It's hard to say that I "enjoyed" the first season of Ozark, because the show is about as dark as it gets. Sure, there are brief moments of levity to break the tension but they are oh-so-brief (The Sopranos set the tone for that with Uncle Jun and Paulie Walnuts, and Breaking Bad did it beautifully as well). Still, overall the show held my interest and I binged it with gusto.
Wish I could say the same for S2. The first few episodes were snappy and kept us awake even when watching at midnight after an exhausting day of golf or kid-stuff. Then, midway through the season, it felt as though the show runner had gone off on holiday and left the episodes in the well-meaning but incapable hands of an intern. The episodes dragged, we nodded off, and the writing was so cliché and predictable that I could not roll my eyes any harder. The normally brilliant Laura Linney seemed to be channeling her role in The Truman Show, playing to the back rows. The kids were unwatchable. And dedicating an entire episode to Buddy's funeral? Really?
The show redeemed itself in the last few episodes as Jacob and Darlene's storyline blossomed (as it were). The performance by Julie Garner as Ruth was the standout of the series, but watching her and her father attempting to steal the navigation system from a boat in 30 second segments made me want to waterboard myself.
If it gets renewed for a third season I'll surely give it another go. With any luck Charlotte will have gotten her emancipation and left town with Wyatt, and her brother will have moved into Buddy's mausoleum. But frankly I'd rather watch a Darlene/Ruth spinoff.
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