Summary
Episode 13 serves as an intense chapter as desperation reaches an all-time high. All fans will have a question: will the Byrde family find their freedom?
This recap of Netflix’s Ozark season 4, episode 13, “Mud,” contains spoilers.
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“Desperation.” That’s the word for this episode. We must ask ourselves how these characters got here as we hit the penultimate chapter of the final ever season. At times, logic was applied. Financial incentives are also another factor. However, as the series has moved forward, it’s clear that survival has been the ultimate goal. That mixed with a thirst for power, money, and freedom. But getting all that via corrupt methods means the universe struggles to bend to your will. Is that what is happening with Marty and Wendy? Is that why they are struggling to succeed? The universe works in mysterious ways.
Ozark season 4, episode 13 recap
Episode 13 opens with Ruth, who is calling shots on her construction site in the Ozarks — she’s building a new house for herself. She’s no longer going to be living in a trailer. Her old life is over, or at least she thinks it is.
Wendy tries to check herself in at a mental health center, claiming she’s not well. However, they want her to check in properly, making her extremely angry at the person who assesses her. They deny her a bed and tell her she needs to get a therapist. She’s not in a good place after Nathan took her children — Marty is a little concerned about what his wife is up to.
Marty heads to the casino to see he no longer owns the casino, and it’s all under Ruth. Marty is surprised to see her criminal record has been cleaned and is the license holder, but he tells her the management needs to be handed to him as it is part of a more comprehensive operation with the Navarro cartel. He calls her actions dangerous.
Marty asks Ruth for a “sunset period” because he wants to launder the cartel money through the casino. Ruth tells Marty that her record is cleaned up, so she isn’t going to let him or Wendy “clean where she eats.”
And then, Marty meets Omar in prison. Camila is there too. Marty apologizes to Omar for the delay due to a family emergency, but the crime boss is highly impatient. Meanwhile, Jim tells Wendy that he has the people she wanted for her foundation board — very high-profile names. Wendy is incredibly excited, calling Jim a “beast.”
And then, Wendy meets her father with a bag of money to try and pay him off so she can have her children back. It’s two million dollars. Despite the temptation, Nathan tells her he will keep the children. Wendy brings up her mother and the abuse he laid down on the family and threatens to kill him before walking away. Later in the evening, Wendy tells Marty to bring the children home.
Marty meets his children and begs them to come home. Charlotte asks her father what he’s going to do once this is all over after everything Wendy put him through. Marty insists they will all have decisions to make once they have their new life. All the narrative implications show that Wendy is the problem, with Marty being the puppet.
With the casino causing problems, Rachel is threatened by a cartel member. She blames Marty for what happened. When Marty denies it, Rachel thinks his wife did it and realizes that Wendy is behind the entire plan. Marty begs Rachel for help. Later on, Marty finds out Wendy sent Nelson after Rachel, and he lets his wife know that Ruth has now rerouted the funds in the casino, thus causing further problems. He clarifies that if Omar Navarro is extradited to Mexico, it will not matter if they do not have money.
But Wendy has another idea — to give Camila all the information regarding the FBI and let her run the show. Still, Marty does not want to confirm her suspicions, believing Camila will kill them. Wendy feels they need to give Camila a “deal too good to turn down” and calls FBI agents disposable, claiming all they care about is money from the seizures. Wendy is taking many risks in the second half of the season. She’s using desperation over logic; something Marty is not known for.
And so, Wendy and Marty give Camila all the information in a high-risk situation — they tell her maintaining the cartel patriarchy will be necessary for image. They also reveal that they know she attempted to kill her brother, but they didn’t say anything to him so they could make her king. Marty breaks down the perks of working with the FBI while running the biggest cartel in the world and never seeing a prison cell — she will be “everything and nothing at once.” Marty is describing a beautiful power to have. Surprisingly, Camila agrees to meet with the FBI, but she will need to meet Omar one last time. They tell her not to see him, but she insists she will see him.
Camila meets Omar in prison. At first, it’s a general conversation between siblings. Suddenly, Omar insists he did not kill Javi as she looks at him sternly. He also states her son was not a traitor and that Wendy told him he was murdered. Afterward, Camila asks Marty who killed her son. She wants honesty, but Marty tries to explain he isn’t the best person to ask.
In a stranger scene in episode 13, Wendy has a conversation with Father Benetiz. The priest talks about his terrible relationship with his father, who beat the entire family. He explains how he’s forgiven him, but back then, it was either “kill the man or join the church.” Wendy suddenly has an idea and walks off. Wendy returns to the mental health hospital and tells them they either let her in the hospital or she will kill her father. They commit Wendy to the hospital. She asks Marty to tell the children she is in the mental hospital because she will kill her father if she leaves. She isn’t going until she gets her children back.
The ending
The ending of episode 13 marks the last penultimate chapter of Ozark, and of course, the writers decide to ramp up the tension as much as possible.
Ruth sees a car following her. It’s Nelson, so she heads to sheriff Ronnie’s office in the pouring rain. She reveals that the man sitting in prison for Wyatt’s murder did not do it. She tells him that Javi from the Navarro cartel did it, so she hunted him down and killed him in Chicago. She also tells him that Javi killed Sheriff Nix too. She knows the story is too crazy — so crazy that she knows the sheriff will not say anything. Ruth says the man in jail for the murder is poor and an asshole, but he did not murder her cousin — she wants him to correct the mistake and tells him he will be a good sheriff. As she walks out of the sheriff’s office, she realizes the car following her has gone, so she panics and rings Rachel.
Rachel picks up the phone. She’s enjoying trash reality television in the trailer. Ruth tells her to grab a rifle and run into the woods. But Nelson is already driving towards the trailer, so she has to climb on top of the trailer. Ruth tells Rachel to kill him. Rachel shoots when the car door opens, and Nelson drops to the floor. He’s dead. Ruth finally reaches the trailer, and they both look down on the dead body in the pouring rain. It looks like Ruth isn’t leaving her past life behind after all.
Episode 13 serves as an intense chapter as desperation reaches an all-time high. All fans will have a question: will the Byrde family find their freedom?
What did you think of Netflix’s Ozark season 4, episode 13? Comment below.
