It might not dominate the headlines in quite the same all-conquering fashion as the streaming service’s other marquee shows like Stranger Things, The Umbrella Academy, The Witcher and Bridgerton, but you could make a well-founded and entirely convincing argument that Ozark might be the very best episodic series that Netflix has ever produced in terms of consistent quality.
The slow-burning crime thriller is a critical and commercial darling, one that’s also gradually increased in popularity throughout each of the first three seasons, to the extent that the third run of episodes actually drew in more viewers than the zeitgeist-seizing Tiger King when both debuted last March, with the Byrde family’s latest bout of misfortune generating well over 30 million streams in its first four weeks.
It was inevitable that a fourth outing would be announced, but it also came with the caveat that it would be the last, something that didn’t go down to well with the fanbase. On the plus side, it’ll be the biggest yet with fourteen episodes split across two parts, but it also means the end of the line for one of the best shows of recent years.
In a new interview, Ozark star, executive producer and occasional director Jason Bateman offered a status update on season 4, but he was obviously fairly non-committal given that shooting is happening against the backdrop of a global pandemic.
“As far as when it’s gonna come out, it’s really going to be reliant on, you know, if we can stay in production. This sort of this race, the whole world is in between vaccinations and these variants. I mean, basically, it’s going to get to us a whole lot quicker now that Joe Biden’s got his hand on the wheel. It would have would have taken longer with the last administration, so I think we’re gonna get it to TV sooner thanks to Uncle Joe.”
Depending on how the next few months play out, there’s every chance we could be seeing the first half of season 4 before the end of the year, with the final seven episodes dropping after that. For now, though, the countdown to the end of Ozark is officially on, as sad as it’ll be to see it go.