Ozark‘s third season rose from the twisted ashes after lighting Jason Bateman’s Marty Byrde-bound world on fire, and if you’ve seen the season finale, you know that there was a substantial cliffhanger that demands followup. Can Marty possibly survive that hot (and bloody) mess? Will Wendy finally take the family and run? Will Julia Garner win another Emmy and then launch a Ruth Langmore-centered spinoff? At least a few of those questions should be answered with Season 4, which Netflix announced on Tuesday as a supersized affair.
This upcoming season will wrap up the Byrdes’ money-laundering madness in a total of fourteen episodes, rather than the ten episodes of previous seasons. However, the season will launch as two seven-part halves, so this sounds like we’re kinda getting five seasons? That’s a pleasing thought to fans who recognize that Ozark scratches a certain Breaking Bad itch reminiscent of the Walt-and-Jesse dynamic. Jason Bateman, who previously told fans to expect “three seasons, four seasons, five seasons, something like that” from this show, can now count himself as being on point. In a statement released by Netflix, Bateman promises that “[a] super sized season means super sized problems for the Byrdes.” Then he added, “I’m excited to end with a bang(s).”
I can’t wait, even though we’ll obviously have to wait. If this show doesn’t include a capsule episode where Ruth tosses so many people off a casino boat, then that will be an opportunity lost. Obviously, no one knows when the fourth season will shoot (more than likely, these halves will roll out over a few years), but here’s a tiny tease: