Every Ozark season, ranked: Which season of Ozark is the best?

Ozark has been successful for Netflix, but which season really stands out?

Marty Bryde moves his family to the Ozarks to lay low while laundering money for the cartel. Some of the most memorable episodes of Ozark come from different seasons, so picking the top season isn’t as easy as it sounds.

The show Ozark does a great job of focusing on various family members throughout all of its seasons. Some seasons focus on Marty’s conflict with the cartel, while others reveal rifts within the Byrde family and their problems within the community they’ve moved to.

After five nerve-wracking years, Netflix Ozark has come to an end. The Netflix series decided to close the final chapter by splitting the season up into two parts with seven episodes. To say farewell to the Emmy-winning series, we’re ranking the seasons to determine which one was the best.

Spoilers from the final episodes of the series ahead!

Ranking Ozark seasons

4. Ozark season 4

Ozark season 4 is a two-part series finale, with the first part starting off slow but picking up because of all the characters involved. We get new characters that will become very important to the story, and we lose some original characters that viewers have grown to love. This final chapter, at its core, is about a man trying to keep his family alive in the face of the Mexican drug cartel and the FBI. The first half of the final season shows important characters like Jonah and Ruth dealing with the grief of Ben being murdered because of his own sister, Wendy. Wendy is forced to deal with the consequences of her actions, such as her son pushing her away and working with her rival, Darlene Snell. Season 4 part 1 ends with Navarro’s nephew murdering Darlene and Wyatt because Darlene refused to stop selling her drugs.

Season 4 part 2 keeps the revolving door of drama swinging because we lose one of the show’s most beloved characters in the end. The second half starts with Ruth Langmore in the car on the warpath after seeing her dead cousin’s body, who had been killed by Javi Elizonndro. Ruth allows her anger to get the best of her because she gets the revenge she wants, but that puts Ruth on a collision course towards her own death. Throughout both parts of season 4, viewers can see how the Brydes are willing to throw anyone and everyone under the bus so that they can stay alive. The Brydes did just as much evil as the man they were working for. Ruth was the show’s third main character and was one of the most important reasons the Brydes were able to run a successful business in the Ozarks, so to see the Brydes allow Ruth to be given up to Navarro’s sister was heartbreaking to see.

3. Ozark season 2

The second season of Ozark premiered on Aug. 31, 2018 and featured 10 episodes. Although not the best season of the series, the second season features critical moments such as Rachel returning to the Blue Cat, Buddy’s health declining, and Jacob and Darlene turning on each other because they couldn’t agree on working with the Brydes and the cartel.

2. Ozark season 1

The first season of premiered on July 21, 2017 and contains 10 episodes. The season introduces viewers to the Brydes and their illegal activity. This season features some key moments, such as the Brydes meeting the Langmores after moving from Chicago to the Ozarks, Ruth making a sacrifice to protect Marty, and the Snells showing why people feared them in the town.

Ozark season 1 was the start of a stressful ride that fans couldn’t keep their eyes away from. The cartel bigwig Camino Del Rio initially only let Marty launder money in the Ozarks to replace the eight million he and his former business partner skimmed from the cartel. If Marty could successfully launder those first few millions, he would have proven his worth and that he could be trusted to launder 500 million over the next three years. Marty was finally able to clear his debt, but he was seen as someone that the cartel could use to launder their money, and now the Byrde family was stuck.

1. Ozark season 3

The third season premiered on March 27, 2020 and contains 10 episodes. This season finds the Brydes in the middle of a cartel war. Six months have passed, and Marty and Wendy Bryde have settled into their new way of living. The Missouri Belle Casino is now open for business and laundering for Mexican kingpin Omar Navarro. With summertime arriving, the Bryde children, Charlotte and Jonah, decide to work with their parents.

Ruth Langmore is now running the casino on the floor and dealing with dangerous people such as the Kansas City mob boss’s son Frank Jr. In the third season, the viewers can see the dangers of running a cartel because Navarro is in the middle of a bloody cartel war in Mexico and turning to the Brydes to expand his legitimate business interest. This was by far the best season because we see some serious character development and learn how the Bryde family can come together to stay alive.

Which season of Ozark do you think is the best? Sound off in the comments, and watch the complete series now on Netflix.