Friday, June 19, 2020

Emmy Catch-Up: Ozark (Season Premiere)

Every year, I watch the six submitted episodes of every series I don’t regularly watch that’s up for one of the Emmy series prizes. This year, I’m getting a jump start to check out the entire season of some of most high-profile shows I didn’t watch when they originally aired.


Ozark: Season 3, Episode 1 “Wartime” (B)

This is one show where I’ve never quite understood the appeal despite watching nine of the twenty produced episodes from the first two seasons. In an effort to try to more fully appreciate it, I decided that I’m going to watch the entire season this time. I wasn’t enticed by the bloody opening start, but I do think the story is more interesting than it’s been in the past. Marty thinks he has everything under control, and he has a signature line that he keeps using to justify his cautiousness since he’s so sure that there’s law enforcement embedded in his operation. Wendy isn’t on board with that wait-and-see approach, and she was bold enough to make a pitch directly to Omar, which made a lot of sense but still puts them on the hook for more than Marty is comfortable with and might have problematic implications in the future. Marty’s poker tournament seemed like a relatively harmless concept, but Ruth isn’t quite on the same page, targeting Frank as a consistent flouter of the rules who shouldn’t be given special treatment despite his powerful mob connections. Throwing him off the boat into the water was a startling move, one that is absolutely going to blow back on them. Both of the Byrd children seem to have their heads on their shoulders, and if that moderately corny video Marty and Wendy recorded about the casino boat is any indication, their front may just be enough to keep them alive and somewhat safe for the time being.

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