Why It Ranks
Breaking Bad's spiritual successor done right.
Score Breakdown
The Review
Ozark is the most underestimated drama of the streaming era. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney deliver career-best performances as Marty and Wendy Byrde, a married couple laundering money for a Mexican drug cartel in the Missouri Ozarks. The show's genius is in the marriage: unlike Breaking Bad, where one partner is in the dark, both Byrdes are complicit, and their relationship becomes the most fascinating and toxic partnership on television. Julia Garner's Ruth Langmore is a generational performance. Ozark consistently surprised audiences who dismissed it as a Breaking Bad clone and established itself as a formidable drama in its own right.
Fun Fact
Julia Garner taught herself a Missouri Ozarks accent by watching YouTube videos of people from the region, as no dialect coaches were available for that specific accent.
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