Ozark Recap Season 3 Episode 7: In Case of Emergency

If you usually come to Stinger to read our recaps, thank you! But you should really listen to our podcast today, because we work through some theories and we’ve got some exciting ideas!

Click on the player above to listen to our full discussion on the podcast!

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

In our listener feedback segment, we have a message from Michael who wrote in about the cigar symbol from episode 5: “The cigar symbol in the opening refers to meeting Wilkes assistant…. Wendy met him at a cigar club. As Wendy leaves, Jim takes a big puff of a stogie.”

Peter emailed his thoughts on the ending of episode 6: “I think the ending shootout was done by the other cartel as retribution for castrating the horse.”

And we got this very nice email from J from California: “Just wanted to drop a quick message saying how much I’m enjoying the coverage of Ozark and that I really appreciate all the time and work you two invest. I have something to look forward to everyday thanks to you all. Loving the Ruth impersonations, day drinking and when you all say Michaocan.” 

THANK YOU for your feedback. We truly love hearing from you – it brightens our day.

Ruth is Untouchable?

In the opener, Ruth is being interrogated by Maya and Trevor. Helen is there and they make it clear they are they voluntarily. Trevor puts the pressure on Ruth and plants a seed in her mind about Marty and Wendy killing her father. They are trying to turn her against Marty.

Ben is waiting while Ruth is being questioned. Actor Tom Pelphrey does an incredible job of showing the build-up of Ben’s anger and manic episode. He’s gonna blow!!! 

Ruth is finally released and she asks about Ben’s meds. He tells her Wendy left home when she was 18, and that he spent most of my life off his meds. We’re not sure we believe him, but there’s clearly a lot of untold history there. Ben wants to leave town with Ruth, but she says she can’t just leave.

Later that day, Frank Jr. confronts Ruth at the casino and he is furious. The FBI made him think that she and Marty were responsible for Tommy’s death.

When Ruth is leaving the casino, Frank Jr. attacks her. She is severely injured – broken ribs, internal bleeding – and she needs surgery.

When Ruth wakes up in the hospital, Ben is there. He didn’t want her to wake up alone. So sweet! Ben is ready to kill Frank Jr., but Ruth says she didn’t get a good look at who did it. She asks if Wyatt came. Then she asks to see Marty & Wendy.  

Marty tells Ruth they cut ties with the mob. Ruth says, “And?” She wants Frank Jr. dead. Shannon thinks she’s genuinely afraid he will kill her. Fadra thinks it’s more of Ruth’s eye-for-an-eye upbringing.

Marty & Wendy say that’s not gonna happen. Ruth says if it were Charlotte in that bed, Frank Jr. would be dead already. Then she says to Wendy, “You killed my dad.” Ruth is feeling that she is not as important to them as she thought. Once again, she starts to think about the cost of her loyalty to Marty.

This point is driven home when Wyatt comes to see her. More on that below.

Marty and the Mob

Marty tells Frank Cosgrove that the rival Lagunas cartel was responsible for the hit on his three men. Frank is yelling at Marty, “I am not a patient man, Marty. Get your fucking house in order.” (Marty’s been hearing that a lot this season…)

Navarro calls Wendy and she doesn’t answer her phone. He immediately calls Helen, who hands the phone to Wendy, “It’s for you.”

Wendy tells Navarro, “Marty & I are the brand – we are your shield. If our brand gets damaged, so does your safety net.” Navarro does need HER to keep him safe. Wendy is SO bold, Shannon is not quite buying it. It doesn’t seem right that Navarro would take that attitude from her.

Marty is questioned by the FBI. They think Marty is responsible for the mob hit so the mob couldn’t pin the casino arson on him. The FBI told Frank Jr. that Tommy was a snitch and Marty set them up. Frank Jr. thinks Ruth knew because she changed the location of the drop. But Marty had no idea Tommy was an informant, so he is shocked. 

After the attack on Ruth, Marty tells Cosgrove they are DONE. Marty threatens to kill Frank Jr. if he comes near their family again. 

Marty is looking for another option to get in with the FBI since Maya isn’t working out. Wendy “might have an end around that could work.” She has a meeting with a politician that she wants on the advisory board of her foundation. He is not sure, given Wendy’s PR profile.

She offers him some inside info on Blinkcheck. This is the company that Marty discovered info about that would allow the FBI to reopen the case (Maya declined this offer from Marty). It seems that this politician would benefit from an indictment of Blinkcheck. But we’re still not 100% sure what’s happening or how this would help Marty get someone in the FBI in his pocket.

Wyatt Gets Some Info

Three goes to Wylene’s house to tell Wyatt that Ruth is in the hospital. Wyatt doesn’t seem to care, but he does.  

When Three leaves, Darlene asks what Ruth did. Wyatt tells her. Darlene says, “Maybe she had a good reason.” Then she proceeds to tell Wyatt that she killed Jacob. WOW. And she tells him exactly HOW. We think this might be significant in the future!

Wyatt goes to visit Ruth when she gets out of the hospital. They have a heart-to-heart. Wyatt says he knew that she killed his father even before she said it out loud. He wants to forgive her, but he’s not quite ready.

Wyatt tells Ruth there’s no Langmore curse: “Who we are ain’t so bad. The Byrdes cursed everything. I don’t know who you are when you’re with them.” 

Sue

Sue comes to the Byrdes’ house in a flashy sports car. Marty asks her “What is this is?” When Sue says it’s a car, Marty says, “It’s a Transformer. Take it back. I spoke to you about conspicuous spending.” LOL!

Sue asks Marty about the hit on the mob, “Was this us?” Um, Sue, there is no “us.” It seems that Sue is going to be a problem.

Fadra makes the observation that things are VERY messy. So many people know WAY too much in this operation.

Helen goes to see Sue and asks about the money from the Byrdes. Sue tries to get more money. Helen says, “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” Um, yeah… Sue’s dead. 

Sure enough, Helen’s driver goes to see Sue. (It’s clear that he isn’t just Helen’s driver, but we don’t know how else to refer to him!) He pretends to be a new client, then he kills her.

After he scrubs her apartment, taking a tape recording of Wendy & Marty’s sessions and all evidence of invoices and appointments, he and Helen are watching Sue’s car go down in the water.

Helen says, “Ever get tired of this?” He says, “No, not really.”
Helen replies, “Good, keep your schedule open.”
Uh-oh. 

When we started thinking about the title of this episode, “In Case of Emergency,” we thought that might be a reference to someone you call. And we still don’t know who Helen called in that mysterious phone call. AND Helen told her driver to keep his schedule open. We start putting the pieces together and theorize that maybe Helen is behind ALL OF THIS.  

The symbols in the opener of this episode (and their meanings) are: craps table (Sam), two cars (Marty and Cosgrove talking), tape recorder (driver took that from Sue’s office), dollar bills and evidence marker (from the scene of the shooting).

Dirty Dilemma: Frank Jr.

What to do about Frank Jr.? Should Marty have him killed? Will Ruth kill him? Will Ben kill him?

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