‘Ozark’ Season 2 Episode 1 Recap: “Reparations”

By
Alison Helms
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Ozark Season 2 Episode 1
Janet McTeer, Peter Mullan, Lisa Emery, and Jason Bateman in ‘Ozark’ season 2 episode 1 (Photo by Jessica Miglio/Netflix)

The first episode of Netflix’s Ozark season two starts off with Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) in Kansas City, Missouri, dancing at what seems to be some sort of gala. While they’re dancing, Wendy is busy naming off politicians who are in the room. Wendy apparently spots just the man they are looking for. Marty tells her good luck before she walks away.

Darlene (Lisa Emery) and Ash (Michael Tourek) are digging a grave and while doing so, Darlene opens up to Ash. She admits Jacob is angry with her and thinks maybe she shouldn’t have killed Del. Ash tells her, “That man disrespected you in your own home.” He goes on to say, “You know how much I admire Mr. Snell…” Darlene encourages Ash to speak his mind. Ash believes sometimes you must agree to disagree. Darlene calls Ash a sweet boy as he’s pouring acid on Del and his enforcer’s body.

Darlene and Jacob (Peter Mullan) show up at the Byrdes’ house, and Jacob introduces himself and Darlene to Wendy. (Apparently, the three have never actually met before). Jacob asks if Wendy knows about Marty’s business and Marty confirms she does. Ash is with the Snells and it’ll be his job to take Del’s car, cell phone, and credit card back to Chicago. Marty reminds Ash to use one of Del’s credit cards while in Chicago.

Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) heads into Jonah’s room to have a talk. Charlotte admits she wouldn’t have been as brave as he was. She doesn’t think she wouldn’t have been able to pull the trigger. Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) disagrees and thinks she would have. Charlotte confesses she keeps thinking about it. She throws some money on her brother’s chest, revealing she took it the night they helped put the money into the wall. She figures Jonah should have half of it. (She took $10,000.)

Ruth (Julia Garner) is talking to a board about how she used to get angry and react. She says she’s changed. She has a real job now and she’s looking after her cousins. She realizes she must keep on this path. It’s not stated, but she’s probably speaking with the parole board.

Marty goes to the Blue Cat and finds Tuck (Evan George Vourazeris) sitting on the stairs. He reports he hasn’t heard from Rachel and when he calls her it goes straight to voicemail. Marty instructs Tuck to go home and he’ll call him when he needs him for work. Marty heads over to the cabin where he hid the money and sees a hole in the wall. Money is missing.

Wendy is looking around at the funeral home and tells Harry they don’t really use the coolers so they would save in electricity if they turned them off and locked them up. She thinks they should buy caskets in bulk to save money. And, she lets him know she is going to borrow the hearse. They have a terminally ill tenant who wants to test-drive his final ride.

Marty’s standing outside his vehicle when Ruth pulls up. He’s been blowing her off which is ironic since she saved his life and killed her own uncles to do so. With an attitude, he tells her he can’t talk right now. She ignores him and continues. He still insists they can’t talk and she angrily gets out of the car and starts yelling at him about not being stupid. She knows the cartel’s going to dump another pile of money on him. Just then Wendy pulls up in the hearse. Marty insists they will talk, but Ruth is angry when she gets back in her car.

Marty and Wendy begin to move the money out of the walls.

Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) shows up with Charlotte and notices Ruth has paint supplies in her hand. He asks if she’s fixing up the trailer for her dad. She confirms she is.

Charlotte and Jonah are getting ready for school the next morning when Marty goes over what the kids will tell the school about why they’ve been absent. Marty tells the kids they all need 100% honesty with each other from here on out. Charlotte and Jonah exchange glances but agree.

Jonah wants to know what happened to the body (referring to Garcia who was killed in season one episode 10). Marty matter of factly says they took it to the funeral parlor and cremated it. Charlotte asks what funeral parlor and Wendy replies, “I bought one before we left.”

Jonah asks if they’ve killed people. Wendy quickly replies, “We do not kill people.” Marty gets a call and he tells the kids they have their first casino business meeting.

Marty and the Snells are waiting outside the Blue Cat for the person who called him. Darlene, the ever-so-difficult one, isn’t happy. She believes the meeting should be at their house and finds this disrespectful. Marty reminds her this needs to be done on equal territory.

A black SUV pulls up and a woman exits. She introduces herself to Marty as Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer), the attorney of his employer. Marty asks where Del is and Helen reveals she was hoping Marty could tell her that. He says he doesn’t know but figured he would show up with her. She assures the group they can talk without him.

Now inside, Helen gets to the point and says, “My client is prepared to offer an 80-20 split.” Darlene scoffs and asks sarcastically, “In whose favor?” Jacob pipes in saying 80-20 doesn’t exactly speak to a partnership. Helen concedes the Snells are donating their land, but her client is taking a financial risk. Helen goes on to say, “Not to mention the potential loss of reputation to my client, if he distributes a product that’s inferior.”

Jacob clearly feels insulted and reminds her he has been respectful and expects her to do the same when she’s talking about his business. Marty asks Helen if she can test the product and make sure it is high quality. Helen levels with Marty letting him know she and her client have doubts he can even get this casino running. Marty questions why that is and lists all the things that need to be done to open the casino including the political campaign needed to overturn the cap on the number of casinos that can be opened in Missouri. “It would take a seasoned pro, right? Someone like my wife,” says Marty.

Marty states it’s his job to create the casino and Helen needs to make a fair deal. He lets both parties know he is going to be taking 3% of the profits. Helen asks if he knows he’s betting everything to pull this off. Marty confirms he understands that and lets her know she’ll have a casino in six months.

As they’re walking out, Helen asks Marty if Del said anything to Marty about going to Chicago. Marty tells her no. Helen goes on to tell Marty Del was supposed to be on a private jet to Mexico City and changing plans would be a breach of trust.

Before getting in the SUV, Helen issues a final warning. “Don’t f**k with me. And don’t f**k with my client. Understand?” Marty simply nods yes, but Helen isn’t finished. She informs him they’ll kill his children and gut his wife. She asks Marty, “Do you want me to tell you what they will do to you?” Marty wordlessly shakes his head no.

With that, Helen gets in the SUV.

Marty finds Wendy on the porch and she asks him, “Well?” He tells her last they heard Del was in Chicago. Wendy sighs in relief. Marty says now they have to pull off opening a casino.

Ruth’s at the strip club when a stripper informs her another stripper by the name of Cheyenne is turning tricks in the VIP room. Ruth enters the VIP room and yells at the stripper and the customer. Afterward, Ruth appears to have an idea.

Marty offers Brock Mercer (Jackson Beals) the opportunity to introduce legislation that could lead to a brand-new casino in his district. He asks Marty if he has any idea how much he makes as a state senator. Of course Marty does, stating his salary’s $35,914 per year. Brock tells Marty his point is he isn’t doing it to be rich, but for the people in the district. Marty informs him a new casino will produce a thousand new jobs per year for the people in his district.

Marty further explains they’re building it completely local – only using vendors from the community. Brock says, “I take it you’ve been to the lake house.” Marty has no clue what he’s talking about. The man laughs and tells Marty to come talk to him when he does.

Marty is back home trying to search “Lake House” when Wendy comes in announcing she found out the lake house is the second home of a wealthy businessman from Kansas City named Charles Wilkes. Marty knows she’s dying to tell him more; this is right up Wendy’s alley. Smiling, she says, “Missouri is the only state that has no limit on personal campaign contributions.” So, if you want something done you go to the lake house.

Marty asks about Wilke’s political views. She informs him it’s not the same as theirs. Marty and Wendy try to figure out how they’re going to get to him.

It’s the middle of the night when their house alarm goes off. Turns out it’s Charlotte returning home and she claims she forgot the code. Marty and Wendy didn’t even know she left the house. Marty angrily tells Charlotte he needs to know where she and Jonah are every second of the day. Charlotte’s obviously not happy about that and accuses them of making her a prisoner.

Marty promises they only need six months. They need to get the casino up and running then they can go anywhere they want. Until then they need to know where Charlotte is every minute.

Ozark Season 2 Episode 1
Laura Linney and Jason Bateman in ‘Ozark’ season 2 episode 1 (Photo by Jessica Miglio/Netflix)

Marty and Wendy are busy moving into a new investment building when a man shows up and warns them the casino bill will never see the floor. Wendy, doing her diligence, asks the man if that’s what he feels or does Charles Wilkes feel that way? He tells Wendy all he knows about the Byrdes but also states, “We don’t know you.” Wendy suggests he invite them to the lake house then. As the man walks away, he advises them not to call for an appointment again.

Ruth meets with a stripper at a motel and hands her a key. After waiting around for a while, her dad emerges from the room. (It’s confirmed he was released from prison.) After getting into the car, Cade asks her why she killed his brothers. She tells him Russ was a rat. Her dad calls BS and she produces a “bug” she found in Russ’ trailer.

Wendy visits an orphanage and tells the nun she’s trying to find a cousin. She asks to see his files and the nun agrees to let her see them.

Cade and Ruth are home and he seems to be excited to see Wyatt and Three. Ruth shows him where he’ll be staying. Cade’s impressed and embraces Ruth.

Marty rushes home because Wendy needs to speak to him about something important. She hands him a tux and informs him Charles Wilkes is throwing a benefit for his charity in Kansas City. She’s bought a table for $50,000. Marty asks her if she realizes he sent someone to explicitly tell them to stay away. Wendy replies, “No one drives four hours to tell someone to stay away.” She adds, “It wasn’t a warning, it was an invitation.”

Cade has a bunch of people on the property as a welcome home party when Marty and Wendy stop by to talk to Ruth. Cade introduces himself to Marty and then leaves them to talk. Marty reminds Ruth they’re not partners just because of what she did for him. He asks besides that what is it she wants? She reveals she wants a raise. Marty asks how much. Ruth says $25,000 a year and she wants to learn how to use the books. Marty not only agrees but lets her know they just opened a new office and she can come work there for him. Ruth seems to like this idea and agrees.

Back to Wendy and Marty dancing at the charity benefit and she seems to spot Charles Wilkes (Darren Goldstein). She purposely bumps into him, deliberately spilling her drink on him. He notices her necklace and it appears to have meaning to him. He knows who she is and she seems impressed he knows who she is. She offers to introduce him to her husband.

Helen stops by a convenience store where Del’s card was used. She lets the clerk know she’s investigating something and needs to see the footage from the surveillance cameras. The clerk informs her he can’t do that and resumes playing on his phone. She offers to pay him and he asks for a ridiculous amount of money. She leaves stating she’s sorry they couldn’t come to an agreement. A cartel enforcer comes in, kills the clerk, and takes the device they need.

At the charity benefit, Charles asks the Byrdes how a casino equates to a simpler family life. Wendy does all the talking and she refutes anyone who says Christian values and capitalism can’t coexist. Wilkes asks Wendy about her work in politics in Chicago and she confirms she did work in politics. He asks if she thinks she can sell him on this idea. Wendy answers right away, saying, “I do.” Charles says, “Enlighten me.”

Marty and Wendy are returning home when a black SUV blocks their way. A man points a gun at them and demands they get out of their car and into the backseat of the SUV. Helen, in the front seat, tells Marty he lied and shows him a picture of Ash using Del’s credit card. She gives Marty one hour to negotiate reparations for Del’s death. Marty asks Helen what kind of deal she’s willing to accept. She says she’ll know when she hears it. Marty says, “Okay, then let’s go see the Snells.”

Back at the Langmore property, Ruth seems to be getting jealous of Cade talking to Wyatt and storms off to bed.

Marty tells the Snells to pay the cartel $5 million. They refuse. It’s suggested they give up a percentage of their casino profits. They refuse that as well. Wendy tries to plead with Jacob. He demands they leave and asks Ash to walk them out. While Ash’s back is turned, Jacob hits Ash in the head with firewood. While he’s knocked out, Jacob stabs Ash with a fireplace poker. Darlene starts screaming, “No!,” saying she had a close bond with Ash – a weird mother-son kind of bond. Jacob tells the Byrdes to “go get your Mexicans.”

Marty and Wendy are dropped off back at their vehicle. Wendy seems to be taking Ash being killed hard. She believes they’re responsible for his death. Marty explains Ash’s dead due to his choices. He didn’t have to try to cover up a murder, just like Darlene didn’t have to kill Del. Wendy does not get back in the car and walks the rest of the way home.

Ruth is sleeping when her dad comes in and wakes her up. Cade asks what Marty wanted and she explains she asked Marty for a raise. Cade asks what Marty had to say about that and she says Marty agreed. Cade reminds Ruth that Marty isn’t her dad.

Marty and Wendy return home, silently moving about the house turning lights off while Frank Sinatra is playing. And that’s how episode one of season two ends.




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