‘Ozark’ Boss Explains Fitting Song Choice for Ruth Langmore’s Finale Scene
Ruth Langmore’s (Julia Garner) fate in Ozark has a lot of fans talking, including showrunner Chris Mundy. The Ozark boss recently spoke about the song that plays before Ruth meets her fate in Ozark‘s last episode. Find out why Mundy and music supervisor Gabe Hilfer knew Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y.” was the ideal song for the moment.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead for the Ozark Season 4 Part 2.]
Ruth Langmore is dead at the end of ‘Ozark’
Since Ozark Season 1, Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) has been surrounded by death. At the midway point of season 4, Wyatt’s (Charles Tahan) murder becomes the catalyst to Ruth’s fate.
After avenging her cousin’s death by shooting Javi Elizonndro (Alfonso Herrera Rodríguez) in “The Cousin of Death,” Ruth puts herself in the most danger she’s ever been in. At first, Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) is believed to have ordered the hit on his nephew, but Camila Elizonndro (Veronica Falcón) finds holes in that story. In the end, Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk) sells Ruth out to Camila, who tracks Ruth down and shoots her.
Chris Mundy explains song choice for Ruth Langmore’s death scene
In the final episode of the series, Ruth listens to Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “T.R.O.Y.” (“They Reminisce Over You”). Mundy thought it was the ideal song to say goodbye to the beloved Ozark character.
“It was kind of always that song,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. Mundy continued;
“I just kept coming back to it. It’s a great moment in her life at that point; she’s happy, she doesn’t know what’s coming. The music needed to be upbeat, sentimental but not corny, talking about family and the past. She’s moving past losing Wyatt and into whatever her future is going to be — those two things needed to fuse together and be as joyful as they possibly could for her last song.”
The song was inspired by the death of Troy Dixon, better known as “Trouble” T. Roy of Heavy D & the Boyz — another reason it was the perfect choice for one of the final moments of the series.
Ruth’s love of rap music heavily influenced ‘Ozark’ Season 4
Ruth has always been a fan of rap music, but the genre has a stand-out role in the final season of the Netflix series. The first episode of season 4, “The Cousin of Death” was plucked from Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind.”
“Because ‘[sleep] is the cousin of death,'” Mundy explained to the outlet. “That’s also the title of the episode — she’s lost her cousin, but it’s also [referencing] the Nas lyric. I wanted it to be a moment of playfulness, where if you know the record, then you like it.”
The song comes up again in the scene where Ruth meets rapper Killer Mike. Ozark’s Hilfer explained: “[Ruth] doesn’t say, ‘I love you Killer Mike.’ If you know, you know. She knows who it is, and she’s not trying to blow up his spot. She just acknowledges that she’s a fan.”
“Represent” and “One Time 4 Your Mind” also show up in the first episode of season 4. When Ruth gets the gun she’ll later kill Javi with, “Represent” plays. Later in the episode when Ruth calls Wyatt to tell him about the Byrdes setting up their new life in Chicago, “One Time 4 Your Mind” plays in the background.
