Netflix’s Ozark has plenty of key cast members and culminates in the deaths of several major characters on it last season. Some said that is a bittersweet finale to one of the most groundbreaking antihero crime dramas on television. Ozark follows Wendy and Marty Byrde who have become money launderers for the Navarro Cartel, a prominent drug operation out of Mexico.
Each successive season of Ozark is a journey to watch the Byrdes become entrenched deeper and deeper in the cartel’s operations. Quoted from Collider, By the end of season 4, several key characters in the cast of Ozark end up dead. It becomes truly apparent that the Byrdes are the real villains of the show now.
Character In Ozark Is Not That Much
Netflix split Ozark’s final season in two. Debuting the first 7 episodes in January 2022 and the final 7 in April of the same year. In the last season, the writers have kept the core cast of the show small, choosing to focus on the compelling themes and dynamics that the series has developed over the years. Throughout most of Ozark season 4, Marty and Wendy Byrde continue their ongoing struggle — for and against — the Navarro cartel, getting deeper into the pockets of both the cartel and the U.S. government.
Here are Ozark’s key players according to Movieweb.
Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde
The patriarch of the appropriately named Byrde family (and the entire reason they are involved with the Navarro Cartel in the first place), Marty is a former financial advisor who now owns several businesses in the Ozarks that he uses to launder money for Omar Navarro. Throughout the show, Marty has tried to leave the cartel and the Ozarks so his family can lead a normal life. But, the Ozark season 4 ending confirms that the Byrdes are simply destined for so much more. Bateman is primarily known for his comedic roles rather than dramatic turns, and the actor has starred in the iconic sitcom Arrested Development, and notable comedy movies such as Horrible Bosses and Game Night.
Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde
Laura Linney is Wendy Byrde, the embattled matriarch of the Byrde family. To protect her family, Wendy delivered her brother Ben to the cartel so he could be killed, and Ozark season 4 deals with the fallout from that decision. As a result, season 4 sees Wendy finally fully embracing her role in their underground enterprise, eventually transforming into arguably the most dangerous criminal in the cast of Ozark. No stranger to intense roles, Laura Linney’s storied career spans hit movies like The Truman Show, Mystic River, and other television projects like The Big C and Tales of the City.
Skylar Gaertner as Jonah Byrde
Jonah has always been the one who seems to take this family’s life of crime in stride, but the death of Jonah’s uncle Ben Davis at Wendy’s hands proved to challenge Jonah’s loyalty to the family. Jonah remains as inquisitive and clever as ever in Ozark season 4. The very last scenes of Ozark put the spotlight on Jonah, whose final decisions cement the fate of the Byrdes as the show’s true villains. Skylar Gaertner also starred in Netflix’s Daredevil series as a young Matt Murdock and also appears in The Ticket and I Smile Back.
Sofia Hublitz as Charlotte Byrde
Initially resistant to her family’s move to the Ozarks, Charlotte eventually came around and now finds herself an increasingly crucial cog in the Byrdes’ money-laundering machine. As she continues to come into her own, Ozark season 4 saw Charlotte eventually warming up to her parents’ criminal activities. In the cast of Ozark, Charlotte, and Jonah represent the “normal” life that Marty and Wendy claimed to have been fighting for, though they eventually lost sight of this goal as a family. Hublitz has also starred in the movies Ida Red and What Breaks The Ice.
Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore
Julia Garner won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actress for her role as Ozark’s Ruth Langmore, once the child of a local crime family. Formerly Marty’s most trusted associate, Ozark season 3 saw Ruth confronting Wendy about Ben’s death, leading to her quitting her job for the Byrde family. After the death of heroin queenpin Darlene Snell and Ruth’s cousin Wyatt at the hands of Javi, Ruth killed Javi and sealed her fate in the Ozark season 4 ending. Garner may be the most beloved member of the cast of Ozark, but the actor has also garnered acclaim for her turn in The Americans, The Assistant, and Netflix’s Inventing Anna.
Felix Solis as Omar Navarro
The fearsome leader of the Navarro Cartel, Omar was the main antagonist of Ozark for most of the show. From the moment Omar had Helen killed and used her blood to baptize Marty and Wendy into the cartel, up to right before Omar was killed by another high-ranking cartel member, he has worked closely with the Byrdes in maintaining the Navarro drug empire. A man of few words, great power, and quick action, Omar was the single most terrifying character in the cast of Ozark. Besides Ozark, Solis has starred in The Good Wife, The Family, and Ten Days in the Valley. Solis also played Matthew Garza in The Rookie and The Rookie: Feds.
Jessica Frances Dukes as Maya Miller
Jessica Frances Dukes returned to the cast of Ozark season 4 as Special Agent Maya Miller, an FBI forensic accountant who was sent to audit the Byrde’s casino boat in season 3. An intriguing addition to the regular cast of Ozark, Maya became more entrenched in the Byrde’s affairs and has a begrudging respect for Marty’s money laundering skills. Ozark season 4 sees Maya and Omar scheming against each other through the Byrdes. Dukes is known for a recurring role in Jessica Jones and appearances in NCIS: New Orleans and New Amsterdam.
