Summary
The finale wraps up a comprehensive and worthwhile series as the Byrde family bid for their freedom one last time.
This recap of Netflix’s Ozark season 4, episode 14, “A Hard Way to Go” — the part 2 finale and ending explained — contains spoilers.
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All the broken promises, desperate deals, and cold-blooded murders have led the audience to this moment. Was it worth it for the Byrde family? Freedom was the apparent end goal. The final curtains so they can enjoy a crime-free, new life. The final episode brings plenty of food for thought as to whether the Byrde family will ever have freedom.
Ozark season 4, episode 14 recap – the part 2 finale and ending explained
The final episode opens up with Ruth closing the grave dug for the dead cartel member, Nelson, at the construction site, whom Rachel had killed the night before. She hallucinates and sees Wyatt across from her, looking at her with a simple expression. Throughout the episode, she keeps on seeing Wyatt, almost as a foreshadowing of what was to come, but it looks like seeing him comforts the character. Marty turns up at the construction site and asks Ruth to help bring his children back, or he will get her killed by revealing to Camila that she killed Javi. What an ironic threat by Marty.
And then Marty meets Camila; he shows her the financial accounts that she can now access. He also confirms that the FBI has agreed to transfer Omar. He warns her that if Omar is killed during his transfer, it would “just be fate,” which essentially means he will be killed so she can have total control of the cartel. Camila wants to meet the FBI before the plan is set in motion.
Ruth visits Wendy at the mental facility. She tells Wendy that she cannot control whether the children stay with her and wants her to promise that the rest is on her if she does her part. Wendy promises her. Ruth admits that if she had left Ben in the mental facility, he’d still be alive.
And so Ruth visits Wendy’s father, Nathan, and proposes they have a drink. The topic quickly turns to Ruth’s relationship with Ben. Ruth tells Nathan that he beat Wendy by getting Charlotte and Jonah — she’s trying to warm him up. She then asks Nathan what he will do when he finds out that Charlotte is a mini-Wendy, and Jonah is a mini-Marty. Nathan is casual about it, so Ruth accuses him of not giving a “flying fuck” about the children. She doesn’t think he truly wants to care for them. Nathan asks her to leave, but Ruth points a gun at him and demands that he tells Jonah and Charlotte that they will not be coming with him. Charlotte and Jonah walk through the door and sees the events unfolding.
And so, Charlotte and Jonah visit their mother, Wendy, at the mental facility. Wendy admits what she’s doing is messed up; she admits that Ben died because of her and that she’s been trying to control both of them. She gives them the freedom to do what they want and promises not to trap them. The children decide to stay with the family. Whether or not Wendy is telling the truth here is beyond the point; for the children, having the freedom to be able to think and act for themselves is what they probably wanted the whole time.
After Wendy persuades her children, they drive together back home as a family, listening to beautiful soul music and bringing the audience back to the scene we witnessed at the start of season 4. Wendy is happy to have her children back while chit-chatting with Marty about their plans coming together. Wendy tells her children they have 48 hours before moving to their new life. But then, Marty loses concentration and nearly hits a lorry — the car flips over to the side of the road. Marty manages to get out first, and then his children. However, Wendy is not responding well at first; she’s breathing lightly and needs to be pulled out by Marty. Wendy regains balance, and the entire family is relieved.
When they return home, Father Benitez explains to Wendy and Marty that Omar Navarro wants to see them because Nelson is missing. He then tells Wendy that the car accident was their last warning. Wendy calls it an assurance that they will make it out alive.
Marty asks Ruth if Nelson was buried at the bottom of her pool, and her facial expression confirms that he’s dead. Marty is frustrated and offers Ruth a new life where she can start clean, but she states she likes her name. Ruth wants to know if Omar Navarro will be gone with certainty. Marty tells Ruth that the FBI wants assurances that money will be laundered through the casino and asks her to attend the meeting.
Wendy and Marty meet Omar in prison. He tells them that he believes his sister Camila was behind the attempt on his life. He wants them to call a number so someone can “take care of it” for him. Omar appears willing to have his sister killed. He also believes that Camila was behind the murder of Nelson. With everything in place, including the SDN list, Omar asks Marty to go back to Mexico to ensure everything is set for the ultimate plan.
However, Camila meets the FBI with Wendy and Marty. They confirm that Omar Navarro will be transferring (and be killed in transit). And then Ruth and Rachel arrive. Ruth wants an apology for Rachel from the FBI before the meeting starts due to the treatment of her. The FBI provides cooperative witness agreements for Ruth and Rachel, but Camila’s deal will be “verbal and binding.”
Afterward, Wendy meets her father, Nathan. She reveals that the foundation is making a generous regular donation to finding Ben until he’s found and that he will be leading on it. Wendy tells him he’s got everything he wants — the grieving father, money, and status in the church, but the condition is that he cannot hurt her. Wendy is ensuring her new life is unaffected.
Celebrating the success of the FBI deal and the funding for the foundation, the casino holds a party. Jim tells Wendy they now have a waiting list of high-profile people wanting to join their foundation. He tells her that foundation is now bullet-proof. Wendy then asks Senator Schafe to leave the party and that she’s asked her people in Michigan and Wisconsin to pull his voting machines. She no longer needs him, and she wants to clean up. Meanwhile, Omar’s transfer eventually happens in the final episode, but the crime lord is unsure where he’s been taken.
Camila congratulates Marty and Wendy at the party and tells Clare that she’s glad she is here. She asks Clare if she can remember anything from the day her son died. Camila goes through Clare’s story with a fine toothcomb and warns her that she’s about to take over her brother’s business — she gives her a one-time opportunity to tell her something new about that day with her son and that she will forgive her, or, if she finds out that she kept something from her later, she will be killed. Clare buckles under pressure and tells Camila that Ruth Langmore killed Javi. This is the earth-shattering turning point of the finale. The Byrde family nearly made it without another tragedy.
Camila looks at Wendy and Marty, knowing they are close to Ruth, and tells them she will kill all of them if they warn the girl. Ruth’s life is on the line. Marty and Wendy are shellshocked but also unable to do anything. Clare apologizes as Marty looks at her with disgust.
Wendy hyperventilates and cycles through options to find a way to save Ruth, but Marty thinks the options are impossible because anything they do is suicide. Ruth leaves the party early. Wendy tells Marty that she is scared of losing him due to this, but he reassures her she will not. She’s worried that this may be too much to bear. In the end, the love between Wendy and Marty appears strong, despite a series of tests.
During Omar Navarro’s transfer, his van stops. One of the officers kills the driver and tells him to get on the plane. However, as Omar walks off, the officer cocks his gun. Omar realizes his chamber is empty, and he is shot dead. Omar is no more.
Ruth makes it back to her place, and she sees a car parked outside. She checks it out, but there’s no one inside. Suddenly, Camila appears from the woods with a gun in her hand. Ruth knows that Camila found out that she killed Javi. Ruth tells Camila she is not sorry because her son was a “murdering bitch.” Camila holds her gun up, and Ruth tells her to do it. And so, she does, and Ruth falls. This is a moment that fans may hate, but it felt inevitable. Ruth also holds her ground in the way she expected. She died being herself, swearing at the person cocking the gun at her. She refused to die like a coward.
The finale heads back to the party, and Wendy and Marty look like the most depressed people there as they hit the stage to give a speech. They have created a new life for their children, a safer one, but at what cost? Ruth lies there in cold blood. She trusted this family way too many times. The price of the Byrde family existing in the Ozarks is a mountain worth of death and despair. And while Marty and Wendy tell each other their professed love, they know how many people they have taken down with them to get here.
The ending
However, outside their home in Ozarks stands Mel Sattem as the final ever episode tries to flirt with one last twist. This man has irritated them all season. He apologizes for breaking into their house and tells them he couldn’t do his job at Chicago PD because all he could think about was the Byrde family. He then grabs the cookie jar from inside their house and wondered why there were no cookies. He realizes inside is evidence — Ben’s ashes. Ben’s DNA. Marty and Wendy offer to pay him off, but Mel does not want their money — he tells them they do not get to win as the “world doesn’t work like that.” But there’s been a common theme in season 4 where Wendy challenges the universe — she challenges the foreshadowing of the family’s demise, believing it does not have to be there. She asks Mel why the world cannot be the way they want.
And then her point is proven. Jonah holds a shotgun to Mel Sattem and aims — Wendy smiles, knowing her family is now more powerful and united than ever. The screen turns black, and a shot can be heard. We can only assume Jonah killed Mel.
The finale wraps up a comprehensive and worthwhile series as the Byrde family bid for their freedom one last time.
What did you think of Netflix’s Ozark season 4, episode 14 ( part 2 finale), and the ending? Comment below.
