Perspective in Decision-Making From Ozark
Season One Gave Us A Kaleidoscope View On The Subject
Netflix released Ozark Season 2 just a few weeks ago. I haven’t dug in, yet — so no worries on recent spoilers. It is still a timely moment to revisit season one and its powerful and recurring theme — the impact and repercussions of decision-making.
For those who are a bit further behind, Ozark is the story of Marty Byrde and his family. Marty is a financial analyst and planner, not exactly a riveting career. We soon learn though, that he is laundering money for the “second largest” Mexican drug cartel. Now we are breaking bad.
Bad is a bit of an understatement. We no sooner learn the situation than everything goes horribly wrong. Things no sooner go horribly wrong, than the shows first odd circumstance interjects into the decision process. As Marty watches while each of his colleagues is being summarily executed, he remembers a brochure in his pocket… for the Ozarks.
The show truly does a masterful job of emphasizing how decisions and circumstances intersect to create a world of drama. No episode perhaps more so than episode 8 — Kaleidoscope (at least in season one).
Each episode actually begins with a customized O (for Ozark) and four unique icons calling out the events that are coming. There are actually websites dedicated to decoding these symbols.
When Kaleidoscope begins, we are seven episodes deep into a ten episode series. Up until this point, viewers could be forgiven for missing the subtlety of these events & decisions theme. But then they are likely struck by the thought — How did we get to this? Episode 8 answers in a way that only a story line can — with a flashback.
Flashbacks have a way of implying causality. You can never really do more than imply it. They allow the shows creators to remove the separation caused by time and create a direct connection between prior events and recent outcomes. If only analysts could do the same… well they can, but they run the risk of authoring their own version of the story. Jason Bateman is not tethered by the truth, just the need to create a compelling story (and boy has he!).
Episode eight is a statement piece. But the evidence and even the quotes have been there since the first episode. Decisions, choices, fate, and random events all interact to build this story with the final touch of money as means of measurement.
I can’t speak for all viewers, but I was constantly finding myself trying to keep score on Marty’s quest for $8 million dollars. The show actually made it easier to do the accounting than to be exactly sure of the time. Each transaction was ticked off with some detail, but the calendar’s only benchmark was July 4th and back-to-school.
Sometimes people make decisions, shit happens, and we gotta act accordingly. — Marty Byrde
As the chief protagonist, Marty’s philosophy on the ups and downs of life are both practical and insightful. But he is not the only character in Ozark to offer us a point of view. The cast is full of characters who each share their views on life, decision-making, and circumstance.
The story of Ozark’s preacher provides elements of both faith and darkness.
Mason: That bullet was three-tenths of an inch from rupturing my aorta. But it went clean through. That is not a coincidence.
Grace: God wasn’t protecting you. The kid had shitty aim.
The roller coaster ride that is Ozark’s plot is a show case of choices. Marty is astute at recognizing opportunities. He is a visionary planner, who often recognizes the risks he is taking. Yet time and again, he is surprised when low probability events and “dumb luck” strike. To his credit and his word, he simply acts accordingly.
Throughout the first season, he has actually been astoundingly capable of doing the highest probability thing. Unfortunately for him, sometimes that option has been utterly ludicrous. I would also note that going to authorities in the very beginning would likely have been the higher probability option — but clearly high risk regardless.
Returning again to Kaleidoscope, it also offered us one final perspective in decision-making. It offered us a view on how things get out of hand. While many of the characters featured were being provided the excuses and backstory to educate us on their decisions, the story was not as kind to Marty. Yes, he was dealing with a lot. But Marty failed to recognize the long term risk of his actions. He may think a few steps ahead but Ozark shows us why sometimes a dozen or more is required.
Watch Ozark — it is a great show for far more reasons than I could touch on here. Enjoy the fictional tale, the dark humor, and the riveting drama. But also take a second to embrace the theme, to utilize the perspective, and to gain a little insight on the nuances and unpredictability of decision-making… then act accordingly! Thanks for reading.
