In Season 2 ‘Ozark’ Finally Deals with Its Consequences

Even the craziest drunken nights must end with a hangover. After Ozark‘s whiplash-inducing first season, that’s exactly when the latest installment of the series feels like — a hangover. Whereas Season 1 was about near-failures and jaw-dropping schemes, the second season of this crime drama slows down to focus on the repercussions and regrets that now define last year’s most insane moments. As a result Ozark Season 2 almost feels like a completely different show, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Season 1 spoilers ahead.

Part of the joys of Ozark‘s first season came from its whiplash pace. It wasn’t uncommon for a single episode to include a near-death experience for a main character, a game-changing betrayal, and one of the most bizarre and graphic visuals on modern television. There was a desperation to last season that matched Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy’s (Laura Linney) need to launder as much money as quickly as possible. But in its second season, Ozark wakes up from its crime drama bender, forced to address the mistakes and inevitable consequences of Season 1.

Linney’s Wendy shoulders the weight of that burden, and she wears it well. There’s a moment in the first episode of Season 2 where Marty and Wendy are involved in yet another unnecessary death. When she confronts her husband about this gruesome development, Marty delivers an almost comically on-brand answer, saying, “People make choices, Wendy. We don’t have to live under the weight of those decisions.”

It’s a subtle moment but one that lays out the architecture for this whole season. The Byrds are no longer innocent bystanders or good people who have been caught up in the Navarro cartel’s bad world. They’re fully blown criminals. Watching Wendy examine what their family has become is unsettling, but knowing that they can never go back is what makes this season hurt.

Ozark’s hangover doesn’t just have to do with Wendy’s regrets and Marty’s never-ending rationalizing. There’s a sense of inevitability that defines this entire season. Last season saw the deaths of Russ and Boyd Langmore, a major betrayal by Rachel, and the murder of two of the cartel’s operatives. By Season’s 2’s halfway point all of these huge moments have been addressed and examined in detail. Each death, each backstab, each test of loyalty from last season is explored, sometimes in ways that strengthen these characters and sometimes in way that threaten to tear apart the very fabric of this story. In its second season Ozark proves it hates loose ends as much as you would think Marty would.

But there’s also a sense of humanity that comes with these revelations, spearheaded by Wendy. The crimes Marty and his many business associates committed are not brushed away. They’re held to the light, forcing everyone to look at their toxicity. No one seems proud of last season’s many questionable crimes and decisions, but there is a relief to confronting them head on. Showing off the cards of past sins is just another way Ozark inverts the crime drama formula, much like how most of Season 1 revolved around Marty not hiding but embracing his involvement with the cartel.

Altogether, Ozark’s return is a slower one. The same notes from last season are still there. Batman’s Marty is still curt to the point of being unintentionally hilarious. Linney’s Wendy is now more than ever a force to be reckoned with. Julia Garner‘s Ruth is still as sassy and surprisingly warm as ever. But as a whole this season is more interested in examining how the events of Ozark‘s past have wounded and changed its characters than in going on another crime drama bender. Ozark still stands as one of the craziest shows on television, but with its reflective second season it’s now also one of the most painful.

Ozark Season 2 premieres on Netflix Friday, August 31 at midnight PT and 3 a.m. ET.

Stream Ozark on Netflix