Nick and Marty, One and the Same

In Netflix's Ozark, I think there are a few key pieces that parallel your life, Nick, or the pieces that you shared for us.  For one, more broadly, the show is about a family that has to completely unroot their life to move elsewhere to start anew, which resembles your transition from living in Kirksville, to Texas, to Los Angeles.  Next, an overarching idea that was prevalent during your talk with the class was one concerning working without the expectation of money.  When Marty moves his family to the Ozarks, he has quite a bit of trouble with that concept, at least at first.  These two ideas which are expressed throughout episode two of Ozark each share some resemblance to you and your journey through life.

The idea of picking up everything and moving elsewhere is a cause of many of the problems that Marty and his family, especially his children, struggle with.  One key similarity between your transition from Kirksville to Texas, Nick, and the Byrde family's move is that both transitions were done to look for different opportunities that depend on the location of the where you were moving to.  For example, you mentioned that one of the reasons you moved to Texas was because of the vibrant artistic community that was present there.  Marty needed to move his family in order to look for a way to wash dirty money covertly.  Fortunately, your impetus to move was far less severe and less illegal than Marty's; however, the location that you moved to was largely influenced by the aspects of the new environment.

Next, the topic of working without the expectation of money is an idea that is explored throughout the second episode.  In your own life, you said that you would be happy to help any friend make any film they wanted, despite if you thought it was good not; you said that if you thought you could help, you would and would invest your own time and effort into making it something to be proud of.  On top of all that, you stated that you expected to not receive any payment for any of the work you did even while investing your own money out of pocket.  In Marty’s case, he needs to invest into the businesses around the Ozarks in order to get a return afterward; he is strictly in it for the money.  The episode shows his growing desperation by displaying him nearly begging store owners all around the area to give him a chance.  At one point he even ends up at a strip club asking the owner to give him a shot, at which point the owner comes right out and says that he knows Marty is just trying to wash some dirty, laundered money and that the owner wanted no part in it.  Where it gets interesting, though, is near the end of the episode.  Nick, I think Marty may have taken a page out of your book when he goes into this bar and hears a patron bullying the bartender.  Keeping in mind the man doing the bullying had to be in his thirties, while the bartender may have been a kid just over 21.  Right before Marty confronts the bully, he glances over his shoulder to look out a window and sees a client that he was recently trying to invest in, but she had previously turned him away, because she doubted his ethicality.  Marty then confronts the bully where he promptly gets knocked out cold; however, in his short spiel to the bully, Marty explains that the bully had absolutely no right to say such rude things to a stranger and that Marty always taught his kids manners.  In short, it appeared that the short spiel was enough to get Marty’s potential client to have some grain of sympathy for him.  Being able to work, without pay, but while building relationships is an extremely valuable trait to have that almost always pays dividends.  

The second episode of Ozark allows Marty’s character to develop further while exploring his desperate situation.  In his struggles, the similarities between your story, Nick, and his are apparent.  Learning how to handle a transition from one living space to another while also learning how to build relationships through good nature are both major overarching ideas that appear to have largely influenced your life as well as Marty’s.  

Beau, be Honest

To Beau,

I sat down and watched the first episode of Netflix’s Ozark, and there are a few things that I would definitely think you would absolutely despise about the.  For one, the main characters are all from the city, born and raised.  Second, the main character seemingly has no regard for traditional values such as family and honesty.  As the story progresses, however, it becomes apparent that because of the main characters disregard for honesty and love of money, it places them in a situation that puts their families in harm’s way.  

The main character, Marty, is a businessman who apparently got stuck laundering money for cartels.  Inherently, the “job” itself is dishonest.  Quickly, the show flings him into a situation where he must make an extremely difficult decision where he must put together a very large sum of money or him and his family’s lives are at stake.  It’s probably much more difficult to get in a situation like this in the south, but in Ozark, in order for for Marty to escape the trouble he’s having, he decides to move his family to the Ozarks in Missouri.  Beau, I don’t know how you would feel about a family like this moving closer to where you are, but the Ozarks give Marty and his family another chance at life.  

The tension that slowly manifests throughout the first episode seemingly is drawn together through dishonest actions.  First, of course, Marty launders money, plain and dishonest.  Twofold, however, Marty has had to maintain a lie to his entire family that he is a financial adviser; I guess, in a way he is a financial adviser, but to cartels, not to normal clients.  Third, it becomes apparent that Marty is not enjoying his marriage as much as he has in the past, so there are a few shots where he struggles to stay true to his ceremonial bond.  In many places around the world, family is of the highest importance, but that is clearly not the case with Marty.  Concerning Marty’s wife specifically, however, later it is revealed that she is in the same boat as her husband; she is not loyal to her marriage either.  Beau, if you get a chance to watch the show, you will see how much trouble this gets Marty’s wife into.  Infidelity is truly an ugly monster to have to deal with.  One last aspect of dishonesty in the show concerns Marty and the cartels he works with.  When Marty initially begins to handle the dangerous situation he’s in, where his family becomes endangered, a twist on his character can be seen.  Instead of being dishonest to his family, like Marty normally does, he begins to tell the truth to them, and instead is dishonest with the cartels in order to protect the lives of his family.  Once again, however, even this turns out to put his family into even deeper trouble, as the episode continues.  Beau, if you get anything out of this, it should be that there is a clear reason why honesty is such a highly valued personal trait; honestly really is the best policy.  

Ozark explores how serious monetary dishonesty can bring someone to an extremely dark place.  Throughout the first episode, it is exhaustively evident that no matter what Marty does to try to escape the reality that he brought himself into, he cannot find a way out.  The lies that he has lived for years are all finally coming back to get him.  This not only puts his own life in danger, but his immediate family and even his extended family.

Ozark: A Knockoff

I sat down this weekend to watch the show “Ozark”. Set in the Lake of The Ozarks, the main character Marty works as a financial adviser who also takes part laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel. I really hadn’t heard much about it going in, other than it took place in Missouri and involved meth. A classic Midwestern story. The intro begins and I can tell right off the bat I’m in for a dark drama. Or should I say, another, typical dark drama. Last week, my friend Anna Mercer posted a review of this same show. As she put it, the show is “not new. As the plot of the show continued to unfold, I felt like somehow, I’d already seen this before”. And I have to say, I couldn’t agree more.

One of the best aspects of the show is the thriller side of it. The main character Marty is involved with money laundering, as is his business partner and friend. His friend, however, gets caught in stealing some of the money. After multiple people are shot because of what he’s done, Marty quickly must figure out how to prevent being the last victim. After stealing his friends idea of moving business to the Ozarks, he is given 48 hours to get the money back and start the move to Missouri. The viewer is left wondering how Marty will get out of the situation. However, the problem is then solved before the end of the episode, and the pilot doesn’t seem to leave much hype for more after that.

By the end of the episode, the biggest problem is already solved, and the only question we are left with is “how will Marty launder money in the Ozarks”. No other deep questions that leave the viewers thinking for very long. Rumor has it that Marty will start making meth in order to have a large income. If that is the case, I can’t help but view this show as a Breaking Bad knockoff. A father of a broken family, making meth in order to stay afloat. While I’m sold on it taking place in Missouri, one of the major Meth Capitals of the US, the idea seems overdone and bland. As a cross between Breaking Bad and Winter's Bone, it should be a hit. But it offers up nothing new.

While this is not the worst show I’ve ever seen, it strikes me as pretty predictable. While I’m curious to know where Marty ends up, I can only imagine episodes will involve him trying to escape the police a few times, and troubles in his marriage and home life. Therefore, I'll let myself remain curious until I start a new series and forget about this one. While I feel as though I'll let this show be, I would, however, hesitantly recommend this show to a Breaking Bad fan who is looking for a very similar show.

Ozark

As a proud Missourian and an avid Jason Bateman fan, the Netflix show Ozark seemed like the perfect fit for me. I was excited to see what picture these Hollywood hotshots would paint of Lake of the Ozarks, and I was surprisingly impressed. They affectionately termed it “The Redneck Riviera” and made it seem like a pleasant place to be.

The show opens with an off-screen monologue given by Marty, the businessman turned criminal that the show is centered around. He discusses America’s perverted relationship with money: we always want to obtain more, but we can never seem to hold onto it for very long. He gives a frightening statistic - only 15% of Americans are prepared for even one year of retirement, much less the average 13 years of retirement.

Stepping a little further into the show, we see that Marty himself has an interesting relationship with money. His wife reveals that she bought groceries earlier that day, and Marty questions why that’s the second time she’s bought groceries this week. When his 15-year-old daughter asks him for $10 for a fishy sounding fundraiser, he firmly refuses to give it to her. He seems deeply unhappy in his suburban life, but we don’t see him making an effort to seek something better.

There was one element of the show that I was surprisingly impressed with: the script. I’ve already mentioned the monologue that the show opens with. In my opinion, that is one of the best written scenes in the episode. Near the end of his speech about America’s relationship with money, Marty ends with a statement that I found worth sharing:

“Money is not peace of mind. Money’s not happiness. Money is, at its essence, that measure of a man’s choices.”

This theme of choices that Marty refers to is one of the central ideas throughout the episode. He makes many questionable choices, including agreeing to help a Mexican drug lord, all in the interest in doing what’s right for his family. I found this interesting, because for a man who’s willing to elude the federal government, he doesn’t actually seem that invested in his family. I think that Marty is a man who wants a life he doesn’t have, and his way of coping with that is by giving in to his inner desires (for money and power) and then covering it by saying that he’s doing it for his family.

Overall, I won’t watch this show again, and here’s why: it’s not new. As the plot of the show continued to unfold, I felt like somehow, I’d already seen this before. I’m almost tempted to call this a Netflix Unoriginal. It seemed like a recycled storyline set with new characters. It had all the basic elements of a movie that you watch at 3am when you can’t sleep: an unsatisfied wife, two disgruntled kids, and trouble with the law.

I will continue to be proud of Missouri (and Jason Bateman, for that matter), but until a more enthralling drama set in my home state is produced, I’ll have to be content with this one.