‘Ozark’ Season 4 Series Finale Reveals Every Character’s Fate: Who Died?

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

A tough spot. Ozark season 4 started in a tense place after the Byrde family were fully embedded into cartel life — and separated from one another.

The Netflix series first premiered on the streaming giant in July 2017, following Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife, Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney), laundering money alongside their two children, Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner). As the family business grew more lucrative, they relocated to the Ozarks in Missouri and kicked their entrepreneurial efforts into high gear.

After three fan-favorite seasons, a fourth and final iteration was announced in June 2020. Season 4 was subsequently split into two parts of seven episodes each. The former dropped in January 2022 with the latter released nearly four months later in April 2022.

“With the final season, the whole thing was like, ‘Well, how are we gonna end it?’ Should the Byrde family pay a bill, you know? Like, should they get away with it? Should they not?” Bateman teased during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon weeks before the final episodes dropped. “And so [showrunner Chris Mundy] said, ‘I want it to be a happy ending, but there’s got to be a little of a, well, is it happy for them?’ Hopefully, the audience will think, ‘Ah, they’ve kind of threaded the needle between a happy ending — but they’re limping.’”

[sendtonews type="float" key="gilWzhqQ8d-2832270-14453"]

The fourth season — spoiler alert — began with Ruth Langmore (played by Julia Garner) having split up from the group. Meanwhile, Marty and Wendy have gotten even closer to Omar Navarro (Felix Solis). After dramatic seven episodes of trying to manage their business, they finally secured a meeting with the FBI to neutralize the cartel once and for all.

“I read the final scripts and I just threw the scripts across the room,” Jessica Frances Dukes, who plays Special Agent Maya Miller, told Us Weekly exclusively of the finale ahead of its premiere. “I tossed tables! I cried! It’s gonna be an emotional roller-coaster. So be ready.”

The New York native continued: “It’s just hard when you live with the character for so long. You have so many things that you want. You are like, ‘I have these five different endings that I want to happen.’ And those writers are just so brilliant. They gave me something more than I could have ever imagined with her. And I’m just honored.”

Scroll below to learn where the Ozark characters ended up by the series’ conclusion:

[podcast_block]

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

A tough spot. Ozark season 4 started in a tense place after the Byrde family were fully embedded into cartel life — and separated from one another.

The Netflix series first premiered on the streaming giant in July 2017, following Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and his wife, Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney), laundering money alongside their two children, Charlotte (Sofia Hublitz) and Jonah (Skylar Gaertner). As the family business grew more lucrative, they relocated to the Ozarks in Missouri and kicked their entrepreneurial efforts into high gear.

After three fan-favorite seasons, a fourth and final iteration was announced in June 2020. Season 4 was subsequently split into two parts of seven episodes each. The former dropped in January 2022 with the latter released nearly four months later in April 2022.

“With the final season, the whole thing was like, ‘Well, how are we gonna end it?’ Should the Byrde family pay a bill, you know? Like, should they get away with it? Should they not?” Bateman teased during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon weeks before the final episodes dropped. “And so [showrunner Chris Mundy] said, ‘I want it to be a happy ending, but there’s got to be a little of a, well, is it happy for them?’ Hopefully, the audience will think, ‘Ah, they’ve kind of threaded the needle between a happy ending — but they’re limping.’”

[sendtonews type="float" key="gilWzhqQ8d-2832270-14453"]

The fourth season — spoiler alert — began with Ruth Langmore (played by Julia Garner) having split up from the group. Meanwhile, Marty and Wendy have gotten even closer to Omar Navarro (Felix Solis). After dramatic seven episodes of trying to manage their business, they finally secured a meeting with the FBI to neutralize the cartel once and for all.

“I read the final scripts and I just threw the scripts across the room,” Jessica Frances Dukes, who plays Special Agent Maya Miller, told Us Weekly exclusively of the finale ahead of its premiere. “I tossed tables! I cried! It’s gonna be an emotional roller-coaster. So be ready.”

The New York native continued: “It’s just hard when you live with the character for so long. You have so many things that you want. You are like, ‘I have these five different endings that I want to happen.’ And those writers are just so brilliant. They gave me something more than I could have ever imagined with her. And I’m just honored.”

Scroll below to learn where the Ozark characters ended up by the series’ conclusion:

[podcast_block]

By the end of the first part, both Marty and Wendy were pleased with the realization that they finally were free of the cartel’s grasp. They then were insistent on convincing Agent Miller to offer Navarro the same deal they offered Javi. On the way, Javi ended up pointing a gun at Marty’s head with the stunning realization that someone else may be behind Navarro’s arrest. Marty and his whole family survive the series finale.

While her husband is seemingly in peril, Wendy met with Navarro in prison to guarantee that they can secure his freedom so long as Javi takes the deal. Wendy was able to negotiate a new deal with the feds for a five-year supply deal and a $150 million donation to her family's foundation.

By the end of the first half of the season, Ruth emotionally learns that her cousin Wyatt (Charlie Tahan) Langmore is unable to leave the Ozarks with her, instead planning to marry Darlene (Lisa Emery). After pleading with Wyatt not to go, Ruth asks Frank Cosgrove Jr. (Joseph Sikora) to murder Darlene as retribution for killing his father. Jonah later tells her that Javi was responsible for killing Wyatt. Upon the second half of the season, Ruth murdered Javi after learning what he had done. In retaliation, Javi’s mother followed her home and killed her. Upon the second half of the season, Ruth murdered Javi after learning what he had done. After Wyatt's death, she inherited his estate as well as Darlene's, whom he married ahead of his death. This cash influx helped her expunge her criminal record and buy the majority shares in the Missouri Belle casino, finally making a clean business. In a shocking twist, Javi’s mother followed her home in the finale as retaliation for the death of Javi and shot her.

Charlotte, who has grown up in her mother’s image, seems more than happy to continue her work in the family business and escaped unharmed with the rest of her immediate family.

Jonah has flourished with their money-laundering scheme, thanks to his algorithm, and has shifted to work alongside Ruth, Darlene, and Wyatt in their heroin operation. Jonah eventually reunites and reconciles with his parents and sister. While Wendy hoped both he and Charlotte could get out of their life of crime, his eventual hit on Mel (Adam Rothenberg) in the final episode solidified his fate of staying in the crime game. 

Before the latest batch of episodes, Navarro was apprehended by the FBI before agreeing to be their informant to help take down the cartel for good. Navarro was poised to reaffirm his extradition deal with the federal agents as long as he can regain control of the cartel. To do so, Navarro enlisted Marty to deliver the message that he killed Javi (not Ruth) and was subsequently sent to act as an emissary in Mexico. An attempt on Navarro's life, which was ordered by his sister Camila, was made after those stunning revelations came to light. He was seemingly shot by a police officer mid-transport.

Javi ended the first half of the season pointing a firearm at Marty after murdering Wyatt and agreeing to a deal from the FBI on behalf of his uncle. When the second part returned, Ruth was on the hunt for Wyatt’s killer. Later in the first episode back, she tracked down Javi and shot him to death — in front of Marty, Wendy and Clare Shaw (Katrina Lenk).

Mel, the disgraced cop hellbent on proving the Byrdes killed Ben, was able to get his job back thanks to Marty and Wendy — as long he dropped his investigation into Ben’s disappearance. However, in the final episode he confronted the Missouri-based family with new evidence tied to Ben’s (Tom Pelphrey) murder. In response, Jonah approached him and fatally shoots him with a firearm.