Ozark: 10 Things You Forgot From The First Episode

When Netflix announced that the two-part fourth season of Ozark will be its final one, a good number of fans were disappointed. The drama series has been a rollercoaster ride. On Rotten Tomatoes, the third and latest season came in the strongest with a weighted average score of 97%. At the Emmys, the series has been nominated 32 times too.

Only two episodes in the series have an IMDb rating that’s lower than 8/10. The pilot episode titled “Sugarwood” was one of its best with an IMDb rating of 8.5. There were plenty of moving parts in the episode and given the numerous arcs viewers have to keep up with, it might be hard to remember everything that happened at the beginning. Here’s what you forgot from ‘Sugarwood.”

10 The Email From Marty’s Private Investigator

In the series premiere, viewers learned Marty had been suspected his wife Wendy of cheating on him. While speaking to two clients, he received an email from a person named Bob Lily. Despite the email being titled “Do not open at work,” Marty went ahead and opened it while the clients were busy explaining their needs to him.

It turned out that Bob was Marty’s P.I. and the email contained a video that showed Wendy having sex with her lover. She was indeed cheating and Marty was devastated. He could hardly focus and was only saved by his business partner Bruce showing up to talk to the clients.

9 Marty Fantasized About A Prostitute

At home, Marty watched Wendy’s sex tape again, trying to understand why she would betray him like that. Interestingly, Wendy was right there next to him but she had no idea what he was watching.

Keeping his cool, he refrained from confronting her about her infidelity. He stood up and checked on the kids before driving to the Chicago streets to meet a prostitute. The prostitute was shown performing sexual acts on him but there was a twist. Marty wasn’t really revenging. The whole scene was a fantasy.

8 A Brochure Saved Marty’s Life

It soon became apparent that Marty and Bruce had been laundering money for criminals because their work as financial advisors wasn’t paying enough. Sadly, Bruce made a mistake and began stealing money from one of the clients—Mexico’s second-largest cartel.  As expected, a cartel enforcer named Del came to Chicago and summoned the two financial advisors.

When he inquired about some $5 million that was missing, Marty became rude because he believed nothing had been stolen. Angry, Del began killing people in the room, including Bruce and his fiance. Earlier on, Bruce had given Marty a brochure about the Ozarks and suggested that they consider investing in the area in the future. Fearing from his life, Marty looked at the brochure and quickly proposed a plan to launder money for the cartel in the Missouri Ozarks.

7 Marty’s Strained Relationship With Charlotte

Charlotte has never given her parents an easy time but many might argue that she’s just a normal teenager. In the first episode, it was evident just how much she and her father Marty detested each other.

At the dinner table, Marty and Wendy were trying to convince a shy Jonah to attend a school dance. In the midst of the conversation, Charlotte asked for money to donate to a sick friend. While Wendy didn’t see a problem with giving her the money, Marty refused, arguing that she should refrain from borrowing every time and learn the value of hard-earned money.

6 Del’s Riddle

Intelligent villains are always a joy to watch and as soon as Del was introduced, he began showcasing his baddie wisdom. Just before he began killing Marty’s associates, he told everyone in the room a riddle about Aunt Carlotta. Del explained how his father once caught an employee named Aunt Carlotta stealing from his business.

He asked them what they felt his father should have done: forgive her or fire her? While some rooted for Aunt Carlotta to be pardoned, Del’s opinion was clear. Aunt Carlotta couldn’t be forgiven because her getting caught didn’t mean it was the first time she was stealing. It meant that it was the first time she was getting caught. The enforcer thus began firing people literally, with bullets.

5 Both Wendy And Marty Considered Running Away

When Marty told Wendy about his plan to move the family to the Ozarks, she was totally against it. Instead, she began making plans to run away with her lover Gary Sugarwood.

Marty considered the same course of action too. When he met up with his P.I. Bob, he asked him about the possibility of running away. Bob shot down the idea. Seconds later, Marty was alerted by his bank that Wendy was withdrawing all his cash. Without hesitation, Marty went to confront Gary.

4 “Are You Under Duress?”

Later in the episode, Marty went to the bank to withdraw cash that he could use to pay Del. There, he was met by two FBI agents who held a notepad to him reading: “Are you under duress.” They then proceeded to search him for wires.

The agents figured that an ordinary man like Marty withdrawing such a large amount didn’t feel right. Marty lied to them that he had a business that needed to injected with plenty of cash. Still reluctant to let him go, he threatened to expose the bank for lacking liquid cash for its customers. Despite withdrawing everything he had, he was still $6,950 short.

3 Del Was Against ‘Infidelity’ And Broken Marriages

Wendy’s idea of running away was tabled to her by her lover Gary Sugarwood. He advised her to clean the accounts because it was highly likely that the feds would freeze their accounts any minute. As soon as she came back from withdrawing the cash, she found Del in Gary’s apartment.

The cartel enforcer immediately sent Gary flying out of the window in an iconic scene. The body fell right in front of Marty who was approaching the building to confront Gary. Del then told Marty that he was Wendy had to stick together because the two of them laundering money together was better than doing it himself.

2 The Cartel Had No Idea Any Money Had Been Stolen

In the final stages of the episode, Del visited Marty at the Ozarks where he confessed that he actually had no idea that money had been stolen. He only suspected it. That’s why he mentioned $5 million, yet the actual figure was $8 million.

When he summoned Marty and Bruce, he was simply testing them to see if they were indeed “acting right” with the cartel’s money. It turned out that they weren’t. Del further explained that he shot Bruce’s fiance Liz while she was in the bathroom just to see if he would freak out and talk. That’s exactly what happened.

1 A Teaser About Marty’s Future Life At The Ozarks

The episode began with a voice-over from an unnamed man, explaining the allures of money. The man could be seen fishing at a lake on a dark evening before putting the fish in freezer boxes and loading them into his car.

Upon arriving home, he opened the boxes only for viewers to discover that they were full of cash. The man was none other than Marty Byrde. At that point, it was hard for viewers to figure out exactly what was going on but by the end of the episode, it became clear that Marty would be staying next to a lake in the Ozarks where he’d be laundering money.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1215 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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