#More Red, And Of Course, Blue, Comes To The Byrdes’ Nest

Navarro wants Marty and Wendy to use their influence to feather a nice nest for him where he can walk away from his drug business and be “free of the threat of arrest or assassination … able to move freely to the United States, back and forth.” It’s an impossible ask, but on a show where Wendy is not above going all “Godfather” and facilitating the death of her own brother, Ben (Tom Pelphrey, who exited last season), it’s an offer the Byrdes can’t refuse.

Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) has come a long way since the first season of “Ozark,” and seeing her back at the same Lazy-O Motel, where she once worked as a maid, brings this into sharp relief. Now, she’s offering to buy the place. She fires her old boss and plans to use the motel as a money-laundering front for her, Wyatt (Charlie Tahan), and Darlene (Lisa Emery).

Jonah gives Ben’s ashes to Ruth, and at home, he remarks to Wendy, “If Helen was going to die anyway, then there’s no reason for Ben to be killed.” That’s a good point, one that might have gotten lost in the shuffle for some viewers. Ben went the way of Fredo Corleone, but with Helen dead, his death was all for nothing. It’s rather absurd when Marty tries to play the sagacious father and tell Jonah, “The world doesn’t work like that, pal.”

What he means, as I take it, is the world of the show, in which the Byrdes continue their same casino boat ride down the River Styx, gambling lives and always conspiring to stay in the game just a little bit longer. “I’m not f***ing losing,” Wendy says. “So, how do we not lose?”