This article contains spoilers for Ozark Season 4 Part 2. From the moment the Byrdes first moved to Missouri early in Ozark, they were considered the outsiders. The impromptu task of laundering money in the area proved to be difficult, not only because of the run-down businesses but the attitudes of the locals, who don’t appreciate a newcomer with deep pockets changing their system. The business and personal relationships the Byrdes form with some of the locals are what drive the series forward, but the disparity between the locals and investors like the Byrdes hangs over their heads throughout it.
Within the disparity between the locals and the investors of Ozark, lies the distinction between the rich and the poor. This contrast is clear the moment the Byrdes cross into the Ozarks. In a scene as simple as Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) lounging outside the Lazy O’s pool, she sticks out like a sore thumb, particularly to one motel employee, Wyatt Langmore (Charlie Tahan). This, in addition to Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) stealing money from the Byrdes’ motel room, marks the beginning of a tumultuous relationship between the Byrdes and the Langmores.
Ozark’s series finale, “A Hard Way to Go” is just as grim as its title appears. After season 4’s opening that showed the Byrdes in a horrible car crash, their futures seem anything but guaranteed. “A Hard Way to Go” shows that the four Byrdes managed to survive the crash and instead of taking it as a sign of impending danger, Wendy considers it an assurance that they will make it out alive. Unfortunately, not all Ozark characters are as fortunate. In fact, the finale includes the deaths of three heavy-hitters of season 4, none of which are any of the Byrdes. One of them includes Camilla (Veronica Falcón) gunning down Ruth on the Langmore property as revenge for Javi’s death, marking a dreadful ending to the series’ evaluation of change.
As gut-wrenching as it is, Ruth’s death isn’t unforeseen, and season 4 part 2, makes that clear. Ruth routinely finds herself talking to Wyatt throughout the final season and recalls several conversations they had about their futures. She also reminisces about the other members of her family lost over the previous seasons of Ozark. Memories of Ruth and Wyatt’s childhood remind viewers that they have been intertwined for years because of their circumstances. Even when they began to act on their own accord to make a life for themselves, they both suffered the same fate. Even in death, Ruth undoubtedly had the best character arc in Ozark.
From petty thief to money laundering pro, Ruth has a unique storyline. Throughout Ozark’s later seasons, she goes into business for herself and makes her own connections. After Wyatt’s murder, Ruth turns legit. She legally gains control of the Missouri Belle, forbids the Byrdes from laundering money out of the casino, and gets her record expunged, making her the first clean Langmore in five generations. She confesses the dark truth about the Ozarks and its tie to the Navarro cartel to the future sheriff and tells him the man he’s arrested for Wyatt’s murder might be guilty of petty crimes, but he’s not a killer. Her willingness to help out a stranger is a perfect example of the development of her character. After meeting the suspect, she finds that he’s only guilty of the same thing she had been her entire life: poverty.
The painful tagline that “no one gets out clean,” hangs over the heads of countless Ozark characters, but particularly the Byrdes. As the people closest to the Navarro cartel’s operation, they have seen and therefore know, more than most. Their arrival in the Ozarks only drags those who they align themselves with into the cartel’s crosshairs, including the Langmores. Marty (Jason Bateman) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) are the two Byrdes that seem to have any shred of morality. They harbor the most guilt for the lives they’ve ruined and the people they’ve lost along the way, but Wendy (Laura Linney) and Charlotte’s frequent bereavements force them to get over it.
Even with the reminders of the near impossibility for someone to get out from under the cartel’s thumb clean, the Byrdes manage to pull it off by abandoning Ruth, who had nearly become family. With that, Ruth’s storyline is the perfect representation of the American Dream. She manages to overcome a generational curse of poverty and crime and nearly makes the dreams she and her cousins imagined into a reality. After the loss of her uncles Russ (Marc Menchaca) and Boyd (Christopher James Baker), her father Cade (Trevor Long), cousin Wyatt, and boyfriend Ben (Tom Pelphrey), Ruth has undoubtedly experienced more heartbreaking loss than anyone else in the series. All of those deaths are results of Ruth’s involvement with the Byrdes, and it isn’t hard to see why she finally snaps.
As Wendy states early in part 2, “This is America. People don’t care where your fortune came from, and in two election cycles, it’ll be just some myth, some gossip, some f— cocktail party.” Wendy’s words are painfully true. Whether anyone views the Byrdes as heroes or villains, it’s impossible not to acknowledge the damage they have caused. They create the Byrde Family Foundation, thinking it will make up for the lives they ruined, but no amount of good fortune can account for the wreckage. Ruth changes her atmosphere and the way she carries herself, all while remaining true to her roots, and it costs her in the end. For someone in Ruth’s position, where money and power are involved, they will always receive the short end of the stick. Ultimately, that is what Ozark boils down to.
For Ruth and characters like her, the necessary sacrifice people such as the Byrdes deem these people to be, only illustrates the flaws of money and power. Even with the bonds Ruth has built with Marty, Wendy, Charlotte, and Jonah over Ozark’s four seasons, Ruth is just as expendable as everyone else. Camilla doesn’t leave Marty and Wendy much of a choice, but that has never stopped them before. What has changed is how close they are to finally getting what they’ve wanted since Ozark began: out. Ruth only becomes another pawn in their game in the end, proving that anyone is expendable for the right price. It’s human nature to survive and the desire for power and freedom cripples the lives of those deemed undesirable by the rest of the world. Ruth’s death is a symbol of this and brings Ozark to an upsetting full circle.
Ozark is now streaming on Netflix.