Life in the Ozarks

If you've binged watched all your favorite shows, and you're expecting to go through withdrawals until the next season loads up - maybe you've come across Netflix's Ozark like I have.

The show stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde and Laura Linney as his wife Wendy.

Marty is the modern day anti-hero. He is a dull financial planner, living his life in a loveless marriage with two post-millennial children. Oh - he's also laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. Did I forget to mention that?

Things go south fast for Marty and his dysfunctional family in episode one, and that brings them to live in the Ozarks where he hopes to launder the cartel's money and not wind up dissolving in a vat of acid, which (for Marty) would be a real plus.

The show is well written and has some great dialog. Jason Bateman plays these lines with such deadpan skill, it comes of as comedy.

It's an intense show, but I feel it has a genuine issue because the series doesn't feel like it knows where it's going.

Let me elucidate on this point.

When the plot moves forward because the characters are simply reacting to external events, it gets boring real fast. A plot is much more intriguing when it unfolds because the character is propelling it onward with their own wants and fears. A character-driven plot is griping because the viewer is invested in the character achieving their goal (or failing at it), but we aren't emotionally involved in the rain that falls on his head or the car that is chasing him.

The second season was recently posted, so maybe this issue will get addressed. If not, I may have to leave town.

Cheers.