Emmy Episodes: Ozark

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the fourth year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Ozark: Season 2, Episode 7 “One Way Out” (B-)

I can understand why this hour, the fourth of the six episodes submitted for Best Drama Series consideration, is also Laura Linney’s selection for her best actress nomination. The three episodes I’ve watched already have shown me how Marty manages to stay on top of the many, many problems that arise for him and his family, calmly handling them no matter how extreme and dangerous they are. In this hour, it seemed that Wendy was a damsel in distress, taken from her car and ransomed for Mason’s son, but she turned the tables almost immediately. Her direct honesty with Mason about Grace was a risky move, but she was right when she said that, despite her multiple attempts to escape, she was telling the truth the whole time. Marty was so shaken when he arrived and killed Mason, but Wendy was the one doing damage control, expertly guiding the interview when Marty couldn’t even say a word. Rachel texting Marty to have him vouch for her to the cartel is obviously not going anywhere since he knows it won’t do much given what apparently happened with Ruth, and that’s just another loose end that will come back to haunt him later. Ruth, who is such a strong and seemingly fearless character, has one major weakness, demonstrated by how she broke down after her father nearly suffocated her while they were hiding in the water. Telling him she knows where Marty’s money is means bad things to come, since there’s no way this ends bloodlessly.