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MME (4)
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He's a psychopath, too, I think. Which makes, perhaps, too many psychopaths for one show: Darlene, the FBI agent, Del Rio, and perhaps even Ruth. We have a little political soupmaking going on here with the portrayal of Missouri rednecks, the government (including the power company that created the Lake of the Ozarks), capitalism, corrupt law enforcement (the local sheriff), and the War on Drugs.
But it's very watchable, I agree.
He's a rogue FBI agent, more concerned with personal revenge or aggrandizement, or his own internal conflicts, that he loses sight of his mission...and duty. Trashing a motel room in a fit of temper? Seriously? And his fellow agent doesn't report him because they have a past? One of the problems with this series -- as in many series -- is how contorted plot points become.
I agree Bateman is very good, as is Laura Linney. But I have some problems with this series, minor but irritating. One is there is no one to like! Not a single character is admirable, or root for-able, not even the kids. Marty is a little like Walter White; he starts out a good but flawed man who gradually begins to "break bad" but he's not as tragic, or therefore, as sympathetic as Walt.
Another is that some characters are inconsistent. We have a foul mouthed, cynical, 15 year old who suddenly acts like a naïve 11 year old, sobbing inconsolably because she apparently believed a vacationing rich guy would "take her away from all this." And then there's Ruth, a Missouri redneck, who talks like Marty...and uses the same logic. Smart she may be, but that was taking her character too far. And the very Scottish Peter Mullan, who I've liked in everything he's done and who does a good American accent, apparently thinks Missourians sound like people from the south.
The writing is the problem, I think, certainly not the acting, which is uniformly good. Production values are also excellent. Too many series are overwrought these days; producers apparently think they have to ramp everything up--drama, conflict, and especially violence-- in order to keep viewers' attention. Having said that, I admit to a certain satisfaction in the way the psychopathic Darlene expressed her displeasure at name calling.
I hope there's a second season, because, even with Ozark's faults, it has characters worth investing in.
Well, look who's here!
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