Ozark

Our Review

Breaking Bad‘s midwestern cousin — colder, grayer, and somehow more miserable, which is a compliment. Marty Byrde, a Chicago financial advisor, relocates his family to the Missouri Ozarks after a money-laundering scheme for a cartel goes wrong, and spends four seasons trying to keep everyone alive while the body count inevitably climbs. Jason Bateman’s against-type casting is the hook — the comedy guy as a dead-eyed survivor — but Julia Garner’s Ruth Langmore is the reason to watch: a 19-year-old criminal with a mouth like a bear trap who becomes the show’s tragic center.

The blue-gray palette becomes a character; the Langmore/Snell/Navarro triple squeeze is relentless; and Laura Linney’s Wendy — who discovers she’s better at this than Marty — gives the show its chilling thesis: the Byrdes don’t just survive the criminal world, they colonize it and call it family vacation. The finale is divisive, but the journey is four seasons of premium dread with some of the best supporting turns on TV (Tom Pelphrey’s bipolar Ben Davis is a devastating season 3 arc).

Verdict: Watch it. Misery executed this well is its own reward.