‘Ozark’ Season 2 Episode 6 Recap: “Outer Darkness”

By
Alison Helms
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Ozark Season 2 Episode 6
Laura Linney, Lindsay Ayliffe, and Jason Bateman in ‘Ozark’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by Jessica Miglio/Netflix)

Season two episode six of Netflix’s critically acclaimed drama, Ozark, starts off with Wendy and Buddy driving back from the Snell farm where Buddy has just set fire to their poppies. Buddy (Harris Yulin) seems to be in high spirits and tries to get Wendy (Laura Linney) to lighten up. Wendy asks Buddy if he misses his life back in Detroit and he admits he does, sometimes.

Buddy changes the subject and asks Wendy to promise when they get the casino up and running, they’ll get the hell out of there. Wendy assures him they have a plan and then provides details on how they’ve decided to go to Australia. She begins to tell him about her childhood and not having a lot of money and by the time she’s done with her story, she realizes Buddy has died.

Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) tries to talk to Ruth (Julia Garner) but she won’t answer the door, clearly still shaken – and rightfully so – from being waterboarding. Ruth tries to take a shower but begins to cry.

Frank from the funeral home arrives at the Byrdes’ home to collect Buddy’s body. Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) asks his mom and dad why Buddy smells like gasoline and Wendy explains Buddy wanted to help with something. Jonah, upset, questions why she would let Buddy go with her. Marty (Jason Bateman) reminds his son it’s no one’s fault; they knew he was sick.

Marty prepares to leave and Wendy tries to talk him into staying home. Marty warns her, “You blew up their field, Wendy. It’s just gonna get worse from here.”

The Feds are on the Snell property searching when Darlene (Lisa Emery) walks over and threatens Agent Roy Petty (Jason Butler Harner). He begins to question if they know the whereabouts of Del who was last seen coming onto their property. Before they can answer, he questions them about the fire on their property the night before. Jacob (Peter Mullan) claims it was a prescribed burn. Petty clearly doesn’t buy it.

Ruth exits her trailer and Wyatt asks if she’s okay. She’s being her usual spitfire self and is mad Wyatt’s late for school. She tells him to go get Three and get in the car. Cade (Trevor Long) inspects Ruth to see if she’s all right, all the while telling her they’ll get Marty’s money one way or another. (Sure, his daughter was just questioned, threatened, and assaulted by the cartel, but hey let’s steal money from them anyway.)

The FBI agents and their trained dogs are at the field where the burn took place. Petty receives a radio call that Marty’s at the gate trying to get in. Petty won’t let him through and tells Marty he can’t have contact with them because they might become witnesses. He’s obviously trying to get to Marty; everyone knows the Snells turning witness is most likely not going to happen.

During the FBI’s search, an agent announces he’s found something. One of their trained dogs digs up bones.

Marty and Wendy argue over the Snells while at the funeral home. He’s upset she didn’t run the idea of burning the poppies by him first and that she’s making decisions without him. Frank comes out and begins showing Wendy mausoleums – another thing Marty did not know about. He questions when she was going to tell him about that. She snaps back, “Well, I’m telling you now.”

Marty goes to where they store the caskets and begins taking money out of one of them. (It seems that’s where they’re hiding their money for the time being.)

Jonah’s down in the basement beginning to go through Buddy’s belongings when he notices a Rolodex.

Charles Wilkes (Darren Goldstein) stops by the Byrde residence to speak to Wendy. He says he’s been trying to get ahold of her and reveals the FBI’s been trying to contact him. He wants to know what kind of business their investors are in and if it’s legal. She says no but adds if he wants the whole truth, now’s his chance.

Marty shows up at the strip club and is surprised to find Ruth there. She sarcastically asks him, “You think those polls wipe themselves off?” He responds no, but she hasn’t been answering his calls. He offers that if she needs more time, she can take all the time she wants. Ruth cuts him off, insisting she’s fine.

The FBI’s still at the Snell farm piecing together human remains when Jacob tells Darlene to call his lawyer. She demands he admit they should never have gotten involved with “these people.” Jacob snaps back, wanting to know whose idea it was to put bones into the poppy fields – hers or Ash’s.

Agent Petty asks Jacob if wants to discuss his business doings with Marty Byrde. Jacob refuses to discuss anything without the presence of his lawyer. Petty informs him he’s going to charge him with murder.

Darlene meets with Helen and the Brydes at Marty and Wendy’s office. Helen needs to know what exactly the FBI has uncovered on their land. They ask if Del’s in the field and Darlene insists he’s not. Helen informs Darlene people under investigation for murder are not granted casino licenses. Darlene doesn’t give a damn about a casino license.

“I’ll rephrase that. Your husband might go away for mass murder. What do you plan to do about it?” asks Helen. Darlene seems to think it’s the problem of whoever burned her field – not hers. Wendy admits it was Marty who burned their field and points out if he didn’t do so both Darlene and Jacob would be in jail for drug trafficking. Darlene seems stunned by this revelation. She’s pissed off Wendy stood in her home and lied to her. Wendy responds, “I saved this entire enterprise from going under.”

Pastor Mason Young (Michael Mosley) visits the sheriff’s station wanting to know if any of the bones they found belong to his missing wife, Grace. He agrees to bring his son in to test the DNA.

Wendy’s picking out a suit for Buddy in the basement when Marty fills her in about Mason showing up at the sheriff’s station wanting to know if they found his wife. Wendy asks if he has a plan for what to do about the bones and he admits he doesn’t. He needs to talk to Jacob and Wendy suggests they warn Mason. Darlene’s capable of doing anything.

Charles Wilkes and his lawyer meet with Agent Petty, and Petty begins by going over what Wilkes does, how much he has donated, and what boards he sits on. He admits he now understands what the Byrdes see in him. Petty brings up the fact the Byrdes donated $50,000 to him. Wilkes assures him that $50,000 doesn’t mean he’s in business with them.

Petty switches tactics and reveals he knows Wilkes is 18 days late on a $136 million bank payment. If he had to guess, Petty believes Wilkes is siphoning funds from his foundation and that’s the real reason he needs this casino to open.

Wilkes looks at his lawyer and the lawyer asks Petty if he’s sure he wants to be filming this? Petty says yes. With that, the lawyer says fair enough. “September, a man which is described to look like you fired a handgun inside a bar called Rusty Hall,” says the lawyer. He adds that was coincidentally the night before his motel sustained over $10,000 worth of damage.

Still not finished, the lawyer says when he inquired about the damage a local drug dealer told him he was robbed and assaulted. It wasn’t reported because of drugs and all. He finishes with, “It’s amazing what you can find if you look hard enough.” Petty’s smug look has definitely disappeared now and he reaches over and turns off the camera. Wilkes informs Petty he’ll tell him everything he knows about the Byrdes but in exchange, he wants to be free of the investigation. And, Wendy gets protection.

Marty visits the jail to ask Jacob who the bones belong to and if one of them is Grace. Jacob warns Marty not to ask questions he doesn’t want the answers to. Jacob doesn’t seem to be taking this seriously and insists the Feds are just trying to get him, just like what happened to his family all those years ago. He assures Marty there are bones of family members all over that land.

Marty gets an idea and says, “Say that again.” Jacob, catching Marty’s drift, tells him no. Marty believes it’s a possible way to get him out of there – if he tells him where his ancestors are buried. Jacob thinks it’s a desecration and they do not disturb their dead. Marty says him if he doesn’t, he’s going to rot in jail.

Wendy finds Mason sitting on a bench and warns him she’s worried about him and his baby. Mason doesn’t seem to think she’s concerned so she gets to the point. She wants him to call off the DNA test because he knows what the Snells are capable of.

Ruth turns up at the Blue Cat and asks Rachel for oxy. After Rachel gives her a pill, Ruth asks if Agent Petty still comes in there. Rachel admits sometimes he does. Ruth warns Rachel to stay away from him and Rachel asks what happened. Ruth says he set her up to look like a rat. Again, Rachel asks what happened. Instead of answering, Ruth shows Rachel her bruised arms. She asks Ruth if he did that to her and Ruth doesn’t answer that question but tells Rachel if he shows up there again not to trust him.

Jonah’s at school when an angry student confronts him about taking his money and not doing his work. Jonah forgot and tries to give him his money back. The guy shoves Jonah down and Wyatt comes over and beats the kid up, defending Jonah.

Marty’s getting supplies ready when he gets a call from school.

Marty shows up to get his kids and Wyatt tells Ruth he got suspended. Charlotte and Ruth are upset about it and Charlotte tells her dad he needs to fix this. Ruth also gets upset at Marty, but he ignores her and tells his kids to come with him. Ruth yells out for Charlotte to stay away from Wyatt. She also yells at Marty, telling him Charlotte is a bad influence.

Marty and Wendy sit down with Jonah and want to know why he’s being paid to do other students’ work. Charlotte takes this time to confess she didn’t steal $5,000 but in fact stole $10,000. She also lets her parents know she split it with Jonah. Charlotte tries to turn the tables on them, suggesting that before they try to talk to her about honesty, to look her in the eyes and say they haven’t lied to her and Jonah.

Changing the subject, Marty asks Jonah what he did with his money. Jonah confesses he cleaned it. He explains he opened a bank account under his fake name along with a couple of offshore accounts. Wendy’s upset and tells the kids to go to their rooms. Marty doesn’t want her to make big deal out of this. Clearly too late for that, she says, “Jonah is laundering money under his second identity. Charlotte is stealing drug cartel cash and telling secrets to Wyatt Langmore who, incidentally, thinks that you killed his dad.”

This turns into a huge argument and Wendy blames Marty for not being around. He insists he’s trying to handle things. Marty begins to get his bag and car keys to leave and Wendy’s in disbelief that he’s leaving after what she just said. Marty tells her, “I can stay here. I can talk about our feelings. Or I can go take care of sh*t and make sure that we don’t die, okay?”

Ozark Season 2 Episode 6
Lisa Emery and Jason Bateman in ‘Ozark’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo by Jessica Miglio/Netflix)

Marty heads over to the Snells and begins digging up a gravesite where their ancestors are buried. Darlene, once again, is not happy and tells Marty not to act like he’s some hero trying to get her husband out of jail. She reminds him they both know she could have taken care of the preacher problem.

Wilkes calls Wendy, telling her she lied to him and he needs to speak with her now. She tries to explain it’s not a good time but he informs her he’s on her dock. Wilkes reveals he knows she lied about when exactly they got involved with the cartel. He now knows she’s been in business with the cartel for over 10 years.

Wendy asks what he told the FBI and Wilkes asks what it matters because everything she told him was lies. He insists he’s trying to protect her; she insists she doesn’t need his protection. He wants her to leave Marty. Wendy suggests he should leave and walks away.

Rachel shows up at Petty’s motel and demands to know what he did to Ruth Langmore. She saw the bruises up and down Ruth’s arms and asks if he did that to her. Rachel wants to talk to his boss and wants to see her plea deal in writing. He drops the bombshell that there isn’t a written plea deal and no one knows who she is. He begins to blame her for everything and then hands her drugs. Petty tells her next time Ruth wants drugs to give her these. Rachel throws them and leaves.

It’s the day of Buddy’s funeral and the FBI is there taking pictures. Wilkes is also there and Marty questions why he showed up; he never knew Buddy. Frank Cosgrove from the Kansas City mob is also in attendance. It turns out Jonah called him after he found his name and number in the Rolodex. He called Buddy’s friends and informed them of Buddy’s funeral.

After Jonah leaves, Frank asks Marty what’s going on with the casino. Marty assures him he’s working on it.

Agent Petty is waiting on the DNA results when the lab technician lets him know they have matches. Petty’s in for a shock when he finds out the matching DNA belongs to Jacob Snell. All the remains are 90 to 150 years old.

Pastor Mason is preaching on the streets when the cops arrest him. He’s charged with child endangerment for keeping the baby out in the cold for eight hours a day.

Back at Buddy’s funeral, Wendy shares funny stories about her deceased friend. One, in particular, involves Buddy liking to skinny dip. Jonah speaks as well and reads messages from auto factory workers who Buddy once knew. Jonah then goes on to talk about his own feelings about Buddy, calling him his best friend.

Jacob’s released from jail but before he can leave Petty asks how he did it. Jacob just thanks him for helping them locate their family’s remains. Darlene warns Petty the FBI will be hearing from their lawyer. They intend to file a civil suit against the FBI.

Marty’s at the Blue Cat after everyone leaves and has a beer, telling Rachel he’ll clean up. He asks if she thinks he hides his emotions. He confesses he doesn’t know what to do so he’s trying to keep his head above water and can’t get emotional. He explains if this goes wrong and he can’t pull off the casino, he won’t leave her hanging.

Before he can go on to incriminate himself, Rachel suddenly kisses him. After pulling away he tries to apologize. She stops him by beginning to unbutton her shirt, revealing she’s wearing a wire.




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