Ozark is Breaking Bad Lite.

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Guy Gardener, Aug 2, 2017.

  1. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Less than a day to go now. Anyone want to make predictions on how it ends?

    This person seems to think Wendy is a goner but I think pretty much everybody except Ruth is a potential candidate for killing off.
     
  2. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    I'm not sure. The kind of show it is I'm half expecting all of them to buy the farm to be honest!

    I want Ruth to survive, and not in a back to living a shitty life in a trailer kinda way, I want her to drive away with a bag full of cash and a future.

    I could see Wendy dying and Marty doing time before reinventing himself as an FBI specialist ala Frank Abagnale.

    I also won't be surprised if they all survive and Wendy's political dream actually pans out.
     
  3. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    They've already announced Ruth is getting a spin-off and, given Julia Garner's age, a prequel would be all but impossible to pull off. So, unless the sequel news was one of the biggest Hollywood fake outs since the original Blair Witch campaign, it's all but certain she survives. Under what circumstances are open to speculation, of course.
     
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  4. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    ah I hadn't heard that about the Ruth spinoff.

    Hoping it's called "What you fuckin' lookin' at?" or something ;)
     
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  5. SithHappens

    SithHappens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Would like to find out what happened to Rachel, assume she's still around somewhere.
     
  6. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    I hadnt heard about the spinoff either. That's more exciting than the rest of this show.

    And yes, the show needs be named that. Or another Ruth quote gem.

    Yes! She was one of my favorites of the early days. They did her dirty. :(
     
  7. SithHappens

    SithHappens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Would like to see Marty end up with her, Wendy will cheat on him again.
     
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  8. Jedi Marso

    Jedi Marso Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This has not been my favorite show by any measure, but it is good and my wife and I have both enjoyed it.

    We both recognized early on that Wendy is really the central character here, and the real 'Walter White' of this show to her husband's 'Jessie.'

    Looking forward to seeing how it wraps!
     
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  9. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I assume you're talking about Rachel, not Ruth?

    Marty clearly thinks of Ruth as another daughter, maybe even the one he wishes he had. I don't get any romantic or sexual vibe from them at all.

    And Wendy just cheating on Marty is probably if he's lucky.
     
  10. SithHappens

    SithHappens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Yes Rachel.
     
  11. SithHappens

    SithHappens Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I never got the breaking bad comparison. Yes money laundering and drugs but the tone is very different.
     
  12. Jedi Marso

    Jedi Marso Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    If you look at it in terms of Wendy as the one who is breaking bad, it makes a lot more sense. She's feckin' evil.
     
  13. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    Oh, is the second half of the season about to drop?
     
  14. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Yup, tomorrow.

    *checks watch*

    In 20 minutes.

    Damn, I have to go to bed for work.
     
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  15. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Just finished...and I have feelings.

    Rachel returned!! And they didn't kill her off like I feared several times over!

    They killed off Ruth in the end! :wah:

    I worried repeatedly that was how this story was going to end, but when it became absolutely unavoidable (i.e. the moment Claire Shaw outed Ruth out as Javi's killer to Camila), my heart broke.

    Biggest Hollywood fake out CONFIRMED.

    Assuming that was something officially announced and not just rumored? Like I said before, I hadn't heard that news.

    This one is two-fold:

    I figured the in media res with the van accident would turn out to be not too much of a big deal but I didn't expect it to mean absolutely nothing other than a silly scare tease. Everyone came out of it completely unscathed as if it was just a rear-ender and not the van flipping over several times! No broken bones, no concussions, no very close calls (other than a meaningless fake out regarding Wendy). The only thing it achieved was gently nudging Jonah back into the fold...and that was it. There could've been better ways of achieving that.

    And then there's that final scene. After they managed to get rid of the PI, I promptly forgot all about him so it felt a little flat that he returned, having overcome his crisis of conscience and pieced together what happened to Ben. Honestly, I would've preferred him walking right pass that cookie jar one last time and never realizing how close he was. Instead, we get Jonah committing murder as part of the family business.

    I get that's what they had been building towards this whole time but it just fell flat for me. I was much more riveted (and heart-broken) by Ruth's death than the actual ending.

    I loved seeing the flashback with all of the Langmores together as if they were some kind of happy family. I guess it was more of a fantasy flashback because they were never a happy family.

    They weren't the only returnees. I didn't expect to see Ben's final moments. While it was nice to see him again, I think preferred leaving that moment unseen, even if we definitively knew Nelson killed him.

    I especially loved the double bluff regarding Ruth murdering Javi so quickly. We all guessed correctly that the scene teased in the trailer was just a fantasy of hers...but then BAM! She kills him for real by the end of the same episode. The show is often so ridiculous but I loved the hell out of that. :lol:

    I didn't mean to watch it right away but Netflix rolled right into it so quickly before I could override the system (really annoying feature of all streaming services), but I watched A Farewell to Ozark. It's just a quick 30-minute featurette of everyone expressing how much they loved working on the show (Jordana Spiro was conspicuously absent much to my disappointment). I only bring it up because I loved the analogy someone brought up during it: The Byrdes are like an invasive species that came to the area and everyone native to the area got completely wiped out. And the Byrdes continued to thrive.
     
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  16. the G-man

    the G-man Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Starting it in a few minutes....must...not...click...on...those...spoiler...tags.
    [​IMG]
     
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  17. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    ^ I hope you didn't click on them.

    Ok then, much like @The Nth Doctor I have thoughts and feelings...

    Ruth! No, no no no no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    There was a grim inevitability to it I suppose, her getting wealthy, having her record expunged, taking over the Missouri Belle, shafting Nathan. Plus the fact she kept seeing Wyatt. But damn that hurt.

    It's interesting that people are presuming Jonah shoots Mel after the screen goes black. it's not beyond the realms of possibility that he shifts his aim to his mother, or his mother and father?

    Yay for Rachel returning though, and double yay for them not killing her, and in fact her killing Nelson! Talking of Nelson, was the flashback to him killing Ben to finally put the idea that Ben survived to bed?

    Would the FBI really switch from Omar to Javi to Camilla like that? Talking of Camilla, it was pretty obvious she put the hit on Omar, Marty was a trifle dense not to pick that up earlier. I'm amazed Omar actually thought that was an escape attempt

    Not really a spoiler but I hope Laura Linney gets some serious award nominations. She's been amazing as Wendy, a character it's hard to love (har har) but who's utterly fascinating. I won't ever excuse her but given her upbringing you can see where most of the seeds of her issues were sown.

    Talking of which Nathan is a piece of shit and I almost wanted Ruth to shoot him in the head...that head :)

    I'm going to miss this show. I get why people struggle with it, there aren't too many likeable characters that's for sure, but it's kept me hooked from the start. Bateman and Linney have been amazing, but obviously Garner is the break out star.

    This is an interesting interview with the showrunner explaining why they felt Ruth had to die and, presumably, why the Byrdes "won" and got away scott free to set up their foundation.

    @The Nth Doctor I love that invasive species analogy!

    So, Good Girls is over, Ozark is over, and pretty soon Better Call Saul will be over. Any suggestions of other shows where middle class Americans do crime because I'm going to need a new fix soon!
     
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  18. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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    Oh yeah, final point about the car crash.
    I think it did serve another purpose, it fed into Wendy's assertion that nothing could touch them, they're invulnerable.
     
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  19. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    Yeah, I suppose that could've happened which would justify the ambiguous ending but it doesn't feel likely considering how the final episodes strived to bring Jonah back into the fold.

    Eh. Either way, I'm lukewarm to the ending. The real passion was the tragedy of Ruth's death. :wah:

    Now I'm trying to remember if Rachel had any interactions with Nelson before she killed him, i.e. before she fled after season two.

    As for the flashback, I get the sense they filmed that scene at the time but held it back for this final batch of episodes.

    TV FBI? Absolutely (probably real life FBI, too...). Remember their justification for Omar in the first place. It was all about that control and money. They didn't care who was on top as long as those two factors remained intact.

    I was also a little surprised Omar thought it was actual escape attempt. Hubris at its finest, I suppose. As for Marty, he always could be a little dense about these things. :lol:

    I imagine she will get plenty of nominations at least but I don't want her winning if that means preventing Rhea Seehorn from finally getting recognized for Better Call Saul (assuming she actually gets nominated...).

    Yuuuup. I knew what Ruth meant before she clarified. One of the best lines of the season. :lol:

    Richard Thomas sure has come a long way from the sweet John-Boy. :lol:

    That's essentially what he said in A Farewell to Ozark and while I get his reasoning, it still sure hurts.

    A little on the nose but it works well with their name, too. European Starlings come to mind.

    Yeah, I guess but it's still lame. :lol:
     
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  20. Starkers

    Starkers Admiral Admiral

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