The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ shows some wear and tear in Season 2
Pace grows sluggish, the plot twists kooky as drama delves into more mayhem
“People make choices, Wendy,” Marty Byrde says to his wife in the Season 2 opener of “Ozark.” “Choices have consequences.”
That’s a drastic understatement when it comes to this dark suspense thriller, the new episodes for which are available now on Netflix.
Since fleeing Illinois, exsuburbanites Marty and Wendy (Jason Bateman and Laura Linney) have made some downright horrible (and amoral) choices that left them at the mercy of a major crime syndicate and entangled with a couple of drug lords in the backwoods of Missouri.
Somehow, they continue to find ways to break from bad to worse.
Season 2 picks up shortly after the mind-blowing events of Season 1’s finale, during which Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery) shockingly killed cartel boss Camino Del Rio. (Let that be a warning to you: Don’t ever call her a “redneck”).
That major blunder has a fierce cartel lawyer (Janet McTeer) and some of her goons sniffing around the Ozarks, determined to find out what happened and make someone pay. Meanwhile, Marty continues to try to broker a deal between the Snells and the cartel that involves building a casino where their money can be laundered.
Oh, and he also needs to quickly figure out how to cover up Del Rio’s murder.
The endgame? By now, Marty and Wendy are yearning to escape their troubles by fleeing to a faraway land — perhaps Australia — with their two teen children. Ah, if only. …
But this is TV, where escape never comes easy, especially when you’re dealing with an ongoing serial. In filling out its 10 new episodes, “Ozark” unfortunately begins to feel like an exercise in wheel-spinning as the the pace slows and the plot twists become increasingly ludicrous.
The result? A sophomore season that continues to offer intrigue, but isn’t nearly as addictive as the one that preceded it.