In the high-stakes criminal underworld of “Ozark,” where money launderers and drug dealers are a dime a dozen, characters enter and exit the show at a relentless pace. When someone drops off the show, they usually end up in the ground, the bottom of a lake, or in the Byrdes’ crematorium. And the characters responsible for the most murders usually end up on the other side of the gun in due time (with the exception of the cartel’s trained asassin, Nelson).
Though the Season 3 finale set the bar high, Season 4 – Part 1, which premiered Friday, had no shortage of bloodshed. To help you keep track, here’s a guide to all of this season’s character deaths and their implications.
(Last warning: Major spoilers ahead!)
Sheriff John Nix
Sheriff Nix (Robert C. Treveiler) has been a fixture of the show since Season 1. His look-the-other-way deal with the Snells has protected their heroin business from interference by the law; the Byrdes have also brokered deals with him in the past.
That all came to an end when Nix came sniffing around Helen Pierce’s house, looking for clues regarding her disappearance. Unluckily for him, Navarro’s nephew Javi (Alfonso Herrera) happened to be there.
Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) are tasked with disposing of Nix’s body; their son Jonah (Skylar Gaertner) sees them at the crematorium, driving him further away from the family. Nix’s replacement, Sheriff Guerrero (CC Castillo), almost meets the same fate, but Marty convinces Javi not to shoot.
Kerry’s Driver
Not for the first time or the last, Darlene Snell’s (Lisa Emery) capriciousness gets the better of her and she shoots a man out of nowhere. After Kerry Stone (Eric Ladin) overdoses on Darlene’s heroin at the casino, his driver takes Ruth (Julia Garner) back to the Snells’ home. The driver tells Darlene that he wants to be paid to keep his mouth shut, and, well, that pisses her off. Wyatt’s misgivings about Darlene begin when he and Ruth are tasked with the burial.
Several FBI Agents (probably)
To earn the FBI’s trust, Omar Navarro (Felix Solis) starts routinely leaking information about the cartel’s truck routes, leading to regular raids. Since he wants to keep his cooperation with the FBI under wraps, Javi decides to take matters into his own hands. He plants an explosive in one of the trucks that puts several FBI agents in critical condition. Based on Agent Miller’s (Jessica Frances Dukes) angry report to Marty, some of them didn’t make it.
This event is the catalyst for some major Byrde scrambling: to regain the FBI’s trust, Marty has to prove that Navarro wasn’t behind the shooting without spilling the beans to Javi.
Frank Cosgrove Sr.
Frank Cosgrove Sr.’s (John Bedford Lloyd) death is another classic case of Darlene blowing her fuse. When he learns that Darlene has been working with his son, Frank Jr. (Joseph Sikora) behind his back, he shows up at her house to confront her. While his rude remarks warranted a slap at most, Darlene opted for her shotgun.
Frank Sr.’s murder is likely to be highly consequential in Season 4 – Part 2, as he was the head of the Kansas City Mob, opening the door for his son to take over. Ruth taking pains to deliver the news to Frank Jr. in a kind manner could mean the beginning of an alliance between the former enemies.
Darlene Snell and Wyatt Langmore
Darlene (and poor Wyatt, by virtue of just being there) finally saw the other side of the gun in the Season 4 – Part 1 finale.
The death of two main characters was strangely anticlimactic, considering that it stemmed from a conflict established in Episode 1. Darlene refused to stop growing heroin in a territory claimed by the cartel; when Javi took over from his uncle, he decided it was time to take her out. Sadly, the last words Wyatt heard were something along the lines of “I have no idea who you are, sorry.”
Their deaths will likely have enormous implications for the second half of Season 4. Part 1 ended with Ruth resolving to hunt Javi down for murdering her cousin. As the owner of a large chunk of land and head of a drug operation, Darlene’s death should send shockwaves across the Ozarks as well.
Close Calls and Possibilities
Kerry Stone narrowly avoids dying from a heroin overdose, as Ruth injects him with Narcan in the nick of time. That brings an end to their proposed partnership, which would have had the party-loving restaurateur act as an influencer for the Snell heroin operation. His brush with death inadvertently causes the death of his driver after he threatens to go public about the source of the drugs.
Since Episode 1 opened with the Byrdes’ car flipping over several times, the question hanging in the air is whether or not they will survive the crash. That will be settled in Season 4 – Part 2, which does not yet have a release date.
