This is where season two finally manages to set itself apart from its predecessor. Dubuque and Williams, along with David Manson in the writer’s room, spent a good chunk of Ozark’s debut cowering in the shadow of all the momentous crime dramas from the past decade. To be fair, this particular television subgenre is packed to the brim with amazing shows like The Sopranos and The Wire, thereby leaving current and future creators with an impossibly high bar to meet. But this time around, Ozark finally finds itself, especially now that Marty and Wendy have already come to terms with the turns their lives have taken. Even Jonah and Charlotte — and especially Charlotte — manage to accept their family’s status and embrace its possible fate.

Unfortunately, Dubuque and Williams’ writing suffers from the same issue that plagued season one (as well as most original Netflix series): unbearably slow pacing. While the first few episodes of season two are nothing like the drag employed by the first season premiere, which practically packed an entire season of television into a single hour, they still take their sweet time in getting to the point of the program. In their defense, enough major changes were wrought by last year’s finale that the writers were going to have to spend some time preparing audiences for what comes next, especially in terms of Cade Langmore’s (Trevor Long) release from prison and the struggle that ensues over his daughter, Ruth’s (Julia Garner) loyalty.

Despite this otherwise expected caveat, Ozark Season 2 shines once it finally settles in its groove. This is especially true of the women who play central roles in the Byrde family’s plight. Linney’s Wendy has always presented Bateman’s Marty with a comparable force, always challenging his calculations with plans of her own. And in season two, with their kids becoming increasingly involved in their criminal enterprise, Hublitz’s Charlotte rises to the occasion with far more gusto than her younger brother.

Much like the first season before it, however, the real star of Ozark’s sophomore outing is Garner’s Ruth, especially now that she finds herself being pulled between her profitable partnership with Marty and the Langmore family’s deeply entrenched sense of loyalty, no matter what it costs in blood or money. Between FX’s recently concluded The Americans and this year’s Waco mini-series, Garner has proven herself time and time again. She’s set to do the same in director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s upcoming Netflix mini-series Maniac, but let’s make one thing clear: Ozark Season 2 is her battleground, and she far out-charges the competition.

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