Ozark season 4 part 2 ending explained: Who does [SPOILER] shoot?

The series finale of Ozark has now come and gone, with the final episodes of the Netflix crime drama dropping this past Friday, April 29. Fans were in for another wild ride with the latest installment, with so many questions needing to be answered. The fourth and final season was split into two parts, with part 1 releasing back in Jan. 2022. We’d been on the edge of our seats waiting to find out what would happen between Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) and Javi Elizondro (Alfonso Herrera), and of course whether or not the Byrde family would truly leave their life of crime for good.

Spoilers ahead for Ozark season 4.

Now that the show’s over, we know everything there is to know and are still thinking about the final scene. We’ve got a recap and review guide for Ozark season 4 part 2 if you need an episode-by-episode breakdown, but in this article we’re going to dive into the ending of the show specifically.

The Ozark season 4 finale is one of the best episodes of the season, as it includes a few twists and wraps up all the loose ends. Unfortunately, Ruth and Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) both meet their demise in the last episode, and they’re seemingly not the only ones to die.

Ozark ending explained: Does Jonah shoot Mel?

At the end of the finale, the Byrdes return home from the gala at the Missouri Belle when they realized that someone broke in. Mel Sattem (Adam Rothenberg) appears and is holding the cookie jar that we know contains Ben’s (Tom Pelphrey) ashes, meaning he now finally knows that Ben is dead and assumes the family had something to do with it. Desperate, Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) offer to pay Mel off, but Mel refuses because he wants the Byrdes to face the consequences.

Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) suddenly appears with a shotgun and points it at Mel, while Marty and Wendy look over at Jonah as if they’re proud. The screen goes black and we hear a gunshot before the credits start to roll, meaning it’s very likely Jonah shoots and kills Mel. This seems to be what most people believe to have happened, though the ending is vague on purpose so the viewer can interpret it themselves.

I’m under the assumption that Jonah does shoot and kill Mel, which would be a quick fix to the family’s problems. However, Mel does know people, including Maya Miller (Jessica Frances Dukes), who would likely start looking if he turns up missing.

Will there be an Ozark season 5?

Unfortunately for fans of Ozark, we won’t get to find out what happens next because a fifth season is not happening. In June 2020, it was announced that Netflix would be ending the series with a fourth season which would be “supersized” and split into two parts. Showrunner Chris Mundy previously spoke to The Wrap about the decision to end Ozark, explaining:

"“We always thought five [seasons] was the outside number. It just felt like after that – we didn’t want to repeat ourselves, we didn’t want the show to feel like it was continuing because it was a TV show and it had to continue. So really the decision has always been between is it four [seasons] or is it five [seasons], and then Netflix hit upon the idea of saying, ‘We’ll do four but we’ll make it long and split it in this way,’ and that felt perfect.”"

How do you feel about the way Ozark ended? Feel free to let us know in the comments below!