Ozark is hot off some major Emmy wins for Netflix. That will probably prompt some new viewers to check out the Jason Bateman series before Season 3. Considering Ozark Season 3 doesn't have a premiere date yet, fans could have plenty or very little time to catch up. Speaking of time, Ozark's new season is picking up quite a bit after the events of the Season 2 finale.
Jason Bateman just gave an update on how Season 3 starts:
The riverboat casino that you see last season in fact goes into operation. We pick up six months later from the end of the second season. The casino is up and running and provides us with more opportunities both positive and negative. Some of that is temping and some that are calming. Ultimately it all affects the family.
Sounds like Ozark Season 3 is going to spend a lot of time on that riverboat. I'm surprised that anything "calming" is ahead. "Tempting" I believe with ease.
Ozark Season 2 focused a lot on starting that casino, and ended with the Byrde family posing for a photo in front of the riverboat. Jason Bateman's Marty Byrde has that shocked and disturbed look on his face in the photo above thanks to learning about the death of Ruth's dad just moments before the photo. He knows Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) was involved and that it'll have repercussions.
So we won't pick up immediately from that riverboat photo for Season 3, but a full six months later. A lot can happen in six months! How do you think baby Zeke is doing with crazy Darlene? Does she even still have him? Has Ruth found out the truth yet about Wendy ordering a hit on her dad? Guess we'll find out.
Jason Bateman gave his Ozark Season 3 tease (via Deadline) after picking up a surprise Emmy win on Sunday. Bateman won the Best Drama Directing Emmy for the Ozark Season 2 premiere, "Reparations." He's a huge force behind this show, not only starring as Marty Byrde but also executive producing the show and directing several episodes.
Another surprise Emmy win went to the amazing Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore. She beat out all of the Game of Thrones supporting actresses to win, helping to give Ozark an even bigger showcase.
In August 2019, Ozark showrunner Chris Mundy told THR Ruth's allegiance is squarely with the Byrdes, at least at the start of Season 3:
Going into Season 3, we see her very much wanting to be a member of the Byrde family. However, as she gets deeper and deeper into the enterprise, she starts to wonder if being a Byrde is the best thing to be.
In the same interview, the showrunner offered this troubling tease about Marty:
Marty is on a slippery slope, but he's not all the way down yet.
Chris Mundy also recently talked about Wendy's power move in the Season 2 finale, tricking Ruth's dad Cade with $500,000 to leave town, only for Cade to be gunned down by a Navarro associate as he left town.
Some of it was born out of the fact that we thought that was a decision Marty wouldn’t make, certainly at this point in time. I think Wendy’s better and this kind of stuff. ... And one of the things we’re really focusing on in Season 3 is there’s this equal and opposite resentments in their minds, where Marty’s like, 'I stayed with you, despite what you did,' and she’s like, 'I gave up part of my soul because you weren’t willing to do what needed to be done for this family.' So that just felt like the right place to end.
Chris Mundy previously talked about Wendy's brother arriving as a major source of conflict for Marty and Wendy in Ozark Season 3:
[They'll be] dealing with outside forces. . . . [Such as Wendy's brother], who we've hinted at the first couple years as having some mental illness in the past, so [her] big brother is going to be a very destabilizing factor.
As fans wait for Ozark Season 3, Chris Mundy is busy planning for how the show will end -- and when. He previously mentioned figuring Ozark would have five seasons, although he said it could be something else like four or even seven.
Of course, Netflix is going to have a say in how long Ozark stays on the streamer. Netflix does love to cancel shows after a third season -- if a show even lasts that long -- but Ozark's Emmy wins may give it some added clout. If not, maybe the #CancelNetflix movement can get involved for this show too.
Here are a few more things we hope to see when Ozark Season 3 arrives on Netflix ... soon? Keep up with the Netflix premiere dates we already know about, and check out our handy 2019 fall TV premiere schedule.
