Fans Reveal Who They Think The True Villain Of Ozark Is

When Ozark first premiered on Netflix, you'd be forgiven if you thought that the series seemed a little reminiscent of Breaking Bad. While the details and setting were different, both shows are about a father who gets involved in illegal activities in order to provide for his family. 

However, the longer Ozark went on, the more it became clear how the series has a very distinct identity all its own. Even more interestingly, the show seems destined to follow a different path than the hero, turned anti-hero, turned villain route that Breaking Bad protagonist Walter White took. That's not to say that Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) doesn't have a pretty intense villainous side to him: After all, he once murdered a pastor, among other morally dubious acts. The difference is that fans have noticed that another character is emerging to fill the role of the series' ultimate villain ... and it's not Marty. As the crime drama heads into it's fourth, and final, season, fans have taken to Reddit to discuss where the show stands. Some have even posited an intriguing theory about the true villain of the series. 

When Ozark first premiered, everyone thought it would be Marty. But now that the show is wrapping up, it looks like a different Byrde may take the crown.

Reddit user yotortellini took to r/Ozark to start a discussion titled "Wendy is the main bad guy of the show." No matter what your own views on the subject are, yotortellini makes some very compelling arguments to back up their assertion. First, they note, "Wendy is a Junkie. Not with drugs but for the feeling of being [in] danger," before citing the fact that many of the issues the Byrdes have found themselves in lately arose from Wendy's decisions. Marty and Wendy's new fealty to the Navarro Cartel is a prime example: "She basically has chosen the cartel over everyone else in the world including her own brother." Yotortellini goes on to make the case that Marty's role in their crimes is as an enabler to Wendy (Laura Linney), rather than as the driving force behind them. They posit, "Marty's problem is that he still loves her and is blinded by the fact that she is destroying their relationships with everyone."

So how will this dynamic be resolved? Yotortellini offers their own thoughts: "It has been made abundantly clear that Wendy will not walk away from this life of crime ... Marty will start to realize Wendy's true colors when it comes to dealing with Ruth and Wyatt and how she has no intention of leaving the cartel, then he will finally realize what he has to do."

While some think that Wendy will prove the ultimate villain of Ozark, that doesn't mean she's the only villainous character. And it also doesn't mean she's everyone's preferred baddie. In fact, another Reddit user, Degratio, started a "Who is your favorite villain of the series?" poll, and while Wendy wasn't listed among the options (although she did get a write-in vote), the winner proved to be heroin queenpin Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery), with Del (Esai Morales), the Navarro cartel enforcer who was killed in season one, a close second. Describing their choices, Darlene fans touted their love for her chaotic brand of villainy, while those who voted for Del expressed a general consensus that the baddie, whom user SirSpur98  described as "so much fun," was gone too soon. The ironic thing about these two winning the poll, of course, is that it was actually Darlene's murder of Del that brought her to the forefront, in the first place. 

Anyhow, fans will have to wait until the upcoming fourth (and final) season to see if Wendy does indeed take up the mantel of the true villain of Ozark, but it's a testament to the show's writing and world-building that fans have so many theories and opinions on the subject.