Warning! Full spoilers for Ozark Season 3 below. Be sure to check out our spoiler-free review of Ozark Season 3 right here.
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Ozark Season 3 ended with a bang… literally. And now that Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer) is dead and out of the picture thanks to cartel boss Omar Navarro (Felix Solis), what’s in store for Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) if Ozark gets picked up for a fourth season? And let’s not forget about their children, Charlotte and Jonah, who went through their own significant transformations in Season 3. Will the Byrde family stay unified or fall apart before it’s all over?
In order to find the answers to these questions and more, IGN spoke to showrunner Chris Mundy to get the inside scoop.
[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=ozark-season-3-photos&captions=true”]
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
Why Did Omar Navarro Kill Helen Pierce?
Marty and Wendy once again get out of a sticky situation by earning the trust of ruthless cartel boss Omar Navarro. In a surprising turn of events, Navarro’s hitman kills long-time employee Helen Pierce. But why did Navarro end up siding with the Byrdes and not Helen? “I think that Navarro had to make a choice between Marty and Wendy or Helen,” Mundy said. “And Helen had long service and loyalty, but Marty and Wendy had pulled off a couple of impossible things: One was getting a casino to launder money through, and the other is getting the FBI and US government to intercede in a drug war. Those are some magical things that Helen couldn’t do.”
Is Ben Davis (Wendy’s Brother) really dead?
Per Mundy, Ben “is actually dead,” but that didn’t stop us from being a bit skeptical because we never see him die on screen. So why did Mundy and his team of writers decide not to reveal the deadly deed? “The important thing about Ben’s death was about the emotional impact on Wendy,” Mundy told IGN. “It just felt like if we showed the death on screen, that in some strange way it was going to take away from what we were really telling, which is, look at what Wendy did and had to do. We didn’t want to take away from that emotion and when you do violence there’s something visceral about it, and we only wanted to lean into it from the emotional.”
Wendy is obviously distraught after being complicit in the death of her own brother, but has she truly gone over to the dark side now or is there still some humanity left in her? “I feel like Wendy and Marty are still trying to desperately hold onto their humanity even as they do worse and worse things,” Mundy explained. “They would probably say they’re forced to do worse and worse things. I don’t think it’s a situation where she’s become a psychopath and is taking pleasure out of these kinds of things.”
Was Ben’s Death Too Much for Jonah to Handle?
The last time we see Jonah in Season 3, the young man has a haunted look on his face as he holds his Uncle’s recently cremated remains in his hand. Jonah proved that he’s more than capable of standing up for himself — and he even kissed a girl! But now that he’s aware of his mother’s involvement in Ben’s death, how will that affect Jonah moving forward from an emotional standpoint?
“Because Jonah’s so intellectually curious, Jonah took to the idea of them being this family in crime easier than Charlotte did… if his dad’s going to launder money, then he’s going to learn how to launder money,” Mundy said. “[Jonah’s] been the one who’s kind of skated through it, relying on his intellect. And this is the first time the full emotional impact crushed him. [Ben’s death] was too heavy, and learning that his mom is complicit in it is more than he could handle. It was the first real break we’ve seen from Jonah.”
What’s the Deal with Wyatt and Darlene’s Relationship?
One of the most peculiar storylines in Season 3 is the romantic relationship between Wyatt and Darlene and we’re a bit worried about Wyatt, since Darlene killed her last husband. So what makes this odd couple work?
“We talked about in the writer’s room pretty early. And it was one of those things like, ‘Are we really doing it?’ The important thing for us was to play it very straight: the way we filmed it, the way we wrote it, the way they talked to each other,” Mundy told IGN. “This was a relationship born out of two people who had similar needs. They’re both damaged, and they each helped each other through a hard time, so it’s a real relationship. Obviously the age difference is a big one but we didn’t want to play it as a comedy. We wanted their connection to be real.”
What Video Game Is Marty Playing?
In episode four, titled “Boss Fight,” we flashback to Marty’s childhood while he’s visiting his dying father in the hospital. Looking for a distraction, Marty notices another kid playing an arcade game called Beast Slayer. Mundy informed us that Beast Slayer was made up for Season 3, however, it’s based on a real game called Altered Beast. Altered Beast is a beat ’em up arcade game that was originally released in 1988 by Sega.
Mundy couldn’t remember the specifics of why they weren’t allowed to use the real Altered Beast arcade game in the episode, but it usually has to do with “people not willing to license things or the pure cost of it,” Mundy said. At one point in production, Mundy and his team thought about calling the game “Boss Fight,” but thought that might confuse the audience since the title of the episode shares the same name.
Ozark has not been renewed for a fourth season yet. What are you most excited to see if Netflix picks up the series for another season? Let us know in the comments.
[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/26/new-to-netflix-for-april-2020″]
[poilib element=”accentDivider”]
David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.
Source: IGN.com Ozark Season 3 Ending Explained: What's the Deal with Helen, Ben and Beast Slayer?