Very lazy ending to a seriously brilliant series. It’s hard to let the good guys win when in reality this rarely happens so was expecting a 50/50 split, the only real looser was the beautiful Ozarks and the people. Congratulations on a superb series.
Nick Carraway - 2 years ago
My Take: Like an earlier comment - I hated the ending but give it an A. It was a solid ending: our loveable Ruth doesn't get her new home or crime-free life. She was in deep, but tragic to see her go. The Byrdes..... lol..... rise to the top on the backs of the less-fortunate, less-wiley, less-connected. Their biggest sacrifice? Their innocent youngest child who never wanted a part of their business (or them eventually) ends up as deep or deeper in it by killing an innocent man. Kind of poetic justice for the Byrdes. Evil begets evil and all that........ There was such tension built over whether Wendy and Marty still loved one-another...... they're going to have to live with the awareness of the lives they destroyed..... albeit in a really, really nice mansion and with all the accolades of the "do-gooder" wealthy people. Any real-life connections to be made from this?
Ram - 2 years ago
My alternate ending would have Camila hesitating to kill Ruth and Ruth gets the gun away from her and kills her instead. A scene right after Omar Navarro is killed. Now there is a power void in the Cartel. The FBI is not happy and is going to take away all the “agreements” so Marty’s hand is forced to step in to run the Cartel again- because that’s effectively what he has become as much as he likes to think he is a “better” person. No escape from the bed he made!
Trel - 2 years ago
Such a huge let down killing off Ruth in the end. Definitely should have been Wendy. Seriously, the most corrupt and evil family finds a way to navigate through every possible scenario and come out totally unscathed. Totally unrealistic! The vehicle accident was just outright stupid. What was the freaking point? What a wack and disappointing ending to a brilliant series. C'mon
Tom - 2 years ago
So evil gets to win against good again? Seems like the show mirrors what the world is coming too, money, power, and greed at any cost!
Pat - 2 years ago
I feel like the second half of the last season just went off the rails. The show just became too preposterous and sloppy. Like when Rachel kills Nelson. Ok, bury the body under the (soon to be) pool, but what about his car? Where'd it go? The whole Wendy's dad thing was weird. And seriously, the car crash? First off, it was previewed at the beginning of the second half of the series, and for what? Not only was it irrelevant, but despite the violence of it, no one was even scratched! Wendy had a giant (unlikely) welt on her head just hitting her head once on the window in the previous episode, for Chrissake. The whole second half of the last season felt rushed and off target. Loved it for 3 and a half. Almost wish I had left it there.
Bob - 2 years ago
I absolutely HATED the ending, but I rated it A (Excellent).
I don't have to be happy with the ending to see that it was good. The fact that Ruth died makes me want to cry, and for some reason, even thinking about it now makes me want to cry. This is how the world works. We all wanted a Hollywood ending, where Ruth was the hero, and you get to see her win. And we got enough plot line to be able to picture that for ourselves and take that away if we choose. But the real world ending wouldn't have even had her make it as far as she did, or have the opportunities she had. She already outperformed expectations. So... I think it was, albeit disappointing, much more fitting that the rich and amoral succeed.
And the fact that they ended the episode with the very specific dialog about "You don't get to win?" with the Byrdes replying "Who says?" That pretty much tells you this is the message they chose to send.
I think the fact that they did kill Javi, and didn't kill Rachel were a couple of "bones" thrown to the viewers of "Okay, yes. Some evil people will suffer. And some good people will prevail."
There are still a ton of open questions now. Does Rachel run the casino and launder the money for the FBI? Do the Byrdes actually "Get Out" of the business? Will Ruth's body be found, or is it disposed of such that she is forever missing? To me, that's an interesting aspect of how they chose to end it -- you don't really know how things turn out. Only that your heroine didn't win, and your villains didn't (straightaway) lose.
Margaret M Blair - 2 years ago
You all know that there will be a sequel , or a movie, or a spin off with Ruth alive. She was shot in the chest, not in the head. And who knows who Jonah killed, {his Mother or Father}, or someone else could have come up and shot the P I. No one knows, that's what the ending was supposed to do, make us think.
Marge - 2 years ago
Why did they even have the car crash…no sense…and they all just walk away! Wendy needed to die or become very maimed in the accident and can’t speak or move. She was so evil and all I wanted was for Ruth to have a little happiness after all the crap she went thru .I do see an opening for a movie. Her partner will still have to deal with the Cartel….how do they get away with murdering the P. I.??? Just think the ending could have been much better!
RickyJo Sanders - 2 years ago
The only character that thrilled us - Ruth was killed off because the sinister Byrd family had to ALL get off with their evil greed!
Is the world this “gone wrong”? That the down trodden with true star power cannot ride to the top?
It would have been more of a blast to see an ending with Ruth Langamore floating in her pool by the lake (aerial view) - sucking down another cheap beer????
Wendy Byrd could have easily been killed off in the car accident - as she was the root of the Byrd’s deranged mentality anyway!
You guys took the easy way out AND NO fun for the loyal viewers at the end; except to puke and go to bed ????
Cliffhanger endings are lazy endings. The money is either angling for a spin off or a movie. Ozark, like GoT, lost its edge in the mushy middle. What many of us saw in the final 20 minutes had to be television executive interference. No creative with a thimble full of talent would go so wildly off the rails.
Raspberries to that ludicrous car accident set up.
Kevin - 2 years ago
My bad .. meant Wendy, not Helen in my alternate ending below.
Kevin - 2 years ago
My Alternate Ozark Ending:
Same scene outside Ruth's home with Ruth being trapped by Camila, except gun pointed directly at her head by Camila.
Ruth: "I’m not sorry. Your son was a murdering bitch. And now I know where he got it from."
Marty and Helen pull up with kids in car. Marty and Helen jump out of vehicle, gun still point blank from Ruth's head.
Marty offers an appeal: "Camila don't. We need her to make this all work for you."
Camila: "Sometimes the best revenge isn't death, but to live with unbearable pain. Marty you've been too distracted."
2 shots are seen and heard from car in distance, killing Jonah and Charlotte.
Helen falls uncontrollably to ground: "Nooooo ..."
Ruth still alive, Camila lowers gun: "What the F ..."
Close up of Marty, realizing his only goal of saving his family is gone, stares blankly in distance thinking of the next plan: (pause) "Hmm"
End
Amy Luther - 2 years ago
IMO it was a great series! Totally ruthless like the real world. I never knew what was going to happen next. Finale was great but I wish at the end Jonah would’ve shot his parents instead of the PI guy Mel. All this time he was so upset about their lifestyle and then at the end he just swallows it and accepts it. Injustice to his character IMO. And let’s face it Wendy Byrde is going to make a perfect political candidate. She was written for us to hate her and we definitely did! Again, great series!
Amy Luther - 2 years ago
IMO it was a great series! Totally ruthless like the real world. I never knew what was going to happen next. Finale was great but I wish at the end Jonah would’ve shot his parents instead of the PI guy Mel. All this time he was so upset about their lifestyle and then at the end he just swallows it and accepts it. Injustice to his character IMO. And let’s face it Wendy Byrde is going to make a perfect political candidate. She was written for us to hate her and we definitely did! Again, great series!
Meri long - 2 years ago
Just like in the real world all the corruptions winds up going unscathed and the good guys pay.
Buck - 2 years ago
A lacklustre and non-finale finale. There’s nothing setting this ending apart from a season finale. Nothing is settled. More bodies to deal with, more cartel mayhem. No reason at all to think the future won’t be full of more calamity.
Christina - 2 years ago
I am so disappointed in this ending that I’m literally just sitting here shell shocked and had to go read this type of article and comments to see what others were feeling. How all the Byrds survive everything unscathed, while all the Langmore’s get killed is ridiculous. If you’re being realistic someone would have gotten injured in the car crash. Thes best thing about season four was how Ruth’s character had evolved and was going to actually make it out alright.. until they killed her.. she walks up to the black SUV in her driveway.. I don’t think so.. ugghhh... so mad they killed the best character on the show... the one we are all rooting for. :-(
Stacie - 2 years ago
So disappointing that Ruth was killed. The writers failed us! I didn’t like that Jonah shot an innocent man!
MArco - 2 years ago
Was a bad and useless idea to kill if the most loved character so stupidly and let that woman live. For what ? Makes no sense. and by no means do I ever wanna watch this series now knowing the best character dies.
melinda - 2 years ago
I was very disappointed. I was almost mad I was excited for the wait and then .... that. I was already upset with the death of Wyatt and then Ruth at the end. She would not have walked up to that car. Not believable. Would have like to see that Ruth lived, Wendy went to prison, Camilla died and Marty and the kids go into witness protection.That would have been great!
Mk3 - 2 years ago
⬇️ should read Wendy was paralyzed in the crash and went to prison in a chair.
Mk3 - 2 years ago
Such a disappointment. Horrible. I’m in the minority probably but it didn’t bother me Ruth was bumped off. Wendy researched to paralyzed in the crash and spent the rest of her time in a chair in a prison. Marty should have sided to. I loved his character and all that, but you cannot keep going all in and win every-time. Wish the Byrd kids would have walked away the hero’s . catapulting them to go on to use their skills in their adult life in a super-spin off working for the FBI fighting the evil their parents pushed onto the the world and their childrens innocent lives. But that’s just me.
Betty Bollmeier - 2 years ago
The writers are awful to kill Ruth instead of Wendy! How many people did they kill off due the Wendy character! Just shows the writers are on evil’s side. I heard about the ending and won’t waste one minute watching. You writers suck!
Jennifer Abraham - 2 years ago
We waited a long time for the last episode and were left in disbelief that the writers couldn’t come up with something better than that…..to kill Ruth and let Wendy live was pure injustice
Dana Krapfl - 2 years ago
Bateman did an outstanding job playing Marty.
Gina - 2 years ago
Horrible! Wendy should have been blasted by Camila instead of Ruth. She was one of the most despicable characters on tv since Cersei Lannister. What a disappointment.
Curt - 2 years ago
The people that think the season finally was excellent you're delusional. I wish I never even watched the show. I'm so mad and disappointed. If there are more episodes but without Ruth I will not watch. God, this show ruined my day off.
Brian - 2 years ago
Hugely disappointing! The end might have been appropriate had there been another season to look forward to. But for this to be the end?!?! Lazy writing as far as I'm concerned. It's as if they came full circle and were just going to start the story all over. Shame on the writers, producers (that includes you Jason!) and anyone else who approved leaving us loyal fans so inappropriately.
Bliz - 2 years ago
Most disappointing unsatisfying finale since sopranos, and Wendy should have died. The writers are just manipulative aholes that have no respect to the fans, the material, the logic, the reality, or the morality of anything. In essence, the show was in act in pointlessness and wasted four seasons to lead to more nihilistic copping out and pseudo classist shallowness we see pervade the screen on post-trump world. Nauseating and untrue to the material and reality and message.
Nancy - 2 years ago
Wendy Byrd should have been the first one to die, in the car crash , she was despicable. Marty was as smart as his wife so at the end he should have come around In “today’s”day, the bad guys should never have won like that ending! I am sorry I watched it
JayMan - 2 years ago
How to write season 4: Remember all the characters? yes? ok, lets kill them. But which one? yes
Al - 2 years ago
It’s kind of wack that they associated with a bunch of murderous people (local and the cartels) that were quick on the trigger but nobody took out the shady Byrd’s even when double crossed. Also, Ruth’s ending was out of character. All of a sudden she wasn’t careful. Walking up to the SUV scared instead of prepared was out of character and made her final scene weird.
Entertaining show but not believable that they kept getting let off the hook. How they got away with it in the end was too far fetched.
Very lazy ending to a seriously brilliant series. It’s hard to let the good guys win when in reality this rarely happens so was expecting a 50/50 split, the only real looser was the beautiful Ozarks and the people. Congratulations on a superb series.
My Take: Like an earlier comment - I hated the ending but give it an A. It was a solid ending: our loveable Ruth doesn't get her new home or crime-free life. She was in deep, but tragic to see her go. The Byrdes..... lol..... rise to the top on the backs of the less-fortunate, less-wiley, less-connected. Their biggest sacrifice? Their innocent youngest child who never wanted a part of their business (or them eventually) ends up as deep or deeper in it by killing an innocent man. Kind of poetic justice for the Byrdes. Evil begets evil and all that........ There was such tension built over whether Wendy and Marty still loved one-another...... they're going to have to live with the awareness of the lives they destroyed..... albeit in a really, really nice mansion and with all the accolades of the "do-gooder" wealthy people. Any real-life connections to be made from this?
My alternate ending would have Camila hesitating to kill Ruth and Ruth gets the gun away from her and kills her instead. A scene right after Omar Navarro is killed. Now there is a power void in the Cartel. The FBI is not happy and is going to take away all the “agreements” so Marty’s hand is forced to step in to run the Cartel again- because that’s effectively what he has become as much as he likes to think he is a “better” person. No escape from the bed he made!
Such a huge let down killing off Ruth in the end. Definitely should have been Wendy. Seriously, the most corrupt and evil family finds a way to navigate through every possible scenario and come out totally unscathed. Totally unrealistic! The vehicle accident was just outright stupid. What was the freaking point? What a wack and disappointing ending to a brilliant series. C'mon
So evil gets to win against good again? Seems like the show mirrors what the world is coming too, money, power, and greed at any cost!
I feel like the second half of the last season just went off the rails. The show just became too preposterous and sloppy. Like when Rachel kills Nelson. Ok, bury the body under the (soon to be) pool, but what about his car? Where'd it go? The whole Wendy's dad thing was weird. And seriously, the car crash? First off, it was previewed at the beginning of the second half of the series, and for what? Not only was it irrelevant, but despite the violence of it, no one was even scratched! Wendy had a giant (unlikely) welt on her head just hitting her head once on the window in the previous episode, for Chrissake. The whole second half of the last season felt rushed and off target. Loved it for 3 and a half. Almost wish I had left it there.
I absolutely HATED the ending, but I rated it A (Excellent).
I don't have to be happy with the ending to see that it was good. The fact that Ruth died makes me want to cry, and for some reason, even thinking about it now makes me want to cry. This is how the world works. We all wanted a Hollywood ending, where Ruth was the hero, and you get to see her win. And we got enough plot line to be able to picture that for ourselves and take that away if we choose. But the real world ending wouldn't have even had her make it as far as she did, or have the opportunities she had. She already outperformed expectations. So... I think it was, albeit disappointing, much more fitting that the rich and amoral succeed.
And the fact that they ended the episode with the very specific dialog about "You don't get to win?" with the Byrdes replying "Who says?" That pretty much tells you this is the message they chose to send.
I think the fact that they did kill Javi, and didn't kill Rachel were a couple of "bones" thrown to the viewers of "Okay, yes. Some evil people will suffer. And some good people will prevail."
There are still a ton of open questions now. Does Rachel run the casino and launder the money for the FBI? Do the Byrdes actually "Get Out" of the business? Will Ruth's body be found, or is it disposed of such that she is forever missing? To me, that's an interesting aspect of how they chose to end it -- you don't really know how things turn out. Only that your heroine didn't win, and your villains didn't (straightaway) lose.
You all know that there will be a sequel , or a movie, or a spin off with Ruth alive. She was shot in the chest, not in the head. And who knows who Jonah killed, {his Mother or Father}, or someone else could have come up and shot the P I. No one knows, that's what the ending was supposed to do, make us think.
Why did they even have the car crash…no sense…and they all just walk away! Wendy needed to die or become very maimed in the accident and can’t speak or move. She was so evil and all I wanted was for Ruth to have a little happiness after all the crap she went thru .I do see an opening for a movie. Her partner will still have to deal with the Cartel….how do they get away with murdering the P. I.??? Just think the ending could have been much better!
The only character that thrilled us - Ruth was killed off because the sinister Byrd family had to ALL get off with their evil greed!
Is the world this “gone wrong”? That the down trodden with true star power cannot ride to the top?
It would have been more of a blast to see an ending with Ruth Langamore floating in her pool by the lake (aerial view) - sucking down another cheap beer????
Wendy Byrd could have easily been killed off in the car accident - as she was the root of the Byrd’s deranged mentality anyway!
You guys took the easy way out AND NO fun for the loyal viewers at the end; except to puke and go to bed ????
Cliffhanger endings are lazy endings. The money is either angling for a spin off or a movie. Ozark, like GoT, lost its edge in the mushy middle. What many of us saw in the final 20 minutes had to be television executive interference. No creative with a thimble full of talent would go so wildly off the rails.
Raspberries to that ludicrous car accident set up.
My bad .. meant Wendy, not Helen in my alternate ending below.
My Alternate Ozark Ending:
Same scene outside Ruth's home with Ruth being trapped by Camila, except gun pointed directly at her head by Camila.
Ruth: "I’m not sorry. Your son was a murdering bitch. And now I know where he got it from."
Marty and Helen pull up with kids in car. Marty and Helen jump out of vehicle, gun still point blank from Ruth's head.
Marty offers an appeal: "Camila don't. We need her to make this all work for you."
Camila: "Sometimes the best revenge isn't death, but to live with unbearable pain. Marty you've been too distracted."
2 shots are seen and heard from car in distance, killing Jonah and Charlotte.
Helen falls uncontrollably to ground: "Nooooo ..."
Ruth still alive, Camila lowers gun: "What the F ..."
Close up of Marty, realizing his only goal of saving his family is gone, stares blankly in distance thinking of the next plan: (pause) "Hmm"
End
IMO it was a great series! Totally ruthless like the real world. I never knew what was going to happen next. Finale was great but I wish at the end Jonah would’ve shot his parents instead of the PI guy Mel. All this time he was so upset about their lifestyle and then at the end he just swallows it and accepts it. Injustice to his character IMO. And let’s face it Wendy Byrde is going to make a perfect political candidate. She was written for us to hate her and we definitely did! Again, great series!
IMO it was a great series! Totally ruthless like the real world. I never knew what was going to happen next. Finale was great but I wish at the end Jonah would’ve shot his parents instead of the PI guy Mel. All this time he was so upset about their lifestyle and then at the end he just swallows it and accepts it. Injustice to his character IMO. And let’s face it Wendy Byrde is going to make a perfect political candidate. She was written for us to hate her and we definitely did! Again, great series!
Just like in the real world all the corruptions winds up going unscathed and the good guys pay.
A lacklustre and non-finale finale. There’s nothing setting this ending apart from a season finale. Nothing is settled. More bodies to deal with, more cartel mayhem. No reason at all to think the future won’t be full of more calamity.
I am so disappointed in this ending that I’m literally just sitting here shell shocked and had to go read this type of article and comments to see what others were feeling. How all the Byrds survive everything unscathed, while all the Langmore’s get killed is ridiculous. If you’re being realistic someone would have gotten injured in the car crash. Thes best thing about season four was how Ruth’s character had evolved and was going to actually make it out alright.. until they killed her.. she walks up to the black SUV in her driveway.. I don’t think so.. ugghhh... so mad they killed the best character on the show... the one we are all rooting for. :-(
So disappointing that Ruth was killed. The writers failed us! I didn’t like that Jonah shot an innocent man!
Was a bad and useless idea to kill if the most loved character so stupidly and let that woman live. For what ? Makes no sense. and by no means do I ever wanna watch this series now knowing the best character dies.
I was very disappointed. I was almost mad I was excited for the wait and then .... that. I was already upset with the death of Wyatt and then Ruth at the end. She would not have walked up to that car. Not believable. Would have like to see that Ruth lived, Wendy went to prison, Camilla died and Marty and the kids go into witness protection.That would have been great!
⬇️ should read Wendy was paralyzed in the crash and went to prison in a chair.
Such a disappointment. Horrible. I’m in the minority probably but it didn’t bother me Ruth was bumped off. Wendy researched to paralyzed in the crash and spent the rest of her time in a chair in a prison. Marty should have sided to. I loved his character and all that, but you cannot keep going all in and win every-time. Wish the Byrd kids would have walked away the hero’s . catapulting them to go on to use their skills in their adult life in a super-spin off working for the FBI fighting the evil their parents pushed onto the the world and their childrens innocent lives. But that’s just me.
The writers are awful to kill Ruth instead of Wendy! How many people did they kill off due the Wendy character! Just shows the writers are on evil’s side. I heard about the ending and won’t waste one minute watching. You writers suck!
We waited a long time for the last episode and were left in disbelief that the writers couldn’t come up with something better than that…..to kill Ruth and let Wendy live was pure injustice
Bateman did an outstanding job playing Marty.
Horrible! Wendy should have been blasted by Camila instead of Ruth. She was one of the most despicable characters on tv since Cersei Lannister. What a disappointment.
The people that think the season finally was excellent you're delusional. I wish I never even watched the show. I'm so mad and disappointed. If there are more episodes but without Ruth I will not watch. God, this show ruined my day off.
Hugely disappointing! The end might have been appropriate had there been another season to look forward to. But for this to be the end?!?! Lazy writing as far as I'm concerned. It's as if they came full circle and were just going to start the story all over. Shame on the writers, producers (that includes you Jason!) and anyone else who approved leaving us loyal fans so inappropriately.
Most disappointing unsatisfying finale since sopranos, and Wendy should have died. The writers are just manipulative aholes that have no respect to the fans, the material, the logic, the reality, or the morality of anything. In essence, the show was in act in pointlessness and wasted four seasons to lead to more nihilistic copping out and pseudo classist shallowness we see pervade the screen on post-trump world. Nauseating and untrue to the material and reality and message.
Wendy Byrd should have been the first one to die, in the car crash , she was despicable. Marty was as smart as his wife so at the end he should have come around In “today’s”day, the bad guys should never have won like that ending! I am sorry I watched it
How to write season 4: Remember all the characters? yes? ok, lets kill them. But which one? yes
It’s kind of wack that they associated with a bunch of murderous people (local and the cartels) that were quick on the trigger but nobody took out the shady Byrd’s even when double crossed. Also, Ruth’s ending was out of character. All of a sudden she wasn’t careful. Walking up to the SUV scared instead of prepared was out of character and made her final scene weird.
Entertaining show but not believable that they kept getting let off the hook. How they got away with it in the end was too far fetched.
I will miss this brilliant series!