Oh definitely. The differences are almost night and day in terms of motivation. And I agree about Ruth. She's been a fun character to watch.
Ozark is Breaking Bad Lite.
- Thread starter Guy Gardener
- Start date
Oh definitely. The differences are almost night and day in terms of motivation. And I agree about Ruth. She's been a fun character to watch.
Totally agree that if anyone in this is Walter White it's definitely Wendy, there was a moment (at the end of the second season I think) when they'd just opened the riverboat and she looked so smug and pleased with herself. Signing off on Ben's death definitely tipped her over the edge.
Having said that in many ways her character makes perfect sense. Wendy grew up poor, dabbled with criminality, drink and drugs, and had a dysfunctional family. In many ways you could argue Ruth is a younger version of her. Wendy's compelling drive is to keep her family safe/together, which given her upbringing makes perfect sense, the trouble is it's now an obsession, and she even seems comfortable in sacrificing some parts of her family to somehow protect the greater whole. Ben last season, and there's been times she'd happily have lost Marty. Now she's turning on Jonah!
And Linney is superb.
I love Ruth, and I love that they haven't tried to soften the character. I just watched episode 4 of pt one of the final season and her comment about being smart enough to realise how shit her life is, but not smart enough to escape it was heart-breaking.
Having said that in many ways her character makes perfect sense. Wendy grew up poor, dabbled with criminality, drink and drugs, and had a dysfunctional family. In many ways you could argue Ruth is a younger version of her. Wendy's compelling drive is to keep her family safe/together, which given her upbringing makes perfect sense, the trouble is it's now an obsession, and she even seems comfortable in sacrificing some parts of her family to somehow protect the greater whole. Ben last season, and there's been times she'd happily have lost Marty. Now she's turning on Jonah!
And Linney is superb.
I love Ruth, and I love that they haven't tried to soften the character. I just watched episode 4 of pt one of the final season and her comment about being smart enough to realise how shit her life is, but not smart enough to escape it was heart-breaking.
The comparisons are definitely superficial at this point: Unassuming looking family man secretly a major player in the drug trade and its effect on his family. But as some have pointed out, Marty is still deluding himself that he's a good person while Walt went all in.
I’d argue Walt deluded himself he was doing it for the family right up to the third to last episode.
Whereas Marty seems pretty grounded in the idea “I almost got executed for my partner stealing from a drug lord and I’m desperately improvising all this to escape”.
Whereas Marty seems pretty grounded in the idea “I almost got executed for my partner stealing from a drug lord and I’m desperately improvising all this to escape”.
Maybe that aspect but otherwise Walt was reveling in his Heisenberg persona long before the final season. He more or less admitted as much to Skyler at the end (“I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really alive").
That was always his true motivation, but I always got the impression every time he went on about doing it for the family he truly convinced himself it was true. All about cognitive dissonance. Same with Wendy.
Yeah, superficial was the word I was looking for. They're both entertaining for their own reasons. But I do think Ozark has a darker edge to it. Marty seems to be digging himself in deeper and more quickly by expanding his operations. The fact that he bought a gambling boat instantly made him more visible ( a decision I felt wasn't great) , and then there's that rivalry with the other boat. Sooner or later, it's all going to catch up with them. I think that they're getting in over their heads.
Don't forget the first scene of the season showed them moving somewhere else then their car flipping over on the road. So we get a hint how it all ends up, we just don't know how it got there.
I'm not sure I'd say Ozark is darker than Breaking Bad, but sometimes it might seem that way because in Breaking Bad, Walt's enemy was always worse than he was until the very last season. So he was only murdering psychopaths who were trying to kill him, the innocent victims were consequences of his actions but never by his hand. Unless things drastically change in the last four episodes, a lot more innocent people died in Breaking Bad, it just feels a little less dark because most of the series Walt was put against people like Tucco, Fring and Nazis.
I'm not sure I'd say Ozark is darker than Breaking Bad, but sometimes it might seem that way because in Breaking Bad, Walt's enemy was always worse than he was until the very last season. So he was only murdering psychopaths who were trying to kill him, the innocent victims were consequences of his actions but never by his hand. Unless things drastically change in the last four episodes, a lot more innocent people died in Breaking Bad, it just feels a little less dark because most of the series Walt was put against people like Tucco, Fring and Nazis.
Good point. He was definitely in deep by the last season. A point of no return, if you will.
But with Better Call Saul, most of that stuff is right on the surface to begin with, and with no pretensions. It's a bit of a dark comedy, but the violence doesn't take long to assert itself, and I don't know how I feel about that, as I felt the darker elements of Breaking Bad were its least compelling aspects. I could have done without Tucco for instance.
^Yes he is!
Well I've finished part 1 now, shame as I could quite happily go into the last seven episodes right now! Hopefully it won't be too long a wait.
Well I've finished part 1 now, shame as I could quite happily go into the last seven episodes right now! Hopefully it won't be too long a wait.
Very glad they didn't string out Ruth thinking it was Frank Jr that killed Darleen and Wyatt. I kinda feel sorry for Javi now 
I’m still one ep away from the mid season finale, but I’m not so sure Wendy really wants out.
Having finished part one, two observations:
1. Apparently the writers have no knowledge of midwest geography, given how easily and quickly characters drive to/from Chicago and Kansas City from the Lake of the Ozarks.
1. Apparently the writers have no knowledge of midwest geography, given how easily and quickly characters drive to/from Chicago and Kansas City from the Lake of the Ozarks.
2. Still no explanation for the car crash in the opening of the first ep of the season. I'm starting to think we've seen the ending of the series.
Possibly though it wouldn't surprise me if that was the end of the penultimate episode maybe.
Good point. Though I could see some merit in an ending where
Marty spends years carefully and successfully navigating the worlds of organized crime and small town intrigue, only to die in something as unremarkable as a car crash
Finished up the season.
I thought I was watching the series finale so was really confused how it ended. Guess there's another half season drop later.
I thought I was watching the series finale so was really confused how it ended. Guess there's another half season drop later.