Ozark season 2's intense new Netflix trailer: 'We do not kill people'

A new full-length trailer for Ozark season 2 shows Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his family getting deeper into the criminal underworld while authorities close in.

“These people that we work for, I used to think we different than them,” the money-laundering Byrde laments as he tries to moralize his decisions to his wife, Wendy (Laura Linney): “People make choices, we don’t have to live under the weight of those decisions.” While Wendy assures their children, “We do not kill people.”

At the Ozark panel at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Beverly Hills, Bateman told critics the season 2 will be a level up. “The audience deserves an escalation,” he said.

He also was asked about how the show is often compared to AMC’s Breaking Bad, which likewise is about a middle-aged man struggling to survive in his crime empire and keep his family together. “Breaking Bad, we feel fortunate every time we hear that,” Bateman said. “That show can’t be touched. If we get even halfway to their quality and longevity, we’ve done a lot. That said, we’re not trying to replicate anything they’ve done narratively or aesthetically.”

Here’s an official season description from Netflix: “Ozark continues to follow Marty Bryde and his family as they navigate the murky waters of life within a dangerous drug cartel. With Del out, the crime syndicate sends their ruthless attorney Helen Pierce to town to shake things up just as the Byrdes are finally settling in. Marty and Wendy struggle to balance their family interests amid the escalating dangers presented by their partnerships with the power-hungry Snells, the cartel, and their new deputy, Ruth Langmore, whose father, Cade, has been released from prison. The stakes are even higher than before, and the Byrdes soon realize they have to go all in before they can get out.”

Season 2 drops Aug. 31 on Netflix.