Ozark Recap Season 2 Episode 1 – Reparations

This episode of Stinger TV and Movie Podcast was originally published on August 31, 2018. We’re bringing you all of our Ozark Season 2 coverage again to get you ready for season 3, coming March 27, 2020!

We’re SO EXCITED! Season 2 of Netflix’s Ozark is streaming and we’re diving right in.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

Episode 1, entitled “Reparations,” picks up right where season 1 left off.  Ash and a slightly repentant Darlene are cleaning up the bodies. Marty and Wendy are making the political rounds to secure approval to build their riverboat casino. And Ruth is fixing up the trailer to make it all nice for Daddy Cade’s release from prison.

The episode starts out in Kansas City, Missouri and I was a little worried they were going to do some kind of time jump because Marty and Wendy are dancing at some sort of big political event. But what they did, as they’ve done in previous episodes, is show us a little bit of the end of the episode in the beginning. But at first we don’t know what’s happening.

Wendy’s looking around and pointing out a chief compliance officer, State Attorney General, etc. So right away I think this is related to the casino. Wendy says, “He’s alone, I’m going after him,” and that’s where they cut and we’re left wondering who?

It also seems that Marty and Wendy are on a little better terms right now (and we confirm this later in the episode!). I like it! They’re literally partners in crime and somehow it’s working for them. I think it excites them.

Let’s talk about Jacob, Darlene and Ash. Darlene is in the woods with Ash, digging graves for Dell and his bodyguards. Darlene is feeling maybe a little repentant? She thinks maybe Jacob is angry with her and says, “Maybe I shouldn’t have killed this Mexican.”

Ash is the ever faithful sidekick and he tries to boost her up. He basically tells her, hey you gotta do what you gotta do – as they’re throwing the bodies into the pit and pouring some kind of acid on them to get rid of the bones.

Jacob and Darlene go to visit Marty and Wendy and they basically come to clean up the mess and make amends. This was interesting because the power between Marty and Jacob definitely shifts. Jacob says things happen, you apologize, and move on.

Marty: “She blew a man’s head off!”
Jacob: “For which she is contrite.”

And she brought you fresh honey. Hahaha! We loved that line!

We also loved Jacob’s reaction when Marty is trying to instruct Jacob on how to make it look like Dell is still alive: “This is a drill we’re familiar with.” Oh, OK. Gotcha Jacob. So this is more confirmation that Jacob really is a bad guy. Not in a scary way, but he’ll do what he needs to to protect his business and family.

Next we see Jonah and Charlotte and it seems that they’ve bonded with each other. Charlotte respects Jonah for his bravery and standing up to Dell’s lieutenant. We find out that Charlotte swiped ten thousand dollars when they were wrapping the cash in the Blue Cat Lodge. And hey – we totally respect that! In this family, you never know when you might need it.

She gives half to Jonah and asked if he thinks they should tell mom and dad. Jonah says no, we might need it. Right away I thought some foreshadowing was going on here.

The next scene was Ruth talking to the parole board on on her father’s behalf. I loved the way they contrast these two scenes because I felt like they were saying that Charlotte and Jonah’s morals are sliding down to shit while Ruth, on the other hand, is maybe trying to turn her life around.

Meanwhile, Marty goes to the Blue Cat and finds out that Rachel’s taken off with some of the money that was hidden in the cabin. And I believe Marty’s reaction was, “Fuck.”

So they need to move the money. Good thing Wendy bought a funeral home. She takes the hearse and I think the plan is to use it to move and/or hide the money.

Ruth tries to talk to Marty about her place in the business. She’s trying to get a leg up on on her dad or maybe impress him. She’s constantly trying to get his approval. But he brushes her off, as usual, and takes off when Wendy drives up in the hearse.

Soon we meet Helen, who is an attorney for the Cartel. She’s looking for Dell and Marty plays it SUPER cool. He’s such a good liar! So Helen tells them not to worry because her client (the Cartel) “has a very deep bench,’ meaning that there are lots of other Dell’s waiting to take over.

They chat about the casino project. Helen is not convinced they’ll be able to pull it off. Apparently there is a cap on how many casinos can be built in Missouri. Marty casually mentions that Wendy is a brilliant political consultant and she’s going to work on the politicians to adjust the cap. Wendy has become a player – which we wouldn’t have suspected in the beginning of the show!

Next we see Ruth running the Lickety Splitz club like a BOSS. One of the girls comes to her and says, “You know, I don’t want to get a bitch in trouble but somebody’s turning tricks in the VIP room.” Ruth storms in there and literally rips this stripper off a guy when they were right in the MIDDLE OF IT. Then she realizes she could really use this girl to give Daddy Cade a nice welcome home. So she brings her to a motel and we discover that Cade is now out of prison.

And what does Cade say to Ruth when he comes out of the motel? “Next time, get me a blonde.” Um… asshole?

Cade also reveals an important piece of information – that he knows Ruth killed his brother. So she knows he can hold that over her. We also get a slight feeling later in the episode that Cade has not only mentally and physically abused Ruth over the years, but maybe also sexually. It’s hinted around very subtlely, but still makes us as the viewers very uncomfortable.

The Cartel is still looking for Dell and they do figure out what happened. They want reparations, so Marty takes them to the Snell’s. Marty is suggesting monetary compensation and Darlene just keeps saying “that’s not happening.” I literally yelled at the TV – Shut up Darlene!

Jacob ultimately decides that killing Ash is the appropriate punishment. Ash is kind of like their lieutenant, so it’s somewhat fair. But at the same time it’s also punishment for Darlene. I’m not sure this would be enough to satisfy the Cartel, but…

After all this, it seems Wendy was kinda like – are we just supposed to go home and have a normal day tomorrow? And Marty says, yeah, that’s exactly what we’re supposed to do. Wendy talks about how all these things happened because of them.

I feel like she’s absolutely right. If they had never come to Lake of the Ozarks none of this would have happened. Marty comes back to his thoughts about the measure of a man coming down to choices and consequences. He talks about Mason, and he talks about his partner Bruce, and he talks about Dell, and he talks about the Snells. It was a nice little recap of everything to get us into season 2.

41:40 The Dirty Dilemma: Jacob Snell

In this segment, we’ll be discussing one character’s moral dilemma and thinking about the “what would you do?” Should Jacob have given up some money/profits instead of the “reparations” he chose?

Join the discussion in our Ozark’s Dirty Laundry Facebook group!

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