Ozark Recap Season 3 Episode 4: Boss Fight

In Ozark Season 3 Episode 4, the action slowed down just a bit, but there continues to be a shift in the balance of power.

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*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

Marty in the Dungeon

Most of this episode revolves around Marty’s abduction and his stay in Navarro’s dungeon. I’ll bet he’s giving his accommodations one star on Yelp.

Navarro asks Marty, “What do you want?” Marty’s first answer is, “I don’t understand the question.” That buys him more time in the dungeon under bright stadium lights and blaring heavy metal music.

Navarro then asks Marty if he loves Wendy and trusts her, and if so, why does he listen in on her phone calls? Marty says he wants to protect her. Navarro’s not buying that – he thinks Marty fears her.

After some further light/sound torture, Marty tells Navarro he doesn’t trust Wendy and he’s scared of Navarro. He tells him, “I pray to God you lose your war and they chop your fucking head off.”

The next day, there’s a freeze/red flag on one of Navarro’s bank accounts. Marty fixes in within moments, proving his usefulness to Navarro. But he still doesn’t let Marty go.

During all of this, we get flashbacks to Marty’s childhood when his father was in the hospital dying. Marty plays an arcade game called “Beast Slayer” (not a real game) and becomes infuriated that the game is designed to extract money from players – that there is no way to win without putting more quarters in.

Marty uses this memory to get him out of his situation with Navarro. He realizes that he needs to keep providing more value for Navarro – keep feeding him quarters – in order to stay alive. So he comes up with the idea to turn FBI agent Maya. He tells Navarro he will get her in his pocket so they will be safe from the FBI forever. Navarro accepts this and they bring Marty home.

This is a BIG promise and we’re not sure if Marty’s plan is to actually turn her or to work with her to pretend he turned her, but ultimately nail Navarro. We shall see!

Wendy, Ben, and Helen

Meanwhile, Wendy is trying to maintain the cover story that Marty is in Kansas City on business. But the kids – and Ben – know something is wrong.

Wendy admits to Ben that they work for the Cartel. And Helen is just inside the house, which we think is a mistake. And later, Helen tricks Charlotte into admitting that she knows about her Dad’s business. Wendy is much too loose with her lips and Helen is realizing that a LOT of people know what’s going on with Marty and Wendy.

Helen makes a phone call and says, “You better get here as soon as possible, things are getting complicated.” WHO DID SHE CALL?

Wendy tries to get Helen to call Navarro, and when she says it’s not advisable, Wendy calls him herself. Helen is surprised and asks, “Where did you get that number?” But the number is now disconnected.

The next morning, it’s clear that Ben told the kids about Marty being kidnapped. But the kids already suspected something was up, so they probably worked on Ben to get it out of him. Wendy insists everything is fine and then yells at Ben for telling them. Ben is shocked how much the kids know.

Helen shows up at the house and confirms that Marty is alive and Navarro wants “business as usual.” He’s testing them.

Helen: “If we succeed, it could mean that Marty is redundant.
Wendy: “And if we fail?”
Helen: “Well, then I’m afraid WE might be.”

Boss Ruth

Ruth does her best to fill in for Marty at the casino and work with Maya. But after Navarro’s order for “business as usual,” Wendy and Ruth come up with a plan to launder the money under Maya’s nose.

They get a group of guys together and give them each $9K. They’ll go to the casino, lose a few hands, then cash out $1K as their cut. Here’s a quote from Ruth as she giving directions to the guys:

“Now guys like you, coming in with wads of cash, get noticed. So y’all need to have a story. For instance, ‘Oh, well I won at playing bingo at the VFW or Old Auntie Dipshit just left me a whole bundle and she dropped dead and yadda yadda yadda. I don’t care what your fucking story is, but you better fucking have one ready.”

We love you so much Ruth (and Julia Garner!).

Naturally, Maya notices the spike in money coming in to the casino. She goes to walk the floor and sees Ben (who is one of the guys trying to lose the dirty $9K). Maya tries to trick him by asking if Marty’s still sick. Ben plays it cool and sticks to the story, responding that Marty is in Kansas City.

Maya goes to see Wendy. She suspects Marty was taken and she offers Wendy a way out. This scene was outstanding acting from Laura Linney. She is trying so hard to hold back her emotions and keep up the facade.

When the Navarro bank account gets flagged, Ruth, Helen and Wendy all freak out.

Ben goes to see Ruth at the trailer park and he tells her he’s not going anywhere until he knows she’s safe. It’s a sweet scene and she kisses him! We ship them!

The symbols in the opener of this episode (and their meanings) are: arcade game (Marty played as a kid), jail/gates (Navarro’s compound), plane going down (Marty being taken to Mexico), bird eating snake (eagle and snake – coat of arms of Mexico).

Dirty Dilemma: Marty

What do you think Marty should have told Navarro he wanted? Do you think Marty will be able to compromise the FBI agent? What would you do?

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