Many viewers may not have realized it, butOzarksubtly hinted at its most controversial death in its early moments. InOzark’s harrowing world of crime, almost no character is spared from the consequences of their choices. Owing to this, death seems to loom over almost every character from the very beginning.
What makesOzarka truly immersive show is that it takes a no-holds-barred approach towards character deaths. Despite investing a lot of time into many character beats, the show does not hold back from killing many characters and leaving viewers stunned. While somedeaths inOzarkare solely for shock value, others add immense heft to the overarching story.
Even though most deaths in the Netflix crime show serve a narrative purpose and make the series even more engaging, not all of them have been received well. One, in particular, was considered very controversial because viewers did not see it coming. A closer look at thedeadOzarkcharacter’s arc, however, reveals they were marked for doom long before anyone realized it.
The Langmore Family Was Believed To Be Cursed
The “Langmore family curse” is a recurring theme throughoutOzarkthat refers to the cyclical nature of crimes and misfortunes that haunt Ruth’s family. She and her family seem to be so immersed in the world of crime and immorality that almost all members eventually meet with tragic deaths.
By initially working with Marty and hoping to help her brother go to college, Ruth hopes to finally break the curse. However, to achieve this, she, too, ends up killing her own uncles before they can murder Marty, whichcontinues the cycle of violence and moral compromise that plagues the family.
As the story progresses, Ruth even sees visions of her dead family members, which further foreshadows how she, too, will eventually join them. Despite being morally ambiguous like mostcharacters inOzark, Ruth grows on the viewer and becomes far more likable because of her desire to do the right thing.
Unfortunately, she meets a tragic fate when Camila Elizonndro shoots her as revenge for the murder of Javier Elizonndro. The sudden end of her story is surprising. However, given how Ruth had triggered her family’s curse by killing her uncles earlier in her story, her death was a long time coming.
In The World Of Ozark, Scheming Is The Only Way To Get Ahead
Ruth’s Goodness Did Not Favor Her
Shows likeBreaking Bad, which walk through a man’s gradual moral decay, often end with the main anti-hero’s death.Ozark, however, does not tread the same path as other shows of the genre. Instead, it shows how, in its grim world,the ones who stick to scheming are the only ones who eventually survive.
Owing to this, despite immersing themselves deeper into the world of crime, Marty and his family only further improve their odds of survival and end up becoming the few surviving main characters in the Netflix series. Ruth makes many morally questionable decisions earlier in the series.
She might have made it out alive if she had stuck with Marty, but she would then have struggled to live with herself.
However, unlike Marty and Wendy,she never loses her sense of humanity. When Marty and Wendy take things too far, she even calls them out and tries to distance herself and her family from them. To her dismay, goodness seems to have no place inOzark’s harrowing world of crime.
Her desire to protect her loved ones and move them far away from the Langmore curse is what eventually lands her in serious trouble. She not only fails to save Wyatt from the curse but also ends up meeting the same dark fate as all her family members. She might have made it out alive if she had stuck with Marty, but she would then have struggled to live with herself.
Ruth Was Never Meant To Have A “Fairy-Tale Ending” In Ozark
The Show’s Creators Could Not Find A Good Reason To Keep Her Alive
In an interview (viaVanity Fair),Ozark’s creator, Chris Mundy, revealed that the show’s writers did not go into the final season thinking that they would kill off Ruth. However, when they approached her final arc in the series,they realized that it would feel “too clean to have everybody get a damaged but happy ending.”
As Mundy recalled, giving Ruth a different fate would have felt like giving a fairy-tale ending to something that was not a fairy tale at all. Since it made sense for Ruth to face the consequences of her previous actions, her death in season 4 seemed more fitting. Also, since the Byrdes eventually survived,the showrunners had to use someone like Ruth to portray how unforgiving the world ofOzarkcan be.
Even though Ruth’s death seems fair from a storytelling standpoint, her final fate inOzarkwill always leave viewers divided. While some may agree that she was destined to meet with a dark fate from the beginning, others may argue that at least one good character like her deserved to survive till the end. Regardless of what one thinks, it is hard to deny that she was among the best written characters inOzark.
Ozark
Ozark is a crime drama series released in 2017, focusing on a financial adviser who relocates his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks. He must launder $500 million within five years to satisfy a drug boss, navigating the challenges and dangers of his new environment.
