‘Ozark’ Season 3 Episode 4 Recap: “Boss Fight”

By
Alison Helms
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Ozark Season 3 Episode 4
Julia Garner in ‘Ozark’ season 3 episode 4 (Photo Courtesy of Netflix © 2020)

Netflix’s Ozark season three episode four starts off with Marty (Jason Bateman) in the back of an SUV and blindfolded. It cuts to Ben (Tom Pelphrey) trying to call the cops, but Ruth (Julia Garner) stops him. He’s frantically asking who the hell are the people who grabbed Marty when Ruth tells him to ask his sister.

Wendy (Laura Linney) gets a call letting her know what happened to Marty. Helen’s with her and claims she had nothing to do with this. (But after her conversation with Ruth, she could very well have been involved.)

Marty’s taken to a hangar and placed on a private plane. Meanwhile, Ruth and Ben meet with Wendy and Helen and describe what they saw and what the men looked like.

At the same time Marty’s being taken out of an SUV, Wendy and Ben are having a talk. She explains she wants to keep him out of it, but Ben freaks out and demands she tell him what’s going on. She confesses she can’t because these people are dangerous.

Ben and Wendy are outside having this conversation, and Helen’s watching them. She calls someone and informs them, “I think you’d better get here as soon as possible. Things are getting complicated.”

Wendy finally tells her brother she works for a Mexican drug cartel.

Wendy’s trying to get Helen to call Navarro, but she won’t do it. Wendy starts to call him herself and Helen seems surprised she has his number. She asks Wendy where she got the number, but it doesn’t matter because the number’s disconnected. Helen asks when she last spoke with Navarro and wonders about his mood. Wendy says he seemed fine. Helen tells Wendy there’s nothing she can do but wait.

Marty awakens in a jail-like room, still blindfolded and with his hands tied. Two men retrieve him and take him to meet Navarro. Before Navarro even says a word, Marty begins talking about how he has a plan, swearing it’s a good plan. Marty realizes they haven’t been laundering to Navarro’s satisfaction, but he has been under constant pressure from the FBI. With each word Marty speaks, Navarro creeps closer and closer to Marty.

Navarro finally speaks and catches Marty off guard when he asks, “What do you want, Marty?” Marty hesitates and then admits he doesn’t understand the question. The men take him back to his prison cell and turn on a bright light which makes it hard to see.

Ruth confesses to Ben she doesn’t think she can do all this without Marty. He tries to make her laugh and, surprisingly, that works.

Helen, Wendy, Ruth, and Ben are sitting around when Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) come home. Jonah blurts out, “My allergies are acting up.” That wasn’t suspicious at all. Charlotte questions where Marty is and Wendy says he’s in Kansas City on business. Charlotte and Jonah know she’s lying.

Later at the casino, Ruth asks Special Agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes) if she can help her since Marty’s out of town and she’s in charge right now. Miller seems suspicious because Marty didn’t tell her he was going out of town.

The next morning Charlotte and Jonah once again ask Wendy about their dad. She reveals he went down to Mexico and Jonah asks right away if he was kidnapped. Continuing with the lies, she says he went down there to talk to their boss. Wendy notices her brother Ben is standing there with them and asks him to step outside. She immediately asks him what he’s thinking and he counters with, “What the f*ck were you thinking?! They know so much!”

Helen lets Wendy know Marty’s alive but that’s all she knows. Wendy asks who told her that and Helen says one of Navarro’s men. Wendy quickly deduces he wouldn’t just say that. Helen informs Wendy the boss also said it’s business as usual. Helen believes he’s testing them to see if they’ll succeed and if they do it could determine what will happen to Marty.

Marty’s still in his cell singing a song when he has a flashback to his childhood. The memory shows he’s doing the same thing but pacing. He and his mother are in the hospital and his dad’s just been admitted. While walking to the vending machine he spots an arcade video game.

He’s brought back to the present time when men come in, order him on his knees and tie up his hands. Navarro comes down and asks Marty if he loves Wendy and he responds yes. Navarro asks if he trusts Wendy. He responds yes, again. Navarro wants to know why, if that’s true, he spied on her phone. Marty claims it was to protect her. Navarro thinks Marty fears Wendy because he doesn’t understand her. Marty asks if he knows her. Navarro says yes because he knows what she wants. Sighing, Marty asks, “And what’s that?” Navarro replies, “She wants it all.”

Navarro asks Marty what he wants. Crying, Marty confesses he wants to see his wife and kids again. Navarro hits him, calls him a liar, and then hits him again in the face.

While we see Navarro asking Marty again what he wants, we also see Wendy at the mausoleum taking money out. Navarro leaves Marty in his cell.

Ruth’s at her trailer talking to people about how they’re going to spend money at the casino and not get caught. Wendy shows up to speak with her, asking if it’s all good and handing Ruth money. Wendy looks over the guys Ruth’s picked to help her and asks, “I thought you told them to wear their Sunday best?” Glancing back at the men, Ruth says, “Well, you’re looking at it.”

Wendy isn’t pleased when she spots her brother in the group. Ruth reminds her they need people they can trust and bodies. She promises to keep her eye on Ben.

At the office, Helen tells Charlotte she knows she’s worried about her dad and offers to help if there’s anything she can do. When Charlotte hesitates, Helen asks her how much she knows. She also asks if she knows everything. Charlotte confirms she does. Helen threatens Charlotte, warning her not to tell her daughter Erin anything or there will be consequences.

Wendy comes into the office to let Helen know things are going good, so far. Helen questions if she trusts Ruth, and Wendy not only tells her yes but explains she does so because Marty does. Wendy believes Ruth is devoted to Marty. Helen still doesn’t seem convinced.

Ben sits down to play poker while Ruth monitors the action on the security cameras. Agent Miller comes in and asks Ruth for last night’s take as well as figures for the last hours. After she hands the papers over, Agent Miller asks where Marty is and if she’s heard from him. Ruth tells her no, but Agent Miller notices there’s a spike in today’s number compared to yesterday’s. Ruth tries to play it off by claiming it’s summer business. The lake is always busy this time of year. Miller doesn’t buy it and announces she’s walking the floor.

Ozark Season 3 Episode 4
Tom Pelphrey as Ben and Jessica Frances Dukes as Agent Miller in ‘Ozark’ season 3 episode 4 (Photo Courtesy of Netflix © 2020)

Agent Miller spots Ben at the tables and strikes up a conversation. She wants to know what he’s doing there and then tries to trip him up by asking if Marty’s out sick. He assures her he’s not sick; he’s in Kansas City. Ruth comes up and informs Miller she’s going to have to ask her not to disturb the players.

Marty has another flashback and in this one he’s telling his mom about how the arcade game’s fixed. His mom yells at him about not having enough money for food let alone arcade games. He suddenly wakes up and sees Navarro staring at him. Marty’s frustrated at this point and demands to know the point of this. He asks, “You want to break me? Is that what you want?” He then asks Navarro if he wants him to confess. While Navarro continues silently standing over him, Marty confesses he doesn’t trust his wife and he fears Navarro. He also confesses he’s been against their plans of a legitimate casino since day one. He adds that he’s rooting for the other guy and he hopes he chops his head off. Navarro simply replies, “Now that’s a start,” and walks away leaving Marty under impossibly bright lights.

Wendy’s getting ready when Charlotte hands her a coffee and lets her know Helen is aware Charlotte knows everything. Wendy isn’t mad.

Agent Miller shows up at the Byrdes’ place and shows Wendy a photo of a man, asking if she knows who he is. Wendy says she doesn’t. Agent Miller then asks where Marty is and Wendy says Kansas City. Miller wonders when was the last time she spoke with Marty and Wendy claims it was the other night. She hasn’t since then because they had a fight.

Miller believes Marty’s in grave danger, that the cartel took him and are probably torturing him. Miller warns Wendy she’ll probably never see her husband again. Wendy repeats her answer – Marty is in Kansas City on business.

Not only does the cartel have blinding lights on making it impossible to see or sleep, but they are also now playing extremely loud metal music on repeat.

Ruth, Wendy, Helen, and Ben are all panicking because one of their offshore accounts is frozen and no one knows what to do.

Ruth is back home sitting outside when Ben shows up. He asks Ruth how she’s doing; she responds she’s okay and suggests he should probably get out of town.

Marty has drifted away back to his memory of his mom talking to doctors when the gate opens to his cell and he’s taken to Navarro. He’s sat down at a laptop and Navarro demands to know where his money is. Marty realizes he made them launder without him. He tells Marty to fix it. As Marty does, he goes step-by-step over what he needs to do. It takes Marty less than a minute to fix. The men take Marty back to his cell while Marty kicks and screams, “I did it you motherf*cker! Look at me I did it! I fixed your money!”

Alone in the dark, Wendy contemplates calling Agent Miller. While doing so she begins to cry. Ben comes home to find her like that and holds her.

Marty falls back into his memories of his dad dying. He’s taken back to Navarro and tells him he knows what he wants. “I want to launder money only when I say it is safe,” confesses Marty. Navarro asks when that will be. He makes a bold statement saying he will turn the FBI agent to be on their side. Navarro asks Marty if he wants something else. Marty tells Navarro he wants him to thank him. Navarro doesn’t answer and Marty starts to walk back with the men.

The final scene of the episode shows Marty being dropped off at home and walking up his long driveway.




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