinct is to try to identify it (a show) and qualify it as something I’m familiar with and decide whether it is going to be predictable. That anti-hero recipe, I can understand the comparison with Breaking Bad.
But I think that’s a formula that has been used for a long time. Hopefully when you start watching something you get used to the differences. There are worse shows to be compared to but beyond that central narrative structure, I think there are many things that differentiate us.”
American pie
A large proportion of Ozark’s praise has been its unconven-
Marty’s issue continues to be: ‘will the ends justify the means?... I hope the audience will feel: ‘I would have done the same thing.’” Jason Bateman
tional portrayal of an America rarely captured on screen. Usually edging from ignorance to patronisation when TV or film is tasked with concocting situations in a pastoral setting, the serial provides a more nuanced take on what many commentators have labelled “typical Trump-land”. Instead of the usual country yokels or the fiercely pious, we are treated to savvy business-people and matriarchal households/enterprises that occasionally pose more of a threat to the Byrdes than the South American gang from whom they are running. Bateman added Ozark highlighted the arrogance of some from metropolitan centres can be their undoing.
“One thing provided thematically is that someone from one of the big cities can go to the rural section of the country and think they can have their way with them and manipulate them and win. That’s a big underestimation that the Byrde family makes. They are learning their lesson and have to dance pretty fast.”
A huge draw for Ozark, in our opinion, is Bateman’s physical manifestation of the despair he feels when, just as the situation is starting to resolve itself, there is yet another setback involving the hostile locals. A skilled actor, though arguably more popular for his comedic roles, Bateman’s crestfallen looks into the distance before turning circumstances on their head with his cunning mind are a masterstroke.
Bateman’s baby
Over the course of the conversation with Bateman it was clear to see Ozark has consumed many thoughts on his working life. Not only does the actor serve as one the series’ executive producers, he also directed four of the show’s first season episodes. The enthusiastic manner in which he talks about Marty reveals how much he has also invested in the character, which became clear when discussing Marty’s moral dilemma.
“Marty’s issue continues to be: ‘will the ends justify the means?’ He’s got to do things that will challenge his morals and dig him out of the hole his choices have created.
“I hope the audience will feel: ‘I would have done the same thing in that situation.’ Hopefully one of the satisfying takeaways from the show is that ‘I may be forced to do the same thing were I in that situation.’”
That anti-hero recipe, I can understand the comparison with Breaking Bad.” Jason Bateman