‘Ozark’: 3 Lessons Fans Won’t Forget Thanks to the Netflix Series
Netflix released the last seven episodes of Ozark on April 29. In memory of four seasons on the streaming giant, fans on Reddit are talking about the many lessons the Netflix series imparted to them. Discover three things fans will remember most thanks to the Netflix series.
Missouri is a blue state, at least visually
In a thread about lessons Ozark has taught fans, one Redditor jokingly wrote: “All the lighting in Missouri has a slight blue tint to it.” As Ozark’s Director of Photography, Ben Kutchins, told Decider, he and star Jason Bateman “wanted to do something that was unique and unique to Ozark that created a distinct look.”
He elaborated: “From the beginning, we really [tried to make bold choices], and I think it stood out in the way that we tell stories, the way that we color correct the episodes, the way that we move the camera, and the way that the camera relates to the characters.” Most of that color correcting gave the show the signature blue hue referenced by this fan.
Fans connect Jason Bateman’s role in ‘Arrested Development’ to Marty Byrde in ‘Ozark’
Before becoming Marty Byrde, Bateman played Michael Bluth in the comedy series Arrested Development. “There’s always money in the banana stand” was a Bluth way of life. George Bluth (Jeffrey Tambor) constantly assures his son of this fact in the series, a rule of thumb that was not lost on Ozark fans.
“There’s always money in the banana stand Blue Cat,” another Reddit user wrote in the thread regarding lessons from the show. In the first season of Ozark, the Byrdes hide the Navarro cartel’s money in the walls of one of the Blue Cat’s cabins; the notion comes up again in the series finale when Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) mentions leaving a stack of money in a bible.
Netflix’s ‘Ozark’ taught fans about money from season 1
Ozark begins with a voiceover from Marty Byrde, who later begs for his after watching his friend and business partner Bruce Liddell (Josh Randall) get executed by the Navarro drug cartel. “That which separates the haves from the have-nots,” Marty says, elaborating:
“But what is money? It’s everything if you don’t have it, right? Half of all American adults have more credit card debt than savings. 25% have no savings at all. And only 15% of the population is on track to fund even one year of retirement. Suggesting what? The middle class is evaporating? Or the American Dream is dead?
I think most people just have a fundamentally flawed view of money … Patience. Frugality. Sacrifice. When you boil it down, what do those three things have in common? Those are choices. Money is not peace of mind. Money’s not happiness. Money is, at its essence, that measure of a man’s choices.”
This lesson stuck out to another Reddit user and fan of the Netflix series. “Marty says it in the very first episode and it always stuck with me,” the wrote in the thread, quoting the character.
Watch every episode of Ozark on Netflix.
