Ozark, the popular Netflix crime drama, is set to return for a fifth and final season. The show follows Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his family as they get entangled with a Mexican drug cartel and must launder money to survive.
Season 4 ended on a major cliffhanger, with main character Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) seeing her cousin Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) get shot by an unknown assassin. This sets the stage for an explosive and emotional final season.
Ozark Season 5 Release Date
The main Ozark cast expected to return includes:
- Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde: The financial advisor who moves his family to the Ozarks and gets involved with money laundering.
- Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde: Marty’s wife who becomes key in running the criminal enterprise.
- Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore: A member of a local crime family who becomes entangled with the Byrdes.
- Sofia Hublitz as Charlotte Byrde: Marty and Wendy’s teenage daughter.
- Skylar Gaertner as Jonah Byrde: The Byrde’s teenage son.
- Charlie Tahan as Wyatt Langmore: Ruth’s cousin who she takes under her wing. Ruthless Season 5 Release Date
Other characters like FBI agent Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes), cartel lawyer Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer), and cartel boss Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) may return as well. Some new characters could also be introduced in the final season.
| Name | Ozark |
|---|---|
| Creators | Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams |
| Starring | Jason Bateman, Laura Linney |
| Genre | Crime, Drama |
| Original Network | Netflix |
| No. of Seasons | 4 |
| No. of Episodes | 44 |
| Original Release | July 2017 – January 2022 |
| Setting | Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri |
| Main Characters | Marty & Wendy Byrde, Ruth Langmore, Wyatt & Charlotte Byrde |
| Plot | Follows the Byrdes’ dangerous money laundering operation under drug boss Navarro and their dealings with local criminals. |
Ozark Season 5 Story Details
Not much is known yet about the plot of Ozark’s fifth season. Season 4 ended with the shooting of Wyatt Langmore, so Ruth will likely be out for revenge against whoever was responsible. This could set off an escalating war between Ruth, the Byrdes, and the Navarro cartel.
Marty and Wendy Byrde will continue trying to expand and legitimize their money laundering enterprise. However, the FBI and agent Maya Miller are tightening the screws in their investigation.
We’ll likely see more of the tension between the Byrdes’ work life and their family life with Charlotte and Jonah. Jonah in particular seems poised to play a bigger role going forward.
There are lots of loose ends to tie up in the final season. Will Wendy take over the cartel? Will Marty try to get out for good? And what will be Ruth’s ultimate fate? The stakes have never been higher going into the final episodes.
Ozark Season 5 Plot
While details on the plot of Ozark Season 5 are being kept under wraps, we can expect the show’s trademark tension and high-stakes drama to continue.
At the end of Season 4, Marty and Wendy Byrde found ways to both expand and legitimize their money laundering business despite mounting pressure from the FBI and cartel leader Omar Navarro. The shooting of Ruth Langmore’s cousin Wyatt will likely set off a revenge plot and escalating war between the Byrdes, Ruth, and the Navarro cartel.
The FBI is also closing in with agent Maya Miller leading the charge to take down Marty and Wendy’s criminal enterprise. We’ll see if they can walk the tightrope between their illegal laundering operation and desire to go legit.
Meanwhile, how will Ruth respond to Wyatt’s shooting and will Jonah play a bigger role going forward? There are still a lot of loose ends to tie up with the Byrde family and their escalating predicament.
The ultimate series finale should provide answers on whether the Byrdes will finally get their freedom from the cartel or if their ambitions will be their undoing.
Is Ozark Season 5 Coming?
Yes, Ozark was renewed by Netflix for a fifth and final season on June 30, 2020. The 14-episode fourth season hit Netflix in two parts, but season 5 will have just 7 episodes likely airing in mid 2023.
Showrunner Chris Mundy has said they began mapping out Ozark’s endgame during season 4. While many fans hoped the show might get one more season, Mundy says they feel it’s the right time to wrap up the Byrdes’ journey given how much the characters have changed already.
So while Ozark is coming back for season 5, it will definitely be the final dramatic chapter in this thrilling crime saga centered around money laundering and a Missouri family’s involvement with a dangerous drug cartel. Stars Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner will get to put a fitting conclusion on the acclaimed series.
Will Season 4 of Ozark be the Last?
No, Ozark was given an order for a fifth and final season by Netflix after the debut of season 4. Many fans wondered if season 4 was the end after it was originally renewed as the “fourth and final season”. However, midway through airing the lengthy 14-episode season 4, Netflix then extended the show with a shortened 7-episode season 5.
While season 4 offers excitement and tense drama in Ozark’s end stages, there are still loose plot threads to tie up. Showrunner Chris Mundy says they began plotting out Ozark’s endgame in season 4, but feel season 5 will let them “stick the landing” for the Byrde family and associated characters.
So season 4 is definitely not the last Ozark season anymore. We still get 7 final episodes coming likely in late 2023 that will provide a definitive and probably dramatic conclusion after season 4’s climactic finish. It took 4 seasons to transform the Byrdes from suburban family to cunning criminals. Now season 5 will determine their ultimate fate.
Who is Ruth Langmore in Ozark?
Ruth Langmore is one of the main characters in the Ozark series. Played by Emmy winner Julia Garner, Ruth is a 19-year-old woman who is part of a local criminal family.
Ruth is tough, short-tempered, foul-mouthed but also very smart. She is the brains behind her family’s small-time crimes using her accounting and organizational skills. Ruth gets involved with Marty Byrde’s money laundering operation, first blackmailing the Byrdes but eventually becoming one of Marty’s most skilled money launderers.
Over the course of the show, Ruth evolves into a more sympathetic character. She loses her uncles as father figures and later becomes responsible for taking care of her cousins. Ruth also develops a dysfunctional but meaningful relationship with Wendy Byrde almost like Wendy is the mother she never had.
Ruth frequently finds herself torn between her criminal upbringing and loyalty to her family and the new opportunities provided by the Byrdes. Her arc will continue playing a key role in the 5th and final season.
Who Wrote the Ozarks?
The popular Netflix drama Ozark was created by Bill Dubuque and Mark Williams. However, the main creative force driving the show’s story has been showrunner and executive producer Chris Mundy.
Mundy took over as the head writer and showrunner starting with season 1. He has sole writing credit on the show’s pilot episode and has written or co-written over 20 total episodes. This includes pivotal ones like season 1 finale “The Toll”, season 3 opener “Wartime” and season 4 finale “A Hard Way To Go.”
Prior to Ozark, Mundy wrote for crime dramas like Criminal Minds but has undoubtedly left his biggest mark on Ozark’s rise into one of Netflix’s signature series. Praised for the show’s sharp dialogue and pacing, Mundy manages to juggle multiple storylines centered around the Byrde family’s entanglement with ruthless drug cartels and criminal enterprises.
While a number of different writers have contributed scripts over Ozark’s first four seasons, the show’s creative vision undoubtedly flows from showrunner Chris Mundy as he guides the Byrdes to their final dramatic reckoning.
Conclusion
So in summary, Mundy serves as Ozark’s primary writer and showrunner while creators Dubuque and Williams originated the show’s concept and characters. But the evolution of the show’s suspenseful storytelling and the arc of characters like Marty, Wendy and Ruth Lions predominantly with Chris Mundy leading that creative charge towards the series finale.
…..WE’RE BAAAAAACK! T-Minus 45 minutes. #OzarkSeason4 #OzarkNetflix pic.twitter.com/lw4SLUIi53
— Ozark (@OzarkOfficial) January 21, 2022
