‘Ozark’ Season 2 Episode 8 Recap: “The Big Sleep”

Ozark Season 2 Episode 8
Jason Bateman and Jason Butler Harner in ‘Ozark’ season 2 episode 8 (Photo by Jessica Miglio/Netflix)

Episode eight of Netflix’s Ozark season two starts off with the timeline jumping around. The episode opens “now” as an ambulance rushes to the Blue Cat where they find a panicked Tuck (Evan George Vourazeris) and Rachel (Jordana Spiro) unconscious on the floor. The show cuts to 30 minutes before that happened and we see Rachel smoking a cigarette and snorting drugs off the bar. She passes out.

Three hours before that took place, Rachel spots a drug dealer at a gas station and asks for oxy. He informs her he doesn’t have any but has heroin, which she declines at first. After the drug dealer begins to walk away, she has a change of heart and buys it off him.

The timeline leaps back in time to the day before at the home of a drug distributor named Amos. The guy who sold the drugs to Rachel is there picking up more drugs. Going back two days before this, the drug distributor is sitting around watching the financial market of all things when a van shows up with more drugs.

Once again, the timeline jumps back three days before that. (Hopefully, you’re all keeping up!) Jacob Snell (Peter Mullan) is in the barn watching the drugs being packaged. Jumping once more to four days before that, Darlene (Lisa Emery) is down there by herself smashing up prescription pills and mixing it in with the heroin.

Marty (Jason Bateman) wakes up to Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) holding baby Zeke. Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) begins to question how long the baby will be there and why Mason would just give his baby to them. Wendy (Laura Linney) simply says he asked for their help.

Charlotte’s about to leave when Wendy asks where she’s going. Charlotte informs her mom she’s heading over to Wyatt’s and Wendy’s surprised since Ruth told her to stay away from him. Charlotte lets her parents know she doesn’t care. Not finished acting out, she says Wyatt got thrown out of school because he’s a Langmore while her brother Jonah only got suspended.

Marty agrees Charlotte is right about Wyatt. Wendy seems uninterested, reminding Marty they have other problems. They received Tom Beecher’s report to the gaming commission and it is bad. Marty doesn’t even bother looking at the report. Wendy thinks they need to get out ahead of this and she reveals Wilkes isn’t returning her calls. Marty, appearing not to be listening or concerned, says, “You know, I used to think that we were, uh, different than them. You know, these people that we work for…” Wendy cuts him off, declaring they are different from them. Mason was going to kill her and he saved her life.

Their conversation is cut short when Marty gets a call saying Rachel overdosed.

Wendy pays a visit to Wilkes to thank him for his help. Wilkes thinks it’s strange the kidnapper didn’t keep his ransom, referring to the baby that Wendy has with her. She brings up Beecher’s report and asks if he can do something about it. Wilkes seems uninterested in helping the Byrdes.

Marty’s at the hospital to see Rachel and discreetly asks if she still has a wire on. She answers by whispering, “F*ck you. The EMTs took it off me.” Marty tells her he didn’t know she was using and Rachel becomes defensive. She claims she’s not a junkie so he doesn’t need to worry about it. He apologizes for getting her involved in all of this. After telling him no offense but that doesn’t mean sh*t, she explains when she woke up she was glad she didn’t die. But, she wonders what now? Marty wonders how she’d feel if he can get her out, suggesting he can’t mess it up any worse.

Ruth (Julia Garner) and Cade (Trevor Long) are scoping out the funeral home when Cade asks if she thinks she can handle Harry (Lindsay Ayliffe). After watching him enter the alarm code, she begins to ask Harry about what he does. She says she’s interested in working at a funeral home. Harry offers to give her a tour.

The drug distributor is on the phone when the FBI busts down his door in a drug raid. He takes off running, but the FBI catches him.

The FBI holds a meeting on the drugs that were spiked and causing overdoses. A female FBI agent states the drugs seem to be connected to the Navarro cartel. Agent Roy Petty (Jason Butler Harner) interrupts, disagreeing these are from the Navarro cartel. If they were, there would be overdoses in Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and more. Right now, the overdoses are in Chicago and the Ozarks – that is where the drugs came from.

Harry is showing Ruth a dead body when she suddenly asks to use the restroom. While passing a door with a padlock, she asks what’s in there. Harry reveals that’s where they store the caskets.

Helen (Janet McTeer) bails the drug distributer out of jail and offers him a ride home.

Marty’s feeling guilty about Rachel, blaming himself for her situation. Wendy doesn’t like what he’s saying and begins to list everything Rachel’s done: she’s a drug addict, she stole from them, and she’s an FBI informant. Wendy asks if there’s something going on between him and Rachel, but before he can say anything Jonah informs them Sheriff Nix is there.

Sheriff Nix (Robert C. Treveiler) explains Social Services is trying to locate Mason Young. It seems Mason has disappeared, so he thought he’d ask them. Wendy confirms Social Services contacted them about the baby but they haven’t heard from Mason. He brings up how it’s suspicious he’s missing and they have his baby. Wendy suggests he talk to the Snells. (Charlotte is listening to their conversation.)

Helen questions the drug distributor and he insists he didn’t tamper with the drugs. He reveals there are still more drugs wrapped in plastic and she can check them out. Helen walks away while some of the cartel men kill the dealer.

Wendy and Marty get ready for bed and Wendy attempts to discuss the casino. He’s not listening and confesses he wanted to tell Nix the truth about Mason.

Marty meets with Agent Petty at a diner and discloses the fact he knows Rachel’s working for him. Marty asks Petty to let her go, explaining she almost died last night. He’s genuinely asking as a human being to let her off the hook. Petty finds that ironic. “You work for one of the most vicious cartels in the world, and you’re talking to me about being human?” he asks, incredulously.

Marty ignores him, stating Rachel is not a danger. Petty asks if his wife knows about him and Rachel, and Marty responds by asking if the FBI knows he was giving Rachel drugs. Petty reveals the drugs she overdosed on came from the Snells; he believes they tamper with them.

Wendy finds Jonah in the basement and questions him about laundering money in an offshore account. He confirms he can help her.

Agent Petty visits Rachel as she’s getting ready to leave the hospital and warns her she isn’t going anywhere. She still belongs to him and is being extradited back to Louisiana.

Marty shows up at the office and finds Helen sitting at his desk. She questions why there was a $1.8 million withdrawal from the construction account and he explains they have to start paying for things. She wants him to run all payments by her first. Before leaving she lets him know he needs to deal with the Snells for spiking the heroin.

Marty returns home and fills Wendy in on Helen questioning him about the $1.8 million that’s missing. She reveals she had to put something in motion with Wilkes. They begin to argue which causes Zeke to cry. Wendy tells Marty to take care of the baby before storming off.

Jacob and Darlene are getting ready for bed when he tells her he thinks she messed with the drugs. Not denying it, she admits she’s still unhappy about their deal with “the Mexicans.” Jacob angrily warns her he doesn’t answer to her. Darlene’s furious and goes to sleep on the couch.

Ruth visits the high school principal and before he can get a word in, Ruth starts going off. He interrupts her stating Wyatt can come back to school; a benefactor made a very eloquent case on Wyatt’s behalf. Ruth questions who, but the principal says he can’t give out the man’s name.

Wilkes’ lawyer/minion informs him he has good news. There was a $1.8 million donation made to his foundation. There are strings attached, of course. Half goes to his foundation, a third goes to Blake’s foundation, and the rest to some hurricane relief foundation. Wilkes asks him to find out who it’s from before he accepts the money.

Charlotte and Wyatt check out a bookstore and Wyatt spots a first edition of a book in a case. Charlotte asks the lady working if she can open the case and while she’s not looking, Charlotte steals the book.

Ruth calls Wyatt to break the news he’s back in school.

Marty’s looking up information on Agent Petty when Ruth comes in asking if he got Wyatt back into school. He confesses it didn’t seem fair. Marty seems to have a newfound outlook on life and apologizes for what the cartel did to her. He admits he should have protected her. After he leaves, she begins to go through his drawers and finds a key.

While driving, Charlotte shows Wyatt the book she stole. He’s pissed off and she doesn’t seem to get it. He explains that she just doesn’t understand. If she gets caught, it’s fine; if he does, it’s different. That sets Charlotte off and she spills her guts, revealing she witnessed a guy get killed in her house, she helped load money into a wall, and the FBI raided her house. After her rant, she throws the book out the window. Wyatt turns around and retrieves it.

The Byrdes are sitting down for dinner when Marty asks Jonah what he did that day. Wendy interrupts and says he set up an online profile for Mike Fleming to see if Wilkes will bite. Marty insists she didn’t need to do that. Switching to Charlotte, he asks what she did that day. She nonchalantly says she stole a book from a bookstore. When asked why she did it, she says, “Because I’m a Byrde and that’s what we do.” After they scold her, she storms off.

Helen calls and wants Marty to check his inbox. She seems to think he’ll be happy with something in there.

Wilkes’ minion calls to inform his boss the donor is Michael Fleming, a 14-year-old boy. Wilkes tells him to just accept the money.

Marty meets with Agent Petty at the diner again and this time Marty shows him a video of Petty’s mom shooting up drugs. Enraged, Petty warns Marty he’ll kill him. “No, you won’t,” says Marty. He also tells him he’s going to let go of Rachel and drop all the charges.

Wendy shows up at a gala to talk to Wilkes and says she heard he finally made good on his donation to the Blake Foundation. He questions where she heard that from and she says Susan Blake. She tells Wilkes she’s simply making sure promises are lived up to. She explains she and Marty helped with the donation through Mike Fleming. He warns her he’s still not going to help her with the casino. She suspects that but lets him down gently. She reveals he just accepted Mexican cartel money. He gets loud and she reminds him to smile since people are watching.

Ruth and Cade break into the funeral home and begin to go through all the caskets stored in the locked room. They don’t find anything. Cade’s furious with Ruth and after calling her all kinds of names, he slaps her. In response, she pulls a knife on him. He knows she won’t do anything and walks away.

Marty visits Buddy’s mausoleum and talks to his dead friend. When he’s finished he moves the bench out of the way and begins to take money out of it.

Marty goes to see Rachel and lets her know Petty won’t be bothering her anymore. He also hands her a plane ticket and explains there’s a rehab facility already paid for there. She kisses Marty goodbye and thanks him.

Jacob and Darlene are leaving a church function at night when they’re suddenly gunned down on their drive back home.

The episode comes to a close with Marty and Wendy waiting for Charlotte. When she returns home, she tells them she wants to talk. Charlotte drops the bombshell that she wants to get emancipated. They clearly think that’s ridiculous. She explains she loves them but doesn’t want to be a part of this anymore. All they do is lie. She’s made up her mind and wants out. With that, she leaves the room.