‘Ozark’ Reveals Ruth’s ‘Vulnerable’ and ‘Gentle Side’ in Season 3
In the hit Netflix series Ozark, Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) has made herself indispensable. She’s come a long way from following in her father’s footsteps as a petty criminal. She’s being put in charge of more business ventures for the Navarro cartel and it’s all thanks to her quick thinking and ability to learn. However, in season 3, fans get to see a different side to Ruth that she usually doesn’t show the world.
Julia Garner talks about Ruth’s ‘vulnerable’ and ‘gentle side’ in season 3
Fans will see a different side to Ruth in season 3 of Ozark. She develops an unlikely relationship with Wendy Byrde’s (Laura Linney) brother, Ben (Tom Pelphrey) and for a second, it looks like they have found some semblance of happiness. But it doesn’t last long, because happiness never seems to last on this show.
Julia Garner recently spoke with IndieWire during an Instagram Live conversation where she talked about her character Ruth in detail. This season, fans see a “vulnerable” and “gentle side” to Ruth that’s refreshing to experience from the character. It all comes from her relationship with Ben and how she grows from it.
“I wanted to make sure that she was growing,” Garner explained. “The thing you see this season is a more sensitive, vulnerable, and gentle side of Ruth and I think it’s because she has a love interest. She always has that wall, and with Ben she put down that wall, because she actually needed to be loved because… she lost everybody in her life.”
What happens to Ben in season 3?
It’s nice to see Ruth so happy, but it doesn’t last. When Ben goes off his medication, his mood drastically changes. He learns about his sister Wendy’s business situation with the cartel, which he doesn’t handle well. Eventually he catches Helen Pierce’s (Janet McTeer) astute attention. Helen, Wendy, and Marty (Jason Bateman) make sure Ben is committed and out of their hair, but not for long. Ruth and Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery) get Ben out and things go downhill from there.
Ben decides it would be a good idea to reveal the truth to Helen’s daughter about her mother’s business involvement, which decides his fate entirely. Wendy is unable to save her brother’s life, and she eventually tells Helen where Ben can be found. He’s killed and things will never be the same for anyone in the series.
Ruth does figure out that Wendy was involved in her brother’s murder. That coupled with the KC mob viciously beating Ruth, and Marty (Jason Bateman) reluctant to make a move drives Ruth away from the Byrdes. She reunites with her cousin Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) and breaks away from Marty and Wendy to forge her own path.
Ruth is ‘done’ when it comes to the Byrdes
According to Garner, Ruth is done with doing everything for the Byrdes. She’s moving on to other things and she isn’t looking back. She’s putting her family first and starting a new chapter. She’s going to listen to her gut from now on, which has always been an essential part of her.
“Ruth has a really good intuition, a gut feeling, always, like she was always right, and Marty and the Byrdes kind of took over that and she stopped listening to that, and at season 3, she made the mistake again [of] not listening to her gut, going with the Byrdes, doing all this stuff for the Byrdes, and she’s done with it,” Garner explained to IndieWire.
Check back for all the latest information on season 3 of Ozark.
