The season one finale of Netflix’s Ozark starts with a stoic Marty (Jason Bateman) looking over the lake. Wendy (Laura Linney) and Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) disrupt his quiet moment. Charlotte announces she’s ready, and Wendy doesn’t think it is a good idea. Charlotte questions her dad, asking if last night was really an accident. He replies with a simple, “Yeah.” Charlotte declares she wants to go. Go where? We don’t know yet.
Pastor Mason (Michael Mosley) and Ash (Michael Tourek) are loading the real Bibles as well as the fake ones stuffed with drugs in Ash’s truck. Mason kisses his wife goodbye.
Now we learn where Charlotte wanted to go. The Byrdes pay Ruth (Julia Garner), Wyatt (Charlie Tahan), and Three (Carson Holmes) a visit. They’re dropping off a basket of goods and checking on the Langmores following the deaths of Russ and Boyd. Wendy takes the time to thank Ruth while Marty tries to talk to Wyatt and Three. He tells them how sorry he is about their dad and uncle. Wyatt thanks him and walks away, but not before glaring at him one last time.
Mason tries to do his sermon on the water but has a hard time concentrating. He seems to be losing it. He puts the microphone down and demands to talk to Jacob.
Ash calls Jacob (Peter Mullan) and explains what happened. Darlene (Lisa Emery) is not happy. “You were clear and have been patient,” she notes. After she delivers that statement she walks away.
Rachel (Jordana Spiro) notices one of the cabin doors isn’t shut all the way. She goes in and begins to snoop around. After initially not finding anything out of the ordinary, she notices a piece of the wall paneling sticking up.
Mason lets Jacob know he thought he could go back on the water and preach but he couldn’t go through with it. He feels he would be preaching a lie. Jacob asks Ash to make sure the hymnals are back in their possession and tells Mason he’s free. Mason questions that response. “That’s it. I’m free?” he asks, incredulously.
Jacob tells him he was always free. He goes on to say life is all about choice and all either of them can do is accept that.
Back at the Byrdes’ residence, Marty is putting together a trampoline and Wendy suggests he’s getting sentimental in his old age. While Marty’s putting it up, Jacob calls to inform him the preacher didn’t let him do his job today. He states he respects his decision but adds, “He’s gonna have to respect the consequences.”
Marty believes he can handle the situation by having a chat with Pastor Mason.
The scene cuts to Mason arriving home and calling for his wife, Grace. Marty and Jacob’s conversation is heard while we watch Mason go from room to room trying to find his wife. Jacob says there’s been too much talking and words lose their meaning. Marty pleads with Jacob to let him try. Jacob declares it’s done. Marty seems to be confused and asks what’s done. Jacob replies, “Kept my promise, plain and simple.”
Marty asks what that means and Jacob simply says, “Search your soul, Martin. You’ll know.” Marty appears to understand now.
Mason hears a baby crying on the back porch and then spots a baby laying on the table. His wife is still nowhere to be found.
Jacob and Marty continue their conversation. Jacob says, “Words have meaning and actions have consequences.” Marty demands to know that Grace is okay. Jacob replies, “Grace is past saving, Mr. Byrde. It’s your own family on the line now.” With that Jacob hangs up.
Marty rushes out of the house and sees Garcia sitting in his usual spot. He assumes last night spooked him. Marty anxiously instructs Wendy to get the kids out of there. When she wants to know where to take them, he tells her anywhere. When she asks where he’s going, he says he needs to get out in front of this and leaves.
Wendy tells the kids they need to pack only small bags – no suitcases. Charlotte’s being difficult and Wendy yells at her to just do what she’s told. Jonah asks, “What about dad?” Wendy doesn’t reply.
Marty shows up at Jacob and Darlene’s house and throws a bag full of money on their table. Jacob lets Marty know he thinks Marty misunderstood. Pay a fine the first time; after that you accept the punishment. Marty says, “I’m not paying a fine. And I’m not asking you for your forgiveness. I want to buy your product. That’s $300,000.”
$300,000 is Marty’s estimate of what Jacob lost today on the water. Marty tells Jacob he assumes he wants to operate on land, but Jacob reveals that will put a strain on their relationship with local law enforcement. Marty tells Jacob, “Then if I can’t solve your problem, I’m prepared to be your sole customer.” Marty’s willing to launder the portion of the profits that Bobby Dean used to cover.
Jacob looks to Darlene and she replies, “I don’t think the juice is worth the squeeze.” Jacob starts with one of his stories about signs. But, he takes the money.
Garcia’s sitting in his car when he sees Jonah running off to the woods and becomes suspicious.
Back in the house, Charlotte refuses to go anywhere without her dad. She reminds them they said they have to stick together. Jonah returns with his newly purchased gun and tells Wendy and Charlotte to move. They notice Garcia in the house and Jonah levels his gun at him. Ignoring the gun at first, Garcia asks where they’re going without Marty. He then mocks Jonah and his gun, saying, “That’s a lot of gun for a little guy.”
Garcia seems unafraid and keeps approaching Jonah. Jonah tries to fire the gun but nothing happens. Buddy shows up with a shotgun, points it at Garcia and tells Wendy and the kids to get in their car. Buddy and Garcia are left standing there and as Wendy and the kids get in the car, they hear a gunshot. Wendy drives off.
Sheriff Nix (Robert C. Treveiler) pays Jacob and Darlene a visit asking if they have any idea why a preacher holding a baby is convinced they cut that baby out of his wife’s womb. Of course, they play dumb and act as though they don’t have a clue. Darlene questions who found the body. Was there a witness? Where is the evidence?
Nix informs them Mason said it was due to the fact he wouldn’t run their heroin on the water. Jacob reminds Nix they’ve been straightforward with him from the get-go. Darlene believes it sounds like Mason’s wife abandoned him and their baby. Nix warns them if they’re connected in any way, he’s going to have to bring them in because it’s his duty.
Before Nix leaves, he reveals he noticed Marty Byrde leaving their property and asks what kind of business they have with him. Jacob says he owes them a debt. When the Sheriff asks how big it is, Jacob replies, “Bigger than yours.”
Marty returns home to find Garcia dead in his living room. Buddy explains it was the only way. Buddy has a coughing attack and while that’s going on, Marty begins to look for Wendy and the kids. When Buddy gets his coughing under control, he assures Marty they left and are safe. Marty wonders what to do next and Buddy suggests they wait until it’s dark.
Marty and Buddy deliver the body to the funeral home and plan on cremating it. Marty doesn’t seem to know how to work the machine so, naturally, Buddy gives him a hard time. Marty finally looks it up on YouTube.
Marty kills time by making small talk, asking Buddy if he’s thought about what he wants to do with his body when his time comes. Buddy makes a joke about wanting to be eaten by worms. Garcia’s phone begins ringing and Marty thinks it’s probably his boss. Marty believes that by Buddy killing Garcia, he signed his death warrant. Buddy says, “Well, remind me next time I’ll let him kill your family.”
They decide just to shove Garcia in the oven and turn it up as high as possible.
Marty calls Wendy and wants her to meet him at the athletic field with the kids at 2pm. Marty tells Wendy he loves her, but she just hangs up.
Agent Roy Petty (Jason Butler Harner) is sitting outside of the Blue Cat drinking when Rachel spots him and asks if she can help him. Petty asks her to describe exactly what happened and she explains that it was an accident. He asks if she wired the dock and she confirms it was one of her workers.
Petty cuts to the chase and asks if it was Marty Byrde. Rachel asks why he would ask that; he brings up how a body washed up at Marty’s dock. Rachel wonders if he has some kind of special interest in this. He informs her that Russ Langmore was his fishing guide. He also confirms Russ was his friend.
Petty says, “If you thought there was something strange going on, I am sure there are people you could talk to.” Rachel informs him she needs to get back to work.
Marty visits the records office and has the records clerk pull maps. The clerk points out the Snells’ property. He then tells her he’d love to see maps that connect that area with the Missouri River. When the clerk questions why she’s getting the map for him, he lies and says his son is doing a research project. Marty asks if she’s sure that is all the Snells’ property. She informs him it goes a lot further than that and retrieves another map.
Back at the lodge, Rachel hits the wall of a cabin with a hammer and discovers the money. She takes some and puts it in a bag. When she goes back inside the bar Del’s there playing pool. While she’s holding the bag full of money she lets Del know they’re closed. Del isn’t deterred and wants to see Marty Byrde. She says Marty’s not there, but Del notices she is shaking and asks if she’s cold. She explains they had an accident on the dock two nights ago and two men died. She lies and says she’s still upset from that.
Rachel wants Del to leave but lets him know they’ll be open in a couple of hours if he wants to come back. She asks if he’d like her to tell Marty he stopped by. He says no; he would rather surprise him.
Agent Petty is still sitting by the water drinking when he sees Del leave the bar. He begins to slowly follow Del back to his car and then writes down his license plate number.
Petty returns to the motel and as he’s searching on his computer, Evans points out they don’t have a reason to arrest Del. Petty thinks they should just make something up. Evans points out he has a clean sheet which is why they use him to travel back and forth. They can’t touch him.
Petty ignores Evans and says they need to get Marty Byrde so he has no other choice than to turn on Del Rio and the cartel. He thinks it’s all about perception. If they drag in Del, he’ll see they are holding Marty Byrde as well. Then Del will get spooked and Marty will know he’s a dead man and needs to turn on him.
Wyatt is in the backyard burning his dad’s clothes. Ruth stops him but he claims it doesn’t matter because they don’t fit anyone. She tells Wyatt, “It might not feel like it now, but there’s gonna come a day when you’re staring at a picture of your dad wearing some fuckin’ stupid motorcycle T-shirt and you’re going to wish to god that someone said to you, ‘You know what? Keep that jacket. Keep that dress.’ Cause right then, all you’re gonna want to do is put it on.”
Three takes that opportunity to walk out and ask where the handguns are. Ruth asks what he’s talking about and Three informs her they aren’t in the trailer or in the truck. Wyatt changes the subject, asking Ruth if she’s still going to buy them suits for the funeral. She confirms she is and he walks away.
Rachel has her bags with her – including the bag of money – when she loads up her car and drives away.
Wendy and the kids get to the athletic field believing they’re there to meet Marty. Instead, it’s Marty’s private investigator from Chicago. He lets her know Marty sent him. Wendy asks if Marty’s okay and he assures her Marty’s fine but instructed him to give them envelopes. Inside are passports, social security cards, and birth certificates with new names. He tells them he needs their phones and Charlotte doesn’t want to give hers up. She begs her mom but then ultimately hands it over.
Wendy wants to know how the PI knows her husband and he confesses Marty hired him a few months ago. He works out of Chicago and Wendy seems to know what he means. Charlotte asks about her dad’s envelope and the PI says he was only instructed to make three of them. Charlotte begs her mom to call Marty.
Marty returns home and sees an SUV in the driveway. Buddy’s in the woods and asks if they’re friends of his. Marty assures him everything’s fine. Marty tells Del he has a solution to all their problems, but Del demands to know where Garcia is.
Ruth’s pulling up to her family’s trailers when she gets a call from the prison. Her dad says he was just told his brothers are dead and that their deaths were accidents. She explains they were electrocuted on the dock at the Blue Cat. Cade asks his daughter how Marty Byrde’s health is and she says he’s fine. He ends the call after telling her they’re going to talk in person.
Inside the trailer Wyatt reveals he’s figured out what happened. He put it together when he learned the guns went missing. They weren’t going to the Blue Cat for a beer; they were going to kill Charlotte’s dad or at least rob him. Wyatt thinks they were going to kill him, but he got to them first. Ruth thinks Marty Byrde doesn’t have it in him to kill someone. Wyatt tells Ruth he doesn’t want Three growing up knowing his dad was willing to be a murderer.
Ruth changes the subject and tells Wyatt she can call social services and ask to be their guardian. Wyatt seems to like this idea.
Marty lies and tells Del he doesn’t know what happened to Garcia. Del’s enforcer pulls one of Marty’s toenails off with plyers. Del asks, “Why would he call me and tell me there is a problem?” Marty claims he has no idea. Del’s man pulls another toenail off. Marty insists he doesn’t know where Garcia is. Del’s losing his patience and begins to choke Marty. Frantic, Marty blurts out that he has a plan. Del backs down and tells Marty the difference between when Bruce would lie and when he lies is that Bruce actually shut up. When Marty lies, he talks a mile a minute. He believes Marty when he says he has a plan.
Evans visits Sheriff Nix and informs him they want to pick up Del. A fellow officer pops in to let Nix know they got a hit on the black SUV’s location. It’s heading to the Snell property. He tells Evans if they wait outside the property (there’s only one way in and out), he’ll provide them with backup.
Marty introduces Jacob and Darlene to Del. They sit down at the table and Marty begins to tell Del what the Snells do. He explains the Snells have a distribution problem that could be solved if the cartel buy from them and sell their product. Del asks why he should do it and Marty says it’s because the cartel loses roughly 20% of product due to seizures at the border. This will offset their loss.
Del snidely remakes that he’s not into helping the less fortunate. That doesn’t seem to faze Marty and he begins to pull out a map. Marty points out a stream on the Snells property that flows all the way to the Missouri River. He explains Missouri Law states that a riverboat casino can be built within 1,000 feet of the Missouri River. Of course, they would have to make the stream bigger by flooding some of the Snell property to make their stream a river.
The Snells don’t like this idea because flooding caused the family to move up the mountain. Marty tells both the Snells and Del all the money laundering from the riverboat casino will meet their needs. Jacob thinks Marty’s too stupid to understand what he’s suggesting.
Marty turns to Darlene and smiles. Marty, who always has an ace up his sleeve, reveals he knows since 1985 the Snells have spent their profits to buy roughly 10 acres of surrounding property every year. But, they never build. If Marty had to guess their goal is to have leverage over the power company that displaced their people long ago with the flooding. He states casino money will give them a lot of money to buy a lot of land. Jacob says, “Mr. Del Rio?” Del states he needs to make a phone call and excuses himself.
Wendy and the kids are eating when she goes outside to call the house. Buddy answers the phone and she lets him know she’s trying to call Marty, but he isn’t picking up the phone. She asks if Marty’s okay. He informs her a couple more Mexicans showed up and Marty left with them.
Del returns to report they have a deal and he’s going to leave Marty there to work out the details. Before leaving, Del says to Marty, “Only Marty Byrde can move to Missouri and somehow convince me to partner with a bunch of rednecks.”
Darlene overhears them and becomes enraged. She shoots Del in the head and also kills his enforcer. Marty begins to freak out, shouting, “You f**ked us! You completely f**ked us! You know that?” He asks if she’s out of her mind and if she’s crazy. Marty wonders if they have any idea who Del works for. Marty believes they’ve just screwed him and his family.
Jacob’s reaction is basically to tell Marty to go home.
Marty’s driving the SUV up to the Snells’ gate when the local police and Evans turn their lights on and demand he exit the vehicle. They have no idea it’s Marty inside the car, and Evans begins speaking Spanish on the loudspeaker. They finally notice it’s Marty and order him to get on the ground.
When Marty lays down, he notices splattered blood on the back of his fingers. He quickly wipes it off in the dirt.
They search the vehicle and notice it’s empty. Evans asks where Del is and Marty states he has no clue who that is. Evans tries to go up to the Snells’ house but Sheriff Nix shuts him down, reminding him the warrant was only for the vehicle. Evans tells him he has a witness that places Del Rio in that car. Nix asks Evans to produce his witness. Evans doesn’t answer him and Marty asks, “Does that mean I can go now?”
Shortly thereafter, Evans tells Petty back at the motel what went down. Petty is enraged and destroys everything in the room.
Mason is trying to take care of the baby alone when Marty stops by to see him. He wants nothing to do with Marty, calling him the devil.
Marty calls Wendy to report that he’s okay. He assures his family he’s fine but warns them not to come home. It will never be safe there. When Wendy asks him to come to them, he regrets that he can’t. If he does, they’ll never stop looking. She asks if he wants to talk to the kids and he says no.
Marty begins to cry and Wendy apologizes for everything she’s done. He says it wasn’t her fault he was shut down. She doesn’t want to hang up, so he does. Wendy gets in the car and the kids demand to go home. Charlotte believes they should all stick together.
Mason is parked off the road. He takes the baby out of the car and begins walking in the woods. He gets to the lake and begins to walk into it with the baby. He holds the baby under the water for morbidly too long but finally lifts the baby back up like he just baptized it.
Ruth takes Wyatt and Three to their dad and uncle’s funeral.
Marty is laying on the trampoline when he hears a car. Charlotte and Jonah come running around the corner and into his arms. He and Wendy stare at each other crying…and that’s how season one ends.
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 1 “Sugarwood” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 2 “Blue Cat” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 3 “My Dripping Sleep” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 4 “Tonight We Improvise” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 5 “Ruling Days” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 6 “Book of Ruth” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 7 “Nest Box” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 8 “Kaleidoscope” Recap
- Ozark Season 1 Episode 9 “Coffee, Black” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 1 “Reparations” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 2 “The Precious Blood of Jesus” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 3 “Once a Langmore” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 4 “Stag” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 5 “Game Day” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 6 “Outer Darkness” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 7 “One Way Out” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 8 “The Big Sleep” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 9 “The Badger” Recap
- Ozark Season 2 Episode 10 “The Gold Coast” Recap
- Ozark Season 3 Episode 1 “War Time” Recap
- Ozark Season 3 Episode 2 “Civil Union” Recap
- Ozark Season 3 Episode 3 “Kevin Cronin Was Here” Recap
- Ozark Season 3 Episode 4 “Boss Fight” Recap
