Ozark: the series for everyone who misses Breaking Bad
A financial adviser, a cartel, a lake in Missouri: why Ozark is the obvious series after Breaking Bad and how it differs. Spoiler-free.
If you have finished Breaking Bad, you know the feeling: you want more of it, but not the same thing again. Ozark is one of the best answers. It shares the basic setup, an ordinary man drawn into the world of a drug cartel, but tells a very different story.
What it is about
Marty Byrde is a financial adviser in Chicago: calm, correct, a numbers man. On the side, he launders money for a Mexican cartel. When something goes wrong, he has only one way out: he moves with his wife Wendy and their two children to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, to launder a very large amount of money in a short time. The locals, however, have plans of their own.
What Ozark shares with Breaking Bad
- A man who is smart but not made for this world, and who holds his own in it anyway.
- A family that is gradually pulled into the business.
- Tension that comes less from action than from situations in which every wrong word could be the last.
What Ozark does differently
Breaking Bad tells how a man transforms. Ozark tells how a family holds together, and what it costs. Marty changes less than Walter White, but Wendy changes all the more. Laura Linney plays her as a woman who goes along at first and then increasingly sets the direction herself. For many viewers, she is the real lead.
And then there is Ruth Langmore. The young woman from a family of small-time criminals clashes with Marty early on and becomes the character most people remember longest. Julia Garner won the Emmy for Supporting Actress three times for the role.
Jason Bateman, serious
Many people know Jason Bateman from comedies such as Arrested Development. In Ozark he plays against that image: controlled, always calculating, rarely loud. He also directed several episodes and won an Emmy for directing in 2019. The cool, often bluish look of the series is part of what makes it recognisable.
What you should know
Ozark has four seasons with 44 episodes in total, the last released in 2022 in two parts. The series is complete. It is dark and has less dry humour than Breaking Bad. If you mainly loved the darkly funny moments there, you will find more of them in Better Call Saul.
More ideas in this direction: series like Ozark. And if you have not seen Breaking Bad at all yet: here is why you should.
Quick answers
Is Ozark like Breaking Bad?
In its basic setup, yes: an ordinary man in the drug business. In tone, no. Ozark is more of a family drama and less the story of one person's transformation.
How many seasons does Ozark have?
Four seasons with 44 episodes, released from 2017 to 2022. The story is complete.
Where is Ozark set?
Mainly at the Lake of the Ozarks, a reservoir in Missouri, USA.
Where is Ozark streaming?
Ozark is a Netflix production. The Ozark title page shows where it is streaming in your country right now.
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